Constable on the hill

Nick Rhea, a young village policeman, arrives in the countryside with his wife Mary and their three small children. The family settles into a police house on a ridge above the moors, on the edge of Aidensfield, a North Yorkshire village that Nick considers one of the loveliest places in the country. This first volume of the Heartbeat books, which inspired the popular 1990s television series, is set in the 1960s.

Away from the bustle of city policing, Constable Nick's work is as varied as the eccentric villagers he serves. He meets them with humour, patience and a sense of professionalism. His cases range from a clever pony that keeps slipping its fences to a woman running through town without a stitch on, and a band of Canadian timber wolves that turns up in a bus shelter. He also gets to know the locals on his beat, including Claude Jeremiah Greengrass, whose lurcher Alfred brings him a summons for a dog worrying livestock.

The books also introduce Nick's colleagues at the station, among them Sergeant Oscar Blaketon, who runs a tight ship with a tough exterior and a warm heart, and PC Alf Ventress, the easygoing older constable whose knowledge of the district is essential. Readers who enjoy the gentle, character-driven village stories of James Herriot or Gerald Durrell may find much to like here.