Jude Gray
Jude grew up in a small, terraced house with her mother in Malvern. Whilst studying for a degree in primary teaching she met fellow student Ben who introduced her to Adam Gray – a sheep farmer from the other side of the Malvern Hills who stole Jude’s heart. After ten wonderful years of marriage, where Jude threw herself into life on Malvern Farm, Adam lost a short battle with cancer and Jude found herself dealing with the ups and downs of farming on her own. Many thought she’d give up and sell up, but they’d not bargained on Jude’s tenacity and gumption as she tackled the ever-increasing issues of running a modern farm head-on.
Pippi
Malvern Farm has always had an assortment of working Border Collie dogs to help manage the sheep but Pippi is the first to have been taken in solely as a family pet. Jude came across her in the Malvern Gazette as one of an abandoned litter and was quick to rescue her and even quicker to fall for her bonkers charm. Not completely untrainable but certainly not suitable for running sheep, she proved an invaluable source of comfort and friendship when Jude became a widow at such a young age.
Lucy and Sebbie
Although they share a father, Jude and her half-sister Lucy could not be more different. Jude is a country girl right down to her core whereas Lucy was brought up a two-hour drive away in Maidenhead and will own up to being a townie through and through. She does, however, share Jude’s drive, passion and strong sense of right and wrong – family traits that are already shining through in her young son Sebbie. Lucy’s also willing to muck in and learn, which is essential when she comes for an extended stay on Malvern Farm during lambing.
Noah
It is fair to say that Jude would quite possibly have had to admit defeat and sell Malvern Farm if it wasn’t for the support, advice and help of her trusted shepherd, Noah. He is the third generation of shepherd to work with the Grays and lives in a tiny pink, stone cottage next to the farmhouse. What Noah doesn’t know about sheep husbandry is almost certainly not worth knowing and he provides a constant calmness in Jude’s life no matter what else is going on.
DS Binitra Khatri
Binnie Khatri grew up in the West Midlands and moved to Malvern to take up her first position as a detective sergeant quite recently. She is fiercely loyal and once she has the bit between her teeth, she will do everything she can to make sure justice is served. When she is called upon to investigate the first murder to hit Malvern Farm, Binnie strikes up a friendship with Jude as they discover just how much they have in common.