Carol's Notebook

There's been more murders in dear little Cherringham. And of course Sarah and Jack have to solve them. I enjoy these novella length mysteries. They're long enough for clues and suspects, but short enough that they have to keep moving. In "A Deadly Confession," the cops think Father Byrne died of a heart attack, which is true, but his old friend is convinced there's more to the story. Once again Sarah's internet skills come in handy. I like the old-fashioned denouement here, something this series doesn't usually have. It drags the whole motive(s) out into the open, but allows for a bit of grace in the handling of the whodunnit. Jack and Sarah have to solve the crime in "Blade in the Water," because there's no real evidence that a crime, aside from vandalism, has occurred. That's one of the tricks with cozy mysteries, giving a legitimate reason for the amateur and/or retired detective to need to solve the case, a...

Cherringham is a charming English village - aren't they all - that has more than its fair share of murders. Happily, Sarah, a web designer, a Jack, former NYPD, make a good team who can apparently solve the mysteries that for whatever reason people won't take to the police or that the police can't solve. I like that they are good friends, that Sarah's family and Jack are close but there's no romance, a hint that maybe it will happen eventually, but none of that will they/won't they garbage. And they both bring their own skills to the table. Sarah is good at talking to people and digging for information online. Jack is a little tough, prefers paper files to online and doesn't mind a little breaking and entering for a good cause. There are few situations he's afraid of, while this whole crime business is still fairly new to Sarah. "The Body in the Lake" was my least favorite....