I love a good Christmas mystery and this had all everything I could ask for. We've got a manor house turned hotel where a tension-filled family is spending the holiday. We've got a snowstorm, making transportation nearly impossible. And then one of the guests, press mogul Duncan Fern, is found dead. Susan, our amateur sleuth with two adorable dogs, is at Bishopstone Manor helping Meera, the owner/manager, who hurt her leg in a fall. Susan is convinced the man was murdered, even if the family and police would rather pretend otherwise.
The mystery was well put together. We had plenty of suspects all of whom had secrets. Duncan was mean, rich, and a bully. He gave plenty of people reason to want him dead.
This is the third mystery in the series, but worked fine as a stand-alone. Susan is likable even if she makes some odd decisions. And the island seems like a lovely place to live, discounting the occasional...
A Harvest Murder is the third of the Ham Hill mysteries. It can be read as a stand-alone, but I think, like most series, you get a fuller feel for the characters if you read them in order.
We have two mysteries here. The first is the missing farmer. It's no surprise he ends up dead - the title is A Harvest Murder - but who killed him is unclear. The second mystery is who is harassing Dan, the local artist. First, one of his donkeys is kidnapped and brought back, then one of his paintings in a gallery is destroyed.
Our sleuths are Imogen, who owns the local hotel, and former detective, Adam, who owns a local bar. A lot of the scenes take place in those locations, where people gather and talk and air their suspicions. The mysteries are well done, with several clues and enough suspects to keep you guessing. The townsfolk are a typically mixed...
It took me several chapters to become invested in Diamond Geezer. It's a gangland novel and there are no characters to really like, which makes sense, they're almost all up to their necks in drugs and the crime world. That being said, it turned out to be an engrossing story.
Nick is living a double life. He's a successful lawyer with all the privileges and tokens of upper-class life. At the same time, he's deeply involved in the Glasgow crime world. The book is mostly set on an estate in Glasgow, where Nick's grandma lives. The estate is more or less ruled by a mysterious character known as “The Undertaker,” who provides drugs, food, jobs. The people of the estate, most of whom are living in poverty and addicted to one thing or another, rely on him, even if they don't know who he is. It's interesting, though. They have to look out for themselves, but there is also a...
This is the second of the Ham Hill mysteries and, while it works as a stand-alone, you will definitely get to know the characters better by reading them in order. Adam is a pub owner and retired police officer and Imogene owns the local hotel. They are the main investigators, although this time around they have the help of a couple of friends, Steph, a reporter, and Dan, a painter. All four are competent and intelligent and each adds their own skills.
Belinda is the main suspect in the death, and her desperate mother asks for Adam's help. The local authorities deem the death an accident due to lack of evidence, but the local chief inspector asks Adam to continue looking into the case, not convinced it wasn't murder.
It turns out there are actually plenty of suspects, although no one has a really good motive. There are the investors who own the horse that Belinda rode. There are the grooms and...
Murder at the Gorge is number seven in the series, but the first I've read. It worked well as a stand-alone, but I feel like I might have been more invested in the relationship between Max and Libby and their wedding preparations if I had read the series from the beginning. Max Ramshore, a former financial advisor, and his fiancée Libby Forest, a baker and chocolate maker, have formed a private investigation agency and are sometimes called upon by the police to assist in local inquiries. They met later in life, both having been married with families before, and now are looking forward to their wedding in a few weeks' time. Then Max gets a call from his ex-wife, who he hasn't talked to in years. She wants his help; she thinks she's being stalked. Of course, Max agrees to meet her at a local park and then, on his way back to his car, he finds a dead body....
Amber asked me the other day why I read so many British books. I have a tendency to read bits of books that I find funny or interesting out loud and apparently a lot of them have had British slang/terms lately. I don't have an answer to that question, at least as far as current mystery writers go. I'm a huge fan of Golden Age mysteries, and most of those are British. I guess, I probably am drawn to books set in the present that have the same feeling, as A Village Murder certainly does.
A local businessman and town councillor has died and following his funeral, his daughter, Imogene, discovers the corpse of her soon-to-be-ex-husband in the greenhouse. She, of course, is the main suspect. Happily, her new friend and neighbor, is a former detective and believes she's innocent. Between the two of them, they dig up some clues and talk to several other folks who might have had reason...
