A Lively Form of Death (A Chief Inspector Morrissey Mystery #1)

Author:  Kay Mitchell
Genre:   Mystery

Hardcover; Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9780373261062
Worldwide Mystery
251
Various Prices
September 1, 1992

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Marion Walsh, the town's local femme fatale, loses her housekeeper to a bottle of poisoned milk - a bottle most likely intended for her.  Helen Goddard, whose husband, Robert, had been shamelessly seduced by Marion's charms, is the logical suspect, especially after Marion is brutally murdered.

But Chief Inspector Morrissey begins to sense something twisted and evil, something beyond the obvious love triangle everyone seems willing to accept - particularly after a convenient suicide and confessional note.

A killer has gotten away with three near-perfect murders - perhaps more as the trail leads back to an unsolved case of missing boys...and to a hideous mesh of perversion, blackmail and deadly secrets.

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Helen Goddard knows her husband is sleeping with Marion Walsh.  She hasn't done anything about it because she's not sure what she wants to do.  But there's gossip - mainly between the charwoman for Marion and the milkman's wife.  And everyone in town knows about it.  Marion's char, Betty Hartley, isn't above making a snide remark or two to Marion, and also not above stealing a pint or two of milk, figuring she won't notice.

But Little Henge is about to change:  Betty steals a pint of milk from Marion - milk that's tainted with cyanide, and was more than likely meant for Marion.  Now the police are called, and Chief Inspector John Morrissey travels to Little Henge to question, search, and discover what he can.  What he discovers is that Betty's cohort, Ida - the milkman's wife - has a lot to say about the murder and who might be suspect - namely, Helen Goddard, whose husband was having an affair with Marion.

But Morrissey doesn't expect to find that he's attracted to Helen; mostly because she reminds him of his wife, and he doesn't want to believe she's capable of murder.  After all, Marion is an unlikable woman, and he decides right away there's more to the murder than she's saying.  But it's not until Marion is also murdered - brutally - that he begins his investigation in earnest, and what he finds isn't at all what he expected...

This is the first in a short series of books by Kay Mitchell.  I can only say after reading it I wish she would have gone on with the series.  It is that good.  Really.  The mystery starts almost immediately with the death of Betty, and we learn that Marion doesn't want anyone involved in her life - so much so, she destroys evidence.  But it is what comes after that which is so fascinating to read.

Morrissey is very thorough, and keeps his emotions in check while he investigates.  He uses his logic at every step of the way, and even when it leads him down one road, if he's not positive it's the right one, he begins again until it leads him down another.  In this he differs from his sergeant, Barrett, who is not only ruled by emotion, he's convinced the murderer is Helen's husband Robert.  He rankles at being dismissed by Morrissey, because he thinks he's smarter than him.  But Morrissey is no fool.  He knows what Barrett is about - and he also knows Barrett has more on his mind than a murder case.

But then Morrissey's wife Margaret tells him of something that's bothering her - it seems on one of her committees they were discussing the disappearance of several boys from their son's school - more than would be expected, and asks him to look into it, which he promises to do when the case is settled.  However, when everything seems to be wrapped up nice and tight, Morrissey has questions...and those questions lead him down another path again...one he discovers quite by accident and ties both cases together.

The book is written very well, with characters who are believable and animated; you are drawn into the story almost immediately and waiting for the next piece of information to fall in your lap.  Morrissey is quite interesting and I enjoyed watching him put the pieces together as he gleaned information from various sources.  Small things discovered had him chasing clues that lead to something else to add to the puzzle.  Red herrings abound, and it is up to the reader to decipher them along with the Inspector.

It is by chance that I discovered this book and I liked it so well that I have been searching out the rest in the series.  This book is a British police procedural of the finest and should be read by anyone who enjoys the same.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Lively-Form-Death-Kay-Mitchell/dp/0373261063/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2906766186

More on Kay Mitchell's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/kay-mitchell/

Whatever's Been Going on at Mumblesby? (A Flaxborough Mystery #12)

Author:  Colin Watson
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Paperback: Digital Book
ISBN #:  9780385183826; 9781571259090
Prelude Books
172 Pages
Various Prices; $.99 Amazon
July 26, 2018 (Reprint)

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In Flaxborough's posh neighboring village, Mumblesby, the local solicitor, Richard Daspard Loughbury, has suddenly died.

Natural causes it appears, but DI Purbright and the ever-helpful Miss Lucy Teatime are taken aback by the quality of Loughbury's art collection -- including a Paul Klee, a Corot, and even a fragment of the "True Cross".

All seem to have been acquired locally and the question of blackmail hangs in the air.  Loughbury's decidedly un-posh widow, Zoe, is less than grief-stricken, as are a cast of colourful characters from randy farmers to gin-soaked country types.  Then the recent suicide of a local farmer's wife also begins to look questionable.

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When a solicitor named Loughbury passes away in Mumblesby, Detective Inspector Purbright attends the funeral in lieu of his superior Mr. Chubb.  While there he hears a woman screaming for help and  follows her to the late solicitor's home, finding not only the young widow locked in a bathroom but for some odd reason clothes strewn upon a small heater - smoldering - and a propane tank in a bedroom.  He also sees something odd: a small piece of wood trapped permanently inside a steel cage that has been sealed into the wall, labeled the "True Cross".  Curious indeed.

He waits until the widow, Zoe, and her mother return from the funeral before questioning her about the attempted arson.  While she seems to ignore the implication that someone is attempting to murder her, Purbright decides to seek the truth of the matter and sends his detective sergeant Sidney Love to the village to see if he can discover any clues.  What Love finds out is there are many unsavory characters living there, and not a appears to like Zoe, considering her no more than a concubine who was lucky enough to have been given Loughbury's entire estate.  But when that estate includes objects d'art that apparently do not belong to Loughbury at all, things become even more curious than before.

When a strange "prank" befalls the widow, Purbright is determined more than ever to come to the truth of the matter, including letting the widow know that he isn't the fool she at first took him for...

This is the twelfth book in the series and I am sad to say, the last, as Mr. Watson passed away soon after writing it.  I have read all of the series and have been completely satisfied with every one of them.  I have to add in all honesty however, that no matter how much I tried, I could not like the character of Zoe.  She seemed harsh and uncaring to me; someone who believes money can buy her an entreé into society, and otherwise will force her way in if necessary.  Money can't buy class, no matter who you are or how much of it you have.  She's not a person I would care to know personally.

Don't get me wrong; there are many other characters in books who were born low, married into money and were just wonderful.  It was more that I thought Zoe was an opportunist, and not in a nice way.  She seemed cold and calculating to me, and I don't care for that sort of person.

The rest of the book was, as always, highly entertaining and delightful to read.  DI Purbright is as clever as ever, ferreting out the truth as he always does, no matter how well hidden people think they may have left it.  He gets to the heart of everything by going over the evidence piece by piece, and watching him connect the dots, as it were, is the best part of each and every one of these books.

When Purbright realizes that a young woman from Mumblesby had not committed suicide as was agreed upon by both her husband and the court, it is exactly as I stated - Purbright takes the information given and parses it to discover who wanted her dead and why; he finds that the death is connected to Loughbury and several of the villagers; and he also learns that each of them have given Loughbury a very expensive item indeed; but for what reason?  Is is tied to the death of the woman, who passed over a year ago?  It is interesting how Purbright takes a small clue Loughbury had in his possession (along with the fact of those above-mentioned articles) and deduces the truth.

All in all, the ending, as always, leaves us with our own conjectures as to the final outcome; but it is enough to realize that justice has been done.  While I am saddened that there will be no more in this series, I am heartened by the fact that I was able to read them.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Whatevers-Going-Mumblesby-Flaxborough-Mystery-ebook/dp/B07BPCPVX3/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2534532604

More on Colin Watson's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/colin-watson/                     

Plaster Sinners (A Flaxborough Mystery #11)

Author:  Colin Watson
Genre:  Mystery

[Hardcover; Paperback;] Digital Book
ISBN #:  9780385173384; 9780413516701
Farrago Publishing
160 Pages
[Various Prices]; $3.99 Amazon
July 12, 2018 (Reissue)

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Sergeant Love is a sucker for a picturesque country cottage.  

But he finds himself quite literally knocked out by the little bas-relief plaster cottage that's on display at Flaxborough's antiques auction.  This pretty but rather crudely painted trinket mysteriously sells for hundreds of pounds having sparked a heated bidding war, while the Sergeant gets floored by a would-be cottage thief.

So DI Purbright, teamed up with a world-weary brother officer down from London, must dig deep into the dubious past of the local gentry, the laconic Moldhams, in their crumbling stately pile, to find out how the little plaster picture leads to a tale of heirlooms and murder.

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Sergeant Sidney Love has some time before he's scheduled to go to work, so he stops at an auction.  While there he sees a box of supposed junk items, and among them is a plaster cast of a little cottage.  Sergeant Love thinks his young lady would enjoy this, and he's decided to bid on the lot.  But while standing there he doesn't notice the man right behind him, the one who has a heavy doorknob in his hand.  He also doesn't notice when the man hits him in the back of the head with the knob, sending him straight to the floor.

While unconscious, the man attempts to remove the plaster picture from Sid's hands, which are underneath his body, but is unable to do so.  Upon waking, he realizes that no one has seen anyone about.  An ambulance is sent for, and they don't take him seriously when he tells him he's a police officer nor that some unknown person hit him.

While at the hospital, he is visited by Detective Inspector Purbright, who takes the matter very seriously.  After getting the details from Sergeant Love, he decides to visit the auction himself and tells someone there that they are not to release the contents of this lot, regardless of the purchaser.  He is surprised when the bidding tops nearly 400 pounds.

Once he discovers who the fingerprints on the knob belong to, things get even more interesting.  And when a detective inspector from London arrives because he knows of the attacker, the story becomes even more bizarre as they start digging into the origins of the box of rubbish.  When a body turns up in the river that is connected to the case, Purbright finds that he now has a murder on his hands as well...

This book is another delightful entry in the Flaxborough Chronicles written by Colin Watson.  It is quite as involved as all the others, and we are given bits and pieces throughout the story that all eventually connect to each other.  Purbright is always enjoyable to read about and I love the methods he uses while solving a case.

We follow Purbright and crew as they dig into the reasons why anyone would be interested in a cheap plaster cast of a cottage.  What we come away with is the fact that all is not what it seems, and someone was - and still is - willing to do whatever it takes to keep the cottage in the hands it was intentionally meant for.

The mystery itself was a tight one, with all the threads weaving together nicely at the end.  It is always fascinating to see the means people will go to in order to keep their secrets hidden, and makes me grateful that I will never know any like this group of miscreants.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Plaster-Sinners-Flaxborough-Mystery-Watson-ebook/dp/B07C92MWWX/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2430202320

More on Colin Watson's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/colin-watson/

Blue Murder (A Flaxborough Mystery #10)

Author:  Colin Watson
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9780413461308; 9780749306694
Farrago Publishing
160 Pages
Various Prices; $3.99 Digital Amazon
June 28, 2018

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A peculiar pornographic movie has been wowing viewer in the Gulf.

One of the more scurrilous English Sunday papers gets a tip-off that this exotic blue production stars respected residents of the coastal town of Flaxborough, and a team led by the well-known investigative journalist Clive Grail arrives in a Rolls Royce.

Word of the looming scandal soon gets out and the town's quixotic mayor, Alderman Charlie Hockley, spurred on by the loan of some antique duelling pistols, issues a challenge to Grail!  DI Purbright's stern warning falls on deaf ears, but before the duel can take place a far more sinister fatality occurs...

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When members of a newspaper come to town in order to find out which residents of Flaxborough have participated in a blue film, there is immediate outrage by the mayor.  This is fueled by the fact of an oculist who has recently purchased a pair of dueling pistols and wants to get some use out of them.  When the mayor goes to the local newspaper editor, Kimble, the oculist, Hoole, is there and they convince Mayor Hockley to challenge Clive Grail to a duel to defend the town's honor.

But while Grail has no desire to participate, he's also in a bit of a quandary.  It seems that he and the rest of his crew have watched the film, along with Kimble and one of his reporters - who informs them that there is a bit of a problem with it.  In fact, if it were to get out, Grail could be made a laughingstock.

So Grail and his cronies devise a way to exit the situation:  fake a kidnapping and demand the film never be shown - and, as his "friends" have devised among themselves without his knowledge - the added bit of a 'ransom' of fifteen thousand pounds.  But something goes terribly wrong, and that's when DI Purbright steps in...

This is another wonderful mystery from the mind of Colin Watson.  DI Purbright learns about the duel from his chief constable, Mr. Chubb, and does his best to inform the parties that it might be better if it didn't go off, being illegal and all.  But then he learns about the film and when he discovers something more fatal along the way, it is up to himself and his team of officers to try and find the truth of the matter.

It is enjoyable indeed to watch our Purbright at work as he puts the clues together, and I love this series and wish there were more (alas, it was not to be as Mr. Watson passed away in 1982).  Purbright is an intelligent man who has a way of watching people and learning things from them without even apparently trying.  The endings are not traditional, as it were, but still things are always wrapped up tidily.  However, while they can be read as stand alone novels, I suggest you begin with the first and read them in order.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Flaxborough-Mystery-Colin-Watson-ebook/dp/B07BPHCRM7/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2425041318

More on Colin Watson's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/colin-watson/

One Man's Meat (A Flaxborough Mystery #9)

Author:  Colin Watson
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9780413347800; 9780413516909
Farrago Publishing
192 Pages
Various Prices
June 14, 2018 (Reissue)

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With Old World charm and a military air, Mortimer Rothermere makes a most convincing conman.

Just now he is employed by the Cultox corporation, to ensure that no breath of scandal taints the reputation of their successful pet food company near Flaxborough, as the acrimonious marriage of its unsavoury MD, David Harton and his wife Julia, threatens to boil over.

But even Mortimer's habitual sang-froid deserts him in the face of ruthless villany and actual murder - what a relief that an old friend lives nearby, the incomparable Miss Lucy Teatime, and she is willing to dig out the dark secrets of canned WOOF (with turkey), 'the caviar of the canine world'.

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A young man named Tring is having a fun night at a local fair when for a seemingly unknown reason, he falls to his death from a ride.  But his family is having none of it and insist that his death was murder.  After the general inquest, DI Purbright isn't sure what to make of it, but he's willing to listen to what Tring's grandmother has to say on the subject...

Julia and David Harton heartily dislike each other and he wants a divorce.  Badly.  But not enough to part with any of his money, which is why she won't grant him one.  Yet she soon receives in the post a very strange letter from a company called "Happy Endings" that professes to offer her just that.

When she meets with the sender - a Mr. Mortimer Rothermere - he merely states that he has been retained by someone who knows of her plight and is willing to offer her a way to achieve her ends - to the tune of ￡20,000.  After hearing the details she agrees.  She is merely to "disappear" for a time, leaving trace evidence of her husband having done away with her.  Then, when he is desperate for her to return, she will - but only if he meets her price...

Somehow these two events are related, but how?  And will Purbright be able to connect them, thus solving the disappearance of Mrs. Harton and the death of Mr. Tring?  Perhaps...with a little luck, the mild assistance of Miss Lucy Teatime, and the reluctant help of Mr. Rothermere...

While at first this seems to be a tale of the murder of a young man and a plan to convince a husband his wife has been kidnapped, it soon becomes something else entirely.  The young man's grandmother goes to Purbright telling him that a picture of her grandson is missing, along with the silver frame it was in - taken by a supposed reporter - and also missing is a small round medal that he had possession of.  Who would want either of these items?

Then when Julia Harton agrees to a plan to be "kidnapped" in order to force her husband - who wants a divorce but does not want to give her any kind of financial settlement - to do so, it is soon found out that something very different than what Mrs. Harton had agreed to has been put in place.

But while these two things seem to have nothing in common, it turns out that they most certainly do.  And when Miss Lucilla Teatime pays a visit to a friend and discovers that one of her beloved dogs has passed away it only adds to the mystery...

What seems like a couple of forthright cases soon turn into a mystery indeed for Detective Inspector Purbright.  Certain things start to come to light, both for him and for the 'grieving' husband who begins to realize that things are starting to go awry; partly because Mr. Rothermere - who has begun to realize that he might have made a terrible mistake - turns to Miss Teatime for help in unraveling himself from the situation.

When Mrs. Harton also begins to realize her role in the matter may not have been as straightforward as she thought, she also wonders how to extricate herself and that is when things start falling into place for Purbright.  With plenty of twists and turns, it is delightful indeed to watch everything weave itself into place giving us a nice historical mystery; while those today are indeed much more complicated, this is still a very nice endeavor.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/One-Mans-Meat-Flaxborough-Mystery-ebook/dp/B07BPHCNTD/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2421853169

More on Colin Watson's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/colin-watson/

Charity Ends at Home (The Flaxborough Chronicles Book 5)

Author:  Colin Watson
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Paperback: Digital Book
ISBN # 9780413443502; 9780571252879
[Faber & Faber]; Farrago Publishing
192 Pages
[Various Prices]; $3.99 Amazon
[1968] April 19, 2018

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"I am in great danger...I know that murder is going to be the reward for my uncomplaining loyalty."

This letter containing heartfelt urgent pleas for help is received by three very eminent citizens of Flaxborough, including the Chief Constable himself.  So when one of the town's most tireless charity workers, Mrs. Henrietta Palgrove, is found the wrong way up in her garden pond, a connection seems likely.

Yet Detective Inspector Purbright finds the case does not quite add up and it takes the acute wits of his old friend, the ever-charming Miss Lucilla Teatime, as well as the more unwitting help of Mortimer Hive, indifferent private investigator and accomplished ladies' man, to tease out the real murderer.

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When Detective Inspector Purbright visits his superior, Chubb, the man is in possession of a a letter that seems, for all intents and purposes, to foretell of a murder not yet committed.  But it was addressed only “My Dear Friend” and unsigned.  While it purported to have a picture of the would-be victim, there is no picture attached.  Stranger yet, it seems that Coroner Amblesby and the editor of the local newspaper have also received copies of the same letter.  While at first it appears to be only a crank, when a prominent woman is murdered - in one of the ways mentioned in the letter - it is up to Purbright and his sergeant, Sid Love, to find out who wanted the woman dead.

At the same time, a private detective named Mortimer Hive is on the trail of a pair of illicit lovers, but is having a problem - his camera has been stolen and his car has been disabled - yet the intrepid detective isn’t going to let either stop him, and proceeds on foot to the little love cottage where he finds one lover but not the other.

What these two incidents have in common seem nothing at all; yet eventually it becomes clear to Purbright that they are indeed connected, and with the help of Mr. Hive and the redoubtable Lucy Teatime, Purbright may very well find a murderer who has been hiding in plain sight all along...

This is the fifth book in the Flaxborough Chronicles and is a very good entry in the series.  Purbright is once again in top form, along with Love, whose reasoning process, while slower than his D.I.’s, is still right on the money.  He goes about solving the murder methodically, finding the clues and placing them exactly where they’re supposed to be.

This is what makes a good mystery, and Colin Watson has a knack not only for doing so, but leaving us with endings, while not entirely complete, still leave us the answers we have been looking for.  As it is, I have enjoyed every book in the series thus far, and am looking forward to reading the next.  Highly recommended. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B9RK4S6/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2396488473

More on Colin Watson's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/colin-watson/

Lonelyheart 4122 (The Flaxborough Chronicles Book 4)

Author:  Colin Watson
Genrre:  Mystery

[Hardcover; Paperback; Audio Cassette;] Digital Book
ISBN #:  9789997409119; 9780571252015; 9780745164359
[Faber & Faber]; Farrago Publishing
160 Pages
[Various Prices] $3.99 Amazon
[1967] April 5, 2018

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Whatever happened to Lil?

Flaxborough butcher Arthur Spain is worried that his sister-in-law hasn't been in touch lately, so he pays her a visit.  But Lil's not at home, and by her porch door are a dozen bottles of curdling milk...Alarmed, he calls the local police, D.I. Purbright and his ever-reliable Sergeant Sid Love.

It transpires Lillian Bannister is the second middle-aged woman in the town to mysteriously vanish, and the link is traced to a local lonely hearts agency called Handclasp House.  So when a vulnerable-seeming lady with the charming title of Lucy Teatime signs up for a romantic rendezvous, the two detectives try extra hard to look out for her.  But Miss Teatime has a few surprises of her own up her dainty sleeve!

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When a local butcher visits Detective Inspector Purbright with the tale of his missing sister-in-law Lillian, Purbright remembers that recently another woman about the same age had gone missing.  After searching Lillian’s home, he finds three letters from a suitor and a checkbook with a check made out to a local matrimonial agency, and he recalls the previous mission woman had also done the same.

After visiting the agency, Handclasp House, he acquires the name of a new client, Lucy Teatime.  He sets his sergeant, Sid Love, to keep an eye on the lady in question while he searches for answers.  Upon further investigation, he learns that there was a break-in at the the agency, and that the amiable Miss Teatime has been able to elude not only Sergeant Love, but another officer as well.  

Convinced that the man who is courting Miss Teatime - for he is sure there is a man - is the same one who had courted the other two ladies who have still not been found, he is more than ever sure that there is a con artist at work who is not only fleecing these women of whatever means they have, but that he has something to do with their disappearance as well.  And while it seems that Miss Teatime is sure the man she is seeing is not the same one Purbright has warned her against, he is.  But will she be able to save herself before she meets the same fate, or will Purbright fail in rescuing her?

Once again we are visiting the market town of Flaxborough and the domain of Detective Inspector Purbright, and once again he is on the trail of a criminal, this time a man who joins a lonelyhearts club in order to fleece vulnerable women of their savings and then dispose of them.  But he’s been elusive so far, and since he manages to change his appearance, no one can give a description.  He also manages to meet in public places that seem ordinary at first, but in being so, no one pays him nor the lady much attention at all; and this is why his scheme has managed to foster so well.

But this time he’s come across two formidable adversaries: Purbright and the redoubtable Miss Teatime, who is nobody’s fool.  In fact, Miss Teatime has a few secrets and surprises of her own which he doesn’t count on.  It is once again a tale well-written with memorable characters who are lively and well-drawn, and a delight to read about.

When the ending comes we are given the requisite surprises that Mr. Watson manages to do so well; I would suggest that anyone reading his books does not jump to the end to sneak a peak at the outcome; it is so much more fun if you read the entire book through.  I absolutely love these books and am looking forward to the next in the series.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Lonelyheart-Flaxborough-Mystery-Colin-Watson-ebook/dp/B07B9MV35J/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2396473894

More on Colin Watson's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/colin-watson/

Coffin, Scarcely Used (A Flaxborough Mystery Book 1)

Author:  Colin Watson
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:   9780754086024; 9781601870162
Farrago Publishing
210 Pages
$36.96; $14.95; $.99 Amazon
February 22, 2018

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In the respectable seaside town of Flaxborough, the equally respectable councillor Harold Carobleat is laid to rest.  Cause of death:  pneumonia.

But he is scarcely cold in his coffin before Detective Inspector Purbright, affable and annoyingly polite, must turn out again to examine the death of Carobleat's neighour, Marcus Gwill, former proprietor of the local rag, the Citizen.  This time it looks like foul play, unless a surfeit of marshmallows had lead the late and rather unlamented Mr. Gwill to commit suicide by electrocution.  ('Power without responsibility', murmurs Purbright.)

How were the dead men connected, both to each other and to a small but select band of other town worthies?  Purbright becomes intrigued by a stream of advertisements Gwill was putting in the Citizen, for some very oddly named antique items...

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When one man is killed in a village it isn't really news unless a few months later another turns up dead - this time a suicide; and connected to the other.  Now, it seems at first all cut and dried, but to Inspector Purbright, a highly intelligent policeman, he knows that it's foul play.  But proving it is going to be another matter.

Not to mention that the reason for both deaths escape him at the time; he doesn't seem to have any headway by questioning the dead man's companions; nor does he get anywhere questioning his housekeeper.  But then, something occurs to him: it is only a matter of a book at the home of the deceased Mr. Gwill, and a list of repetitive advertisements that bring his attention.  And our intrepid inspector is on his way to solving a very intricate and detailed operation of the highly delicate sort that could just change everything...

What a delightful surprise this book was.  I have never read anything by Mr. Watson before, but I can tell you that I am going to read the rest in this series.  As far as British police procedurals go, this is one of the best.  I can almost see it come to life, with the late Alistair Sim playing Inspector Purbright; a man who knows in his gut what is going on around him, and uses his wits to discover the truth of the matter.

What seems at first as cut and dried isn't; and by use of several policemen Purbright manages to get all the pieces of the jigsaw and put them together.  And what a puzzle he has fashioned!  This is an older book, but masterfully written, and is right up there with the best of them. Murder, blackmail, and scandalous immorality are woven within indeed make for a remarkable mystery that is very well written.

When all is said and done and the ending comes, we realize how simply enjoyable it was to read.  I look forward to the next book by this late author.  Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Coffin-Scarcely-Used-Flaxborough-Mystery-ebook/dp/B079JHF82B/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2325323676

More on Colin Watson's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/colin-watson/

Death of a Ghost (A Hamish Macbeth Mystery)

Author:  M. C. Beaton
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Audio CD; Ebook; Audible
ISBN #:  9781455558308; 9781478938958
Grand Central Publishing
256 Pages
$17.10; $30.00; $13.99 Amazon
February 21, 2017

✮✮✮✮✮

When Police Sergeant Hamish Macbeth hears reports of a haunted castle near Drim, he assumes the eerie noises and lights reported by the villagers are just local teenagers going there to smoke pot, or worse, inject themselves with drugs.  Still, Hamish decides that he and his policeman, Charlie "Clumsy" Carson, will spend the night at the ruined castle to get to the bottom of the rumors once and for all.

There's no sign of any ghost...but then Charlie disappears through the floor.  It turns out he's fallen into the cellar.  And what Hamish and Charlie find there is worse than a ghost: a dead body propped against the wall.  Waiting for help to arrive, Hamish and Charlie leave the castle just for a moment--to eat bacon baps--but when they return, the body is nowhere to be seen.

It's clear something strange - and deadly - is going on at the castle, and Hamish must get to the bottom of it before the "ghost" can strike again...

********

Once again our unambitious Sergeant Macbeth is back in a new tale of mystery and intrigue.  When he and his policeman Charlie Carson are called to a supposedly haunted castle in Drim by the new owner, Hanover "Handy" Ebrington, a retired superintendent from Glasgow, they take the task willingly, thinking it is merely the wind playing tricks.  After spending the night in the castle and finding no ghosts, they decide to do a bit of exploring, hoping to find the source of the 'moans' that were often heard in the night.  What they do find is a bit more than that: when Charlie falls through a hole in the floor they discover a body.  But once they call for backup and go to find the body, it's gone.  

Sure that smugglers are somewhere about, Hamish has more on his plate than this: Drim's local minister Peter Haggis seems to be taken with Olivia Sinclair, an industrialist's wife, while his sister Sheila is interested in the husband, Selwyn.  And poor Hamish is trying to avoid women altogether, while the wife of Lochdubh's own minister, Mrs. Wellington, has it in her mind that Hamish needs a good woman and sets about summoning her niece Heather, intent on putting them together.

But once the lost body reappears, and there is another murder, Hamish is sure there is more to the story than just smugglers at bay and he is determined to find the truth of the killings all the while dodging the machinations of Mrs. Wellington to see him wed, and his nemesis Blair to see him out of the police force.  And yet there are more subplots woven within, all balancing each other out and a lively part of the final tale.

What we have is quite an involved story, with plenty of threads going out in all directions, and it is up to Hamish to pull them all together and twist them tightly into one coil as a single unit.  With his policeman's instinct and his Scottish intuition, this he does beautifully.  But no, the book does not end with the discovery at last of the murderer; Ms. Beaton pulls together the rest of the tale by gathering each subplot collectively as if it were the easiest thing in the world to do, and leaves us yearning for the subsequent book in the series, if only to find out where Hamish will next find himself.  I, for one, heartily await it and hope it is to be soon.  Highly recommended.                                                                                      

https://www.amazon.com/Death-Ghost-Hamish-Macbeth-Mystery/dp/1455558303/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1893166560

More on M. C. Beaton's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/m-c-beaton/

Dead Loudmouth (Loon Lake Fishing Mystery #16)

Author:  Victoria Houston
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Paperback; Ebook
9781440568459; 9781440568442
Tyrus Books
208 Pages
June 1, 2016

Five Stars

It's a bright summer morning in Loon Lake when Police Chief Lewellyn Ferris is called to the scene of a horrific accident that occurred in the dead of night at a local gentleman's club.  the club is owned by one of the victims, a member of the private Deer Creek Fishing and Hunting Preserve and the scion of a wealthy family.  When the county coroner is unavailable due to a car accident, Chief Ferris deputizes her close friend and fellow fly-fisherman, retired dentist "Doc" Osborne, to step in.

Osborne's discovery of mysterious footprints confirms Chief Ferris's suspicions: this is no accident; it's murder.  Leaning on Doc Osborne for his forensic and interrogation skills, Lew also hopes to enlist the help of Ray Pradt, fishing guide and expert tracker.  But Ray's time is limited as he is coaching the University of Wisconsin's fishing team in a muskie fishing tournament.  Things get complicated when Doc Osborne's granddaughter disappears on the first day of the tournament.  Sunny June days turn dark as a desperate search ensues.

********

Lewellyn (Lew) Ferris is the police chief of small town Loon Lake, Wisconsin.  She's just getting comfortable in the fact that there hasn't been any crimes committed lately when she receives a phone call from her deputy Roger Adamczak that there's been what appears to be an accident:  it seems a couple were crushed to death on a piano that was hoisted to the ceiling while they were in the middle of having sex (to be blunt).

It turns out the dead couple are Chet Wright and Tiffany Niedermeier.  Chet is the owner of the club where they were found, and Tiffany was one of his employees.  While what they were doing was obvious to anyone, why they were on the piano, and one that was connected to lines which allowed it to be hoisted to the ceiling, was not.

With the head coroner involved in an accident and in the hospital, Lew must depend on Dr. Paul "Doc" Osborne, deputy coroner, with certification of the deaths until the crime lab crew can arrive from Wausau to help out.  Doc has helped her before; she depends on him noticing things she might have missed, and this case is no different.  When finished examining the bodies, he notices something not readily visible: two sandy footprints on a table.  When he brings it to the attention of Lew, she requests that Ray Pradt, a master tracker, to check a perimeter outside the club and see if he can find any more clues to who might be involved in the deaths.

Ray is also coaching the Wisconsin State College fishing team, and has offered Doc's granddaughter Mason a job helping out.  Mason, eleven years old, is like her grandfather and enjoys fishing; she's excited to be doing this and eager to learn in the process.

But as Lew carries on the investigation, learning that it wasn't an accident but a double homicide, she also learns that there are people who may have wanted Chet Wright dead:  his widow Karen, on whom he had been cheating for some time; and three friends whom he had been defrauding.  But what surprises her is that there are even more who might have wanted Tiffany dead:  her co-worker Nina Krezminski, for one, and, as it turns out, everyone else she came in contact with.  Tiffany, by all accounts, was not a nice person, and nobody seemed to like her - except Chet.  Which makes for a very interesting situation that Lew is left to untangle.

But Lew gets a break when a deer cam is found in a tree outside the club, with its camera trained on the back entrance.  When it is discovered that the camera belongs to Joyce Harmon, the janitor who found the bodies, Lew thinks she might have gotten a break.  But Joyce explains that she bought the camera because her supervisor, Fred Smith, is looking for a reason to fire her, and she needs the job.  Fred, for his part, has known Chet's widow Karen since they were children and Karen saved him from a fire at his home.  But what is also discovered on the camera is someone who was entering the club on the night of the murders; but since the person was covered head to foot and never faced the camera, it makes her job no easier than before; she still needs to discover if there is anything in the image on the camera that will help her find the killer.

To complicate matters, while Mason is working for Ray, she goes missing; and the murder investigation is temporarily suspended to find her, leaving Doc Osborne frightened and desperate, and Ray and his boys searching along with the police to locate her...

This was an excellent mystery.  While not deeply enmeshed in suspense, it was well written and the characters are fleshed out and convincing.  We sympathize with Doc when he agonizes over his granddaughter; we see the way Lew is sifting through clues and trying to come up with answers.  It makes for a very good book, with people who are interesting and who you might want to spend time with.

  

Sometimes you have to ignore letting others in on the plot because in doing so would give too much away in solving the murder, and this is one of those books.  Suffice it to say that when the murderer was discovered, it made sense while at the same time seeming rather sad.  This book is the 16th Loon Lake book, and proves that a series need not become stale as it grows.  Highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Loudmouth-Victoria-Houston/dp/1440568456/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1621396112

More on Victoria Houston's books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/victoria-houston/                                                                                            

Bryant & May and the Burning Man: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery

Author:  Christopher Fowler
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover, E-book
ISBN #:  9780345547682
Bantam Publishing
416 Pages
$19.26 Amazon; $12.99 Kindle
December 15, 2015

Five Stars

No case is too curious for Arthur Bryant and John May, London's most ingenious detectives.  But with their beloved city engulfed in turmoil, they'll have to work fast to hold a sinister killer's feet to the fire.

In the week before Guy Fawkes Night, London's peaceful streets break out in sudden unrest.  Enraged by a scandal involving a corrupt financier accused of insider trading, demonstrators are rioting outside the Findersbury Private Bank, chanting, marching, and growing violent.  But when someone hurls a Molotov cocktail at the bank's front door, killing a homeless man on its steps, Bryant, May, and the rest of the Peculiar Crimes Unit is called in.  Is this an act of protest gone terribly wrong?  Or a devious, premeditated murder?

Their investigation heats up when a second victim is reported dead in similar fiery circumstances.  May discovers the latest victim has ties to the troubled bank, and Bryant refuses to believe this is mere coincidence.  As the riots grow more intense and the body count climbs, Bryant and May hunt for a killer who's adopting incendiary methods of execution, on a snaking trail of clues with roots in London's history of rebellion, anarchy, and harsh justice.  Now, they'll have to throw themselves in the line of fire before the entire investigation goes up in smoke.

********

Arthur Bryant and John May are two senior detectives in the Peculiar Crimes Unit.  By senior, I mean that they are both getting on in years - but that doesn't mean either of them can't do their job.  In fact, they are both very good at what they do.  And what they are doing right now is trying to solve another peculiar case that has come their way:  Anger is awash the streets of London; the city is in the midst of riots due to a corrupt financier accused of insider trading.  One night, someone hurls a Molotov cocktail at a bank, inadvertently killing a homeless man.  Or was it?  Bryant isn't so sure once he sees the site.  And when another man is murdered shortly after, burned to death, but in a different way, he's positive that this was no accident, and is going to find the truth no matter what it takes.  But the killer doesn't stop there, and Bryant is hot on the trail of a would-be serial killer.

Okay, I've made my pun because this is a very intense book and is not for those who expect a light-hearted read.  The deaths are gruesome and some uncomfortable to read, but once drawn in you will not be able to put the book down, because there are the whys and wherefores that need to be answered, and wondering what could cause someone go to such lengths to create this mayhem and murder.

But the killer is an elusive sort, and there are things that don't make sense to the detectives.  For example, why was the homeless man killed?  He was identified as one Freddy Weeks, and doesn't seem to have any bearing on the case at all.  And they know that there was no way anyone could have missed him in that doorway, so the killer knew that he was there.  Yet he was the first, and he was connected to the rest, Bryant is sure of it...

Arthur Bryant is getting on in years, and he's keeping secrets.  He's just as good a detective as he ever was, and is able to see the puzzle and put the pieces together.  But  John May is starting to worry about him; so much so, that he asks another officer, Janice Longstreet, if she will help keep track of Bryant when he himself isn't able to.  Even though she agrees and does her best, Bryant seems to know what they're trying to do and manages to escape every now and then by himself.  But he always finds his way back, and he always comes with information related to the case.  There are those who think that Bryant and May are getting too old to do the work they do, but many know that the PCU would be lost without them and their particular way of solving crimes.

There are several subplots going on - Bryant's secrets, May's love life, Longstreet's dreams, etc., and these add to the story and make it real somehow, giving a depth to characters that might otherwise remain one-dimensional, without detracting from the main story.  And when Bryant sends his superior Land into an unfamiliar situation, you begin to wonder what the reasoning is until, of course, Bryant makes everything clear.

The methods of this unit are not always the tried and true - in fact, it seems none of it is tried and true - but the methods work, nonetheless.  Bryant merely tells people what he wants them to do, and they do it, regardless of how bizarre and outlandish it might seem to do so; because, as everyone knows, Bryant and May get results.

When all is revealed at the end, and the pieces are put together, you can see how in the killer's mind, it all made sense.  Bryant had no doubt he was on the right trail, and if you follow along with him, you will be also.  With the ending, we see what a twisted mind is capable of.

I'm not going to tell you this was an easy read; it wasn't.  Mr. Fowler does not write "easy reads," but he writes very good ones.  Bryant and May have been with us a very long time (this is book #12) and they grow on you and you become involved in their lives and their history.  I am never disappointed in these books.  Highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Bryant-May-Burning-Man-Peculiar/dp/0345547683/

Goodreads:   https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1444284906

More on Christoper Fowler's books:  http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/christopher-fowler/

Malice in Maggody (Arly Hanks #1)

Author:  Joan Hess
Genre: Mystery

Four Stars

The last crime wave to hit Maggody, Arkansas, happened eight years back when a farmer's barn burned down and caught two teens in flaming delicto.  That's why Arly Hanks, back in the Ozarks after her marriage went sour in the Big Apple, figured taking the local sheriff's job would give her some needed R & R.  What she got was M & M - murder and malice.  First Raz Buchanon's favorite hunting dog was snatched, then an EPA official (who okayed dumping sewage in the town's favorite fishing hole) disappeared...and then a pretty barmaid turned up dead at the Flamingo Motel from real unnatural causes.  Now Arly's in danger of landing up the creek without a paddle - where the quiet of the Ozarks may be shattered by the sounds of death.

********

Arly Hanks is the sheriff of small-town Maggody, Arkansas.  Her office consists of herself and her deputy, Paulie Buchanon.  Things around town are quiet enough until there is an uproar over the possible pollution of the town's swimming/fishing hole.  When an EPA employee arrives in town, things begin to happen...

Things as in the EPA representative disappears.  Completely.  Then there is an escaped convict, Carl Withers, too.  So the state troopers are called in to find them, and the head trooper, Sergeant Plover, has rubbed Arly the wrong way, and while there isn't fighting, there is certainly animosity between them (even if it is temporary.)  When the local barmaid, Jaylee, is found dead at the Flamingo Motel (also owned by Arly's mother, Ruby Bee), things begin to heat up.

Now I could go into all the things happening in this book and all the characters - and there are a lot.  There is Ruby Bee, aforesaid owner of the motel and also a local bar and grill, Estelle, Ruby Bee's best friend and the local hairdresser, the four members of the city council who hired Arly (one of which who constantly rubs her the wrong way), and several other denizens who hang around the story and add a little local color; but there are too many to mention, so I won't.

The story itself was good: a missing man, a dead waitress, an escaped convict - who happened to be married to the dead waitress.  They all tie in together, and it was a pleasant enough read, even for an older book.

What I didn't like is that Ruby Bee and Estelle - 55 and 53, respectively - were referred to as "old women."  Old women?  Really?  That was a little offensive to almost any woman I would think.  I also didn't like the fact that both Arly and Sergeant Plover, even while off duty, drink beer and then get behind the wheel of a car.  Not a good idea, even if you've had only one beer.  This always rankles me in a book, that the author decides to allow their characters to drink and drive.  The last thing that bothered me was her name:  Her given name is Ariel, but her nickname is Arly?  How?  The nickname for Ariel would probably be Arie, not Arly.  You'd think Arly would be the nickname for Arlene, or something along those lines.  It just seemed "off" somehow.

Aside from these three things, I think the book is decent for the beginning of a series, and I will read the next to see if I will continue to do so.  Recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Malice-Maggody-Arly-Hanks-Mystery/dp/0451402367/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1205505056

Stiff Penalty (A Mattie Winston Mystery #6)

Author:  Annelise Ryan
Genre:  Mystery

Five Stars

Deputy coroner Mattie Winston knows a thing or two about dead bodies. That's why she's on the case of Derrick Ames, a high school math teacher stabbed to death with a barbecue fork straight to the heart. Sure, she's turned up some motives and a few suspects, but nothing adds up. Especially when the evidence points to Ames's teenage son. Newly pregnant Mattie can't believe it, even as her own long-estranged father may be following her. But one thing's certain, she'd better start figuring things out fast, or a deadly perpetrator could be subtracting two more victims from the population of Sorenson, Wisconsin.

********

Mattie Winston is the deputy coroner for the small town of Sorenson, Wisconsin.  Her life is usually in tumult, but now especially so, partly because she's pregnant, and hasn't yet told anyone; mainly because the father, Detective Hurley, is away from town and she figures she needs to tell him first, which she is avoiding as long as possible...why, we find out later...

When she is called to the scene of a homicide she finds a high school math teacher, Derrick Ames, stabbed through the heart with a barbeque fork.  But, as it turns out, that probably wasn't what killed him.  It seems he was also stabbed with a knife, and, as the saying goes, if one didn't kill him the other would have eventually.  When all the evidence points to Derrick's angry son Jacob - angry because his mother and father are divorced and he wants them to get back together, among other things - Mattie becomes convinced that Jacob didn't do it.

Then Hurley returns to town, and Mattie gets some other news:  the police are installing video cameras, and the videographer assigned to help them learn the system is is gorgeous - and she's first teamed with Hurley.  But while Hurley and Mattie haven't "solidified" their relationship, it doesn't stop her from being jealous and/or suspicious of the woman.

To top it off, someone is trying to kill Mattie.  At first it started with phone calls, then a car was following her.  When it escalates, Mattie is given 24-hour-a-day police protection, which only irritates her in her present condition, even though she realizes it's necessary; and Hurley isn't helping with his mother hen attitude toward her pregnancy.  And oh, there is more, but I won't reveal it here.

It was all the subplots (and there were many) of this story that kept me riveted.  They were all mixed together, even though one didn't lead to the other.  But within them all, there was the key to the entire story; not overt but not hidden, either.  And you don't see it coming until it hits you in the face.  But instead of slogging through the story to get to the end, the journey is the fun part.  Getting inside Mattie's head with her thoughts could leave you with a tangled mess yourself, because the book is told from conversations with her therapist, and then backtracked to when everything happened.  As in, 'it all began with...'  Which makes for a very good book indeed.  The ending, when it comes, is typical of Mattie and you would expect no less from someone who led as complicated a life as she does.  Highly recommended and I eagerly await the next in the series.

 http://www.amazon.com/Stiff-Penalty-Mattie-Winston-Mystery/dp/161773408X/ref

Goodreads:   https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1204531398

Bridges Burned (A Zoe Chambers Mystery Book 3)

Author:  Annette Dashofy
Genre:  Mystery

Five Stars

Paramedic Zoe Chambers is used to saving lives, but when she stops a man from running into a raging inferno in a futile attempt to rescue his wife, Zoe finds herself drawn to him, and even more so to his ten-year-old daughter.  She invites them both to live at the farm while the grieving widower picks up the pieces of his life.

Vance Township Police Chief Pete Adams, of course, is not happy with this setup, especially when he finds evidence implicating Zoe's new house guest in murder times two.  When Zoe ignores Pete's warnings, she runs the very real chance of burning one too many bridges, losing everything--and everyone--she holds dear.

********

Zoe Chambers is a paramedic/deputy coroner in a small town in Pennsylvania.  She lives in a farmhouse, part of which has been converted for an apartment; and when she's off-duty gives riding lessons and boards horses along with her own.  A local land developer is trying to buy the farm where she lives - which she is against, since it was difficult enough for her to find a place to live that would house her cats and horse as well.  She is also just beginning a new stage to her relationship with Chief of Police Pete Adams, even though they're finding it hard to get any real time together.  Zoe, it seems, has a full life...

...which just began to become complicated.  While responding to a fire in a newly built housing project, a man runs toward the burning building screaming his wife is in there and Zoe tackles him, learning he is Holt Farrabee, and also has a ten-year-old daughter, Maddie.  When things begin to calm down, it is discovered that Holt's wife Lillian was indeed in the building, and now he not only has no place to live, he also has no job, and he and Maddie are reduced to residing in a local run-down motel.

Since her landlord Mr. Kroll is in the hospital, and Mrs. Kroll is elderly, Zoe, feeling sorry for Maddie and with memories of her own past dredged up (losing her father as a child), learns Holt is a carpenter, and offers them a place to stay (with Mrs. Kroll's blessing) in return for doing work around the house and barn that she can't do herself.  Naturally, this doesn't sit well with Pete, who thinks Holt could be guilty of murdering Lillian.

It is soon learned that Holt and his family wasn't supposed to be in the house at all.  They had been evicted, yet returned to the home a few weeks later.  And as more things come to light, Pete must deal with his jealousy, his suspicions, and Zoe, who refuses to give in.  Add in a domestic dispute between a man and his father-in-law that soon escalates into something else, and things become very sticky very fast.

What we have here is a book that is sheer enjoyment.  Ms. Dashofy has created a mystery you can get your teeth into.  The characters are well-written and have depth.  Although the book starts out a tad slow, it soon picks up and you find yourself caught up in the murder and who committed it.  Although this is the third in the series, it can be read as a stand alone.  You don't learn everything about Zoe's past, but you learn enough to understand 'where she's coming from,' as it were.  You know that she wants to help the little girl get through a difficult time in her life, and that by doing so, she is helping herself.  And when there are issues between Zoe and Pete, you want to see them resolved, because they have waited so long to get this far in their relationship.

What else can I say?  I enjoyed this book so much that I will be reading the first two in the series as soon as I can find the time.  Highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Bridges-Burned-Annette-Dashofy/dp/1941962394/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1185284922

An Intimate Murder

Author:  Stacy Verdick Case
Genre:  Mystery

Three Stars

Catherine O'Brien, the irreverent detective, is back in An Intimate Murder. When Jonathan and Susan Luther are murder in their home, St. Paul homicide detective Catherine O'Brien and her partner Louise discover this isn't the first time the Luther family has been visited by tragedy. Is it a case of bad family luck or is there something more?

********

When I first saw this book, my interest was piqued.  Mainly because it takes place in St. Paul, Minnesota, and I grew up in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul).  So I wanted to read it like all others who find a book that takes place in an area they know well.

 

Catherine O'Brien is a homicide detective, along with her partner Louise.  When Louise rousts her from home to the scene of a double homicide, she isn't happy, since she was about to "get busy" with her husband.  Hmmm...being a homicide detective, she should be aware of those type of interruptions and should be used to it and not whining about it.  Just my opinion...

 

Anyway, it appears the couple have been murdered, and, as the title suggests, it was an intimate murder.  The lack of defensive wounds shows that it was someone that they both knew.  Their son Chad found the bodies, and appears to be in shock.  So the investigation begins.

 

I almost didn't finish this book because a few things didn't make sense.  Catherine, upset with the press, calls them "vultures" and tells them to leave the boy alone.  The press, in turn, are trying to 'climb over' the police to get to the boy.  Whaa...?  I have never known the press, as hard-nosed as they can be sometimes, to try and infiltrate a police investigation.  Why?  Because they would be banned from further investigations, and if they needed help, wouldn't be able to get it in the future.

 

Also, because she "insults" one of the aggressive reporters, the mayor calls her boss and tells him that she has to give an exclusive interview to one of the reporters.  Election year?  I can't imagine that happening, unless she slugged the reporter or something, which she definitely didn't.

 

And, as if that's not enough, because she called the reporters vultures, somehow she 'botched the investigation.'  How?  Did she give out privileged information?  No.  Did she allow them access to the house?  No.  Did she allow them access to Chad?  No.  Did she give them the as-yet-to-be-found murder weapons?  No.  Then how did she botch the investigation?  By calling the press vultures!  Personally, I don't see how that botches an investigation, and I don't think readers will think so, either.  There was no indication the investigation was botched.  They hadn't even begun the investigation to any point; they had just found the bodies.  You can't "botch" an investigation by calling the press vultures.  You can make the press angry, but it doesn't really affect the investigation unless one of the reporters is the killer (they aren't.)  And the reporter runs for help every time Catherine offends her.  Really?  Whining is how reporters get ahead in the business?  Jane Katts is unlikeable, and I can't believe any police officer would have anything to do with her after the way she finagles herself into the investigation - which wouldn't happen in real life in a homicide investigation.

 

Catherine stumbles on the steps of the house slightly just before she makes her statement.  So one of the reporters (Jane Katts) calls her drunk in her story.  In any large police department they would have demanded proof that she were drunk or a retraction.  Or, how about this:  The editor of the paper never would have printed the story without proof.  It's called libel.  These things, unfortunately, stuck with me.  Especially when people who had read the newspaper mentioned her botched (as yet unstarted) investigation.  One owner of a company had to decide whether to allow the detectives to interview her employees.  Excuse me?  It's a homicide investigation.  You don't have a choice.  You cannot tell the police they can't question your employees.  Police ask questions, employees answer.  Also, I'm pretty sure employees don't tell a police detective that her husband is "hot." 

 

Now, you are going to think that I didn't like the book from what I have said.  Not so.  I just didn't like the fact that these things didn't make sense.  I also didn't care for the foul language.  (the f-bomb).  For those of you who don't like swearing, it was strewn throughout the book.  But I didn't let it affect my reading.

 

So, anyway, the rest of the book seemed to improve, and the detectives handled it nicely, for the most part.  I liked how the murders were tied in with an older murder, and the resolution seemed believable.  So three stars for the mystery and the resolution.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Intimate-Murder-Stacy-Verdick-Case/dp/0983713766/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1067331000

 

 

 

 

Dying to Know

Author:  T. J. O'Connor
Genre:  Mystery

Five Stars

 

Detective Oliver Tucker prefers to be the guy investigating shootings, not the guy getting shot.  So when he returns as a ghost after being murdered in his home, it's only natural for Tuck to investigate the most important case of his life - his own.  Detective, solve thyself!

 

Piecing together cold cases, foggy memories, and eerie premonitions, Tuck fears that if he doesn't figure out who pulled the trigger, his wife may be the next victim.  Surprised to discover many earth-bound spirits chasing the same killer, Tuck's unique perspective from the other side leads him to a chilling conclusion - it's the living, not the dead, who are most terrifying.

 

*****

 

Well, this book was definitely a surprise.  I wanted to read it because I really liked the premise - a man is murdered, and then has to find out who did it.  (Sounds kind of creepy the way I wrote that, but I like books with a twist).  When he returns mere minutes after he is killed, he soon discovers that only his dog, Hercule, can see him.  He also finds out other things, with the help of another mysterious 'ghost', Doc.  That once you pass, thoughts become nothing and emotions are everything.  Definitely a different twist on what people might or might not think happens when they die.

 

Once Tuck discovers that his death might have not been planned, and his wife Angel (Angela) could be in danger from the same killer, he strives with everything he has to find a way to communicate with her.  Even when he does eventually reach her, he doesn't have all the answers, and while she is struggling to come to terms with Tuck's death and sort-of reappearance, he doesn't know who to trust or how to keep her safe, and this includes whether or not to trust his partner, 'Bear' Braddock.

 

Angela is a Professor who is assisting a local dig, Kelly's farm.  Just when I thought the book couldn't get any more interesting, I was delightfully surprised.  I say that because I am a huge Civil War devotee, and intermingling with not only Tuck's murder, but others', is finding out that the dig at the farm has to do with the Civil War and brings elements of that into the story.

 

Yet when you dig deeper into Tuck's murder, you will find that things are not always as they appear, and what does appear may not be what you see after all.  Read the book.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Dying-Know-Gumshoe-Ghost-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00H3R53NW/