In this 5th book in the 'Dublin Murder Squad' series, a prep school student is murdered, and teenagers get up to all kinds of devilry. The book can be read as a standalone.
*****
Two classy British boarding schools, St. Colm’s for boys......
.....and St. Kilda's for girls,,,,,
.....are located close enough together that the students mingle on a regular basis.
When tragedy strikes and Chris Harper - a handsome boy from St. Colm's - is found murdered on the grounds of St. Kilda's, the case remains unsolved. About a year later a St. Kilda's student named Holly Mackey, the daughter of a detective, finds a photo of Chris on a school bulletin board. The photo has cut-out letters that spell 'I know who killed him'.
Holly takes the card to Detective Stephen Moran of the cold case squad who arranges to investigate with Detective Antoinette Conroy of the murder squad.
The main 'suspects' for who placed the card on the bulletin board are two groups of friends. One group contains 'the snobby girls', who think it's their right to date the most desirable boys from St. Colm's.
The other group contains 'the nice girls' who make an oath to stick together and forsake boyfriends from St. Colm's - who they consider a bad lot who take advantage of girls and blab about it.
The book is told in alternating scenes: in the present, the detectives repeatedly question the girls to find out what they know; in flashbacks we see the interactions among the teen girls and boys from the private schools: posturing at the local shopping mall;
budding romance at the St. Valentine's dance;
sneaking out of school to meet up; secret phones for texting; etc. I have to admit I was entertained (and sometimes annoyed) by the lingo the girls use when they speak to each other and to the detectives. Sassy, fun, sometimes mean - and almost always disrespectful to adults.
Of course it's impossible for teen girls to ignore nearby boys - no matter what they promise - and a number of relationships flourish and wane among the students of St. Kilda's and St. Colm's. Jealousies arise, people spy on each other, girls get protective, girls get furious, threats are made, and so on. Is this related to Chris's death? Well...yes.
I've enjoyed Tana French's previous books but this wasn't a favorite for me. The detective work, which consisted almost entirely of talking to the girls on the school grounds, became tedious. I would have liked more moving around and forensics. Also, I didn't especially like or care about the characters. The snobby girls were unbearable and even the nice girls weren't particularly sympathetic. I also thought these girls - 15 and 16 years old - seemed too young to engage in the level of devilry they got up to.
The resolution of the crime wasn't completely satisfactory either; I felt it didn't flow smoothly from the rest of the book. Nevertheless, I'd mildly recommend the book to fans of Tana French; as usual with her books, familiar characters from past books show up in current ones and it's good to see what's going on with them.
Rating: 3 stars
In this 7th book in the 'Meg Langslow' cozy mystery series, blacksmith/amateur sleuth Meg Langslow is participating in an 'extreme croquet' tournament near her home in Caerphilly, Virginia. The book can be read as a standalone.
The tournament has attracted a wide array of players, including college students from surrounding states, members of the Caerphilly historical society, real estate agents, and others.
Meg is tracking her ball through a rugged field - filled with bumpy ground, water hazards, cows, and sheep - when she literally falls on the body of a dead woman. The victim, whose head has been bashed in (probably with a croquet mallet) has no identification.
When Police Chief Burke questions people in the area, no one admits to knowing the deceased. Later, Meg's fiancé Michael shows up and identifies the woman as Lindsay Tyler, a former history professor at Caerphilly College, where he teaches. Tyler left town under a cloud several years ago - so what's she doing back? (and dead?)
Speaking of history, there's an ongoing dispute among citizens of Caerphilly that involves an outlet mall and the Civil War. Developers in Caerphilly want to build a mall on a field near the Langlslow property, while many residents oppose the idea. In fact, snooty Henrietta Pruitt claims that her ancestor won a Civil War battle on that very field, which should therefore be preserved. Meg speculates that Professor Tyler may have had historical information that impacted one side or the other.
Meg, who's renovating a family home close to the proposed mall, has an obvious horse in this race. The blacksmith is also an amateur sleuth, who's solved homicide cases in the past. So Meg jumps right into the investigation and - with the help of her fiancé and father - uncovers clues that lead to the killer. As in many light mysteries, the amateurs solve the case quicker than the cops.
The characters in this humorous series always get up to amusing hijinks, and in this story their shenanigans include: Morris dancing with bells on their shins; arguments over the rules of extreme croquet (What happens if a player is a murder victim? or a killer?); faking historical evidence;
teaching a duck and a dog to herd sheep; etc.
I laughed when a character suggested that some refined ladies in the 'extreme croquet' tournament might have thought they were signing up for 'extreme crochet.' LOL
I liked the story and enjoyed visiting with the recurring characters in the series. I have to say, though, that Meg seems overly self-satisfied and snarky this time around, which put me off.
This is an enjoyable cozy mystery, recommended to fans of the genre.
Rating: 3 stars
In this 15th book in the 'Hannah Swensen' series, Hannah gets involved when a keyboard player is murdered. The book can be read as a standalone though knowing the characters is a bonus.
*****
Hannah Swensen in the television series
Hannah Swensen (owner of 'The Cookie Jar' bakery/café) and her sister are on the icy roads of Lake Eden, Minnesota, planning to deliver an order of scrumptious cinnamon rolls. They come across a serious accident involving a tour bus and several cars. The bus crash killed the driver but spared the passengers, members of the 'Cinnamon Roll Six' band, in town for a jazz festival. Hannah helps transport several band members to the hospital, including the keyboard player Buddy Neiman - whose wrist is injured.
As it turns out the death of the bus driver seems suspicious AND Buddy Neiman is murdered in the hospital. Of course Hannah and her sisters feel compelled to investigate, and soon learn that Buddy is using a false name. The would be detectives have to learn Buddy's real identity and determine his connection to local residents, one of whom apparently murdered him.
While this is going on, Hannah is also dealing with another problem. Her erstwhile (sort of) boyfriend, the dentist Norman Rhodes, is engaged to fellow dentist 'Dr. Bev' - who claims her little girl is his child. Norman seems unhappy about the rapidly approaching nuptials and Hannah and her sisters strongly suspect shenanigans on the part of Dr. Bev. Thus, they set out to discover the truth.
The usual characters make an appearance in the book, including Hannah's fashionable mom, detective Mike, and co-baker Lisa. There's also a cute puppy that needs a home and Hannah and Norman's rambunctious cats. (I have a soft spot for adorable pet characters).
For me this book is just mildly okay. The mystery of who killed Buddy isn't too complicated, the death of the bus driver is ignored completely after the early part of the book, and what seem to be key plot points are very predictable. Moreover, one scene where Hannah confronts Dr. Bev while the dentist is trying on her wedding dress in a clothes boutique is ridiculously unbelievable.
I would have given the book 2 stars except that I did enjoy the warm comradery among the regular characters and all the coffee drinking and cookie baking (and eating). All this gives the story a nice atmosphere. And there are yummy sounding recipes as well. I've included photos of some of the recipes below.
Recipes in the Book
Cinnamon Rolls
Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate and Avocado Drop Cookies
Hamburger Bake
Kentucky Butter Cake
Short Stack Cookies
Tapioca Pie
Stuffin Muffins
Pucker Up Lemon Cake
Piggy Chicken
Peaches and Cream Cookies
Cheese and Green Chiles Biscuits
Bran Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Chocolate Caramel Pecan Bars
Rating: 3 stars
This book is divided into two parts. In the first section, set in the early 1960s, a teenage girl disappears from a small English village and the police investigate. In the second section, set in 1998, a reporter writes a book about the mid-century incident.
In 1963, the tiny hamlet of Scardale in Derbyshire resembles a feudal town. The owner of the manor house, who functions as 'Lord of the Manor', controls the land on which Scardale residents farm and raise livestock. There are only a handful of surnames in Scardale, where everyone is related by blood and marriage.
Following the death of Scardale manor's longtime squire, a distant relative named Peter Hawkin becomes the new owner. Hawkin pursues and marries an attractive local widow, Ruth Carter, who has a pretty teenage daughter named Alison. One day, just before Christmas, 13-year-old Alison comes home from school, takes her sheepdog Shep out for a walk, and disappears.
Newly promoted Detective Inspector George Bennett is put in charge of the search for Alison, which he orchestrates with the help of the local constable, surrounding police forces, and a slew of volunteers.
Before long the searchers find Shep tied up in the woods and come across an isolated, disturbed area that shows evidence of a struggle.
Bennett surmises that Alison has been abducted - almost certainly by someone familiar with the area. So, with the help of his assistant, Detective Sergeant Tommy Clough, Bennett questions Alison's relatives and neighbors.
Scardale is an insular community that doesn't like cops, and the police have a hard time squeezing information out of the residents.
Weeks go by with little progress, and Bennett - whose wife is pregnant with their first child - feels terrible for Alison's mother. As a result Bennett becomes a driven man: he gathers evidence; questions persons of interest; consults with other cops; develops theories; and so on. Bennett can hardly find a moment to go home, relax, and see his wife.
Eventually, a suggestion by the community octogenarian, Ma Lomas - who looks exactly like a fairy tale hag......
......leads the cops to a forgotten, long-abandoned mine.
There, Bennett finds Alison's torn clothes and evidence she was raped. Though Alison's body hasn't been found, Bennett concludes that she's dead.
Bennett makes it his mission to find the killer, and continues to pursue the case. After some months, startling new evidence is found - which leads to an arrest and trial. All this is very hard on Bennett, who gets battered by the suspect's defense attorney (think of the OJ trial).
Afterwards, Bennett gets on with his life, refusing to speak with reporters and writers who want to relate their accounts of the case.
Thirty-five years later, Bennett is retired and living with his wife Anne, who suffers from arthritis. Their grown son, Paul, works in the international realm and is engaged to be married. A journalist named Catherine Heathcote happens to meet Paul, learns his father is DI George Bennett, and decides to write a book about the Alison Carter case. Paul convinces his father to be interviewed, and Heathcote goes to work.
Heathcote conducts a series of extensive interviews with Bennett, who takes her through the case step by step. The journalist also reads old newspaper articles; talks to people who lived in Scardale (the few who agree to speak to her); visits places related to the case; goes to Alison's old home; and looks up DS Tommy Clough, who left the police force long ago.
Over many months, Heathcote finishes her research and writes the book. She's just completed the initial manuscript - and brought it to Bennett to read - when the detective has a change of heart.
He insists that Heathcote withdraw the book from publication, but offers no specific reasons. Bennett even offers to repay the entire advance himself.
Heathcote, who's shocked and bewildered, decides she has to know what's going on.....and proceeds to find out. Wow!! And that's all I can say.
The book is absorbing and suspenseful, and Val McDermid does an excellent job evoking the feel of a rural hamlet that's heavily inbred. A basic menu of physical characteristics is scattered among the residents, who have little ambition beyond working their land and taking care of their animals.
The villagers shun strangers and drive out 'wrong-uns'.....who better not come back. Moreover, with almost no recreation, Scardale isn't a fun place to live - especially for young people.
Most of the story's characters are well-drawn, though I found it hard to distinguish among the people of the village, whose interrelationships are more complicated than calculus. I sympathized with DI Bennett, whose shifty, 'cover-his-ass' boss made sure to keep his distance from the investigation, in case it went sideways. And I liked DI Clough, whose rough exterior masks a caring soul. I also found Catherine Heathcote to be bright and likable.....and an excellent researcher (I imagine she mimics the author's skills in this area. LOL)
My one quibble: almost all the adult characters in the book seem to smoke incessantly, and there's too much blather about taking out cigarettes, offering them to each other, lighting up, and so on. Smoking in public places was more acceptable in the 1960s, but this still seems overdone.
All in all, an enjoyable mystery. Recommended to fans of the genre.
Rating: 3.5 stars
