Murder At Work by Faith Martin
Publisher: Joffe Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Looking for a brilliant bestselling murder mystery with a feisty female detective?

Meet DI HILLARY GREENE, a policewoman struggling to save her career and catch criminals.

Hillary will retire in a few weeks. But can her boss get Hillary to change her mind by putting her on a murder investigation?

The victim is found dead with his head bashed in with a piece of wood. Michael Ivers was a gambler and a notorious womaniser. He had few friends and there is a long list of people who might have wanted him dead.

Hillary wants to solve her final case as a police officer and she has just days left to find out who killed him. To add to her problems, her old enemy, ex-Sergeant Frank Ross is back on the scene and is a prime suspect.

This is a crime mystery full of well-observed characters, which will have you gripped from start to the absolutely thrilling conclusion.

DI Hillary Greene is almost at the end of her two month’s notice. Determined to retire from her beloved job and leave on her own terms – and with her dignity and reputation intact – she is systemically wrapping everything up to leave in the best possible way. With two weeks left, however, a new murder case is dropped on her plate, and despite her initial instinct to turn it away she soon finds herself drawn in despite her best intentions. Can Hillary fix these last few problems?

I have been thoroughly enjoying this series and was quite pleased with this addition. Over the last few books a series of events have been culminating and in this book a lot of that longer-running story arc comes to a fairly dramatic conclusion. I feel the author did a really good job both explaining and summarizing the events without it feeling like an info dump or catch up for the reader, so I do think that readers who pick this book up having never read any of the previous books should catch on quite easily to what’s happening. I admit that since I’ve been along for the whole ride I had quite a strong emotional connection to Hillary, her team and the series of these events in general.

While a lot is obviously happening around Hillary and her life, I did not feel this detracted from this books murder plot and the author is to be commended for this good balance. The murder and the plot revolving around that had a good pace and I don’t feel it was left to drag or languish beside all the personal drama and that sub-plot. These two items both moved along well and while they were not linked I feel they each were given plenty of time to shine without overshadowing the other.

Readers who enjoy a good British Police procedural mystery should find this is a good read. I personally also enjoy that quite a strong cast of secondary characters – both from Hillary’s past and present – have a good showing and for me this gave the book some good depth and heart. I really enjoyed this book and am very eager for the next in line to see where these events and Hillary’s decisions lead her.

Murder In the Garden by Faith Martin
Publisher: Joffe Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

Edward Philpott is found bludgeoned to death with his own spade in his beautiful garden. He lived with his daughter Rachel and his two grandchildren.

Hillary’s only lead is a rival from the village flower show who used to argue with the victim about the size of their vegetables. But what dark secrets from the past and present does this village hold?

Hillary has returned to work after the slaying of her boss and is desperate to track down his murderer. His pregnant widow is even more determined to get revenge, but will she go too far?

Can Hillary cope with two complex investigations full of extreme emotions, one of which is very close to home?

DI Hillary Greene has been off on two months compassion leave after the explosive ending of her last case. She returns to work slightly changed from the person and officer she was on that last fateful day. When her team is called onto a new investigation before she’s even sat down at her desk, Hillary knows she’ll need to be in top form if she really wants to return to her job – and life – after this enormous change.

I was pleased that the ramifications of the previous book are still solidly sounding through this story. While I don’t feel readers need to have read the previous book to understand the importance of what happened in it – I do think a deeper emotional connection and better understanding will be had if readers have at least a few of the previous books under their belt and they know the connections and deep friendships between Hillary and some of the secondary characters.

I was also pleased that while the resolution of this previous case is very strongly represented, it didn’t really detract from the new murder case. I thought the author handled the two powerful plotlines quite well. I was also intrigued by how Hillary’s character is still very much the same – but she’s clearly grieving and not at her best. I’ve never felt Hillary had been written as some omnipotent or untouchable heroine – but seeing her somewhat disjointed and not in top form was very realistic and quite interesting to read. Particularly since she continued to play to her strengths and remained the appealing and gripping character she’s always been.

This book was layered and very interesting. I’m eager to continue the series.

Murder In The Meadow by Faith Martin
Publisher: Joffe Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Wayne Sutton is found dead by a stream in a beautiful meadow. His head has been bashed in and a red paper heart left on his body. The handsome young artist had a reputation as a ladies’ man.

DI Hillary Greene discovers that many wealthy married women were buying his paintings and taking ‘private’ art lesson from him. It appears that several of them might have wanted him dead.

Hillary also has a new detective sergeant, Gemma Fordham. Seemingly efficient and pleasant, she harbours a secret agenda.

Can Hillary get to the bottom of a complex case involving jealousy, love, and cold-blooded murder?

When two schoolboys find a dead artist in a nearby meadow DI Hillary Greene and her team are called in to investigate. All too soon they have more suspects than they can handle – cal DI Greene work out what’s really going on?

I’ve been really enjoying this British police procedural series based around Oxford. Greene is a wonderfully different character, a middle-aged woman, secure in her career and with plenty of brains and intuition. I love how she’s smart and competent without being omniscient or unrepeatable. I also enjoy how the author has managed to switch things up a bit by over the last few books having two of Greenes team move on – one through a transfer due to marriage and one through promotion. This realistically and easily opened the doors for two new team members to arrive and become strong secondary characters.

With enough interpersonal intrigue to keep me turning pages, the fact the murder mystery was also well plotted and set at a good pace was just icing on the cake.

Murder In The Mansion by Faith Martin
Publisher: Joffe Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

Mattie Jones is found brutally stabbed to death in her palatial home. Hillary Greene is called in to investigate the murder of this wealthy woman. Who wanted her dead and why?

Hillary discovers that Mattie’s snobby attitude had made her many enemies. Mattie was also going through a messy divorce and had a secret lover.

Meanwhile, in a terrifying turn of events, police officers are being gunned down outside their stations. A sniper is on the loose. Who will come under attack next?

Can Hillary cope with the enemies within, a complex case, and the whole force under attack?

This is the next book in the DI Hillary Greene series. I’ve been really enjoying these books – Oxford based British police procedural mysteries. There are two main plot lines through this book – both that of a sniper shooting police officers in their HQ car parks seemingly at random, and Hillary is leading her team investigating the brutal stabbing murder of a woman in her mansion.

I found both plots moved along at a good pace, keeping me interested and eagerly turning the pages. A few of the longer-term story arcs also moved forward which I enjoyed – both with Hillary’s personal life, and the ongoing drama with Gemma, Hillary’s new DS and Barrington, her DC. I enjoyed the movement with her colleagues and am finding this a really enjoyable series.

Readers who hate cliffhanger endings should be aware they will definitely need the next book in the series on hand. While the murder plot is very neatly wrapped up there is an important event that happens right at the very end of this book that will absolutely change the scenery of the rest of the series. I, myself, needed to read the first chapter of the next book immediately upon finishing this one and I strongly expect a number of other readers might feel the same as me in this instance.

Readers who like British police procedural books, or those based in smaller towns should definitely give this a go. While it’s not necessary to have read any of the previous books–I feel this could easily be picked up by itself–I did enjoy the progress with the supporting cast and that came from knowing the history between everyone.

Murder At Home by Faith Martin
Publisher: Joffe Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Looking for a brilliant bestselling murder mystery with a feisty female detective?

Meet DI HILLARY GREENE, a policewoman struggling to save her career and catch criminals.

Flo Jenkins is found murdered in her armchair, a paperknife sticking out of her chest. The old woman was well liked and nothing seems to have been stolen from her home. And it was common knowledge that she only had weeks to live.

Why kill a dying woman? This is going to be one of the toughest cases yet for Hillary to solve.

Hillary also has to deal with a new colleague who has a terrible temper and a rocky past.

With no forensics, no leads, and only a drug-addict nephew as a suspect, will this be Hillary’s first failure to solve a murder case?

This is a crime mystery full of well-observed characters, which will have you gripped from start to finish.

DI Hillary Greene has a lot going on right now. With one member of her team about to get married and move to a different stations and already down a team member from a recent promotion Hillary is being kept rather busy. With a new relationship only a few months old and still in the getting-to-know-you phase and avoiding the clear intentions of her boss, DI Greene has a rather full life. So it’s almost a relief when she catches a new murder case – an elderly lady stabbed in her home. But with no clear motive and hardly anyone with a cross word about her, soon the case is yet another difficulty DI Greene has to try and get on top of.

I have been enjoying this series and was cautiously optimistic when there were quite a few changes shown in this book. I was pleased Hillary and Mike had finally moved forward – after circling each other for a number of books now – and while their relationship is still clearly in the early stages I was happy with some progress with this very slow moving sub-plot. Equally I was happy that a new character was introduced to replace Tommy – who moved stations at the end of the previous book and left a slot open on Hillary’s team. I’d be interested to see if another new character is introduced in the next book as another team member got married at the very end of this book (another long-running sub plot finally coming to a close).

I felt Kevin, the new character, was an interesting breath of fresh air in this story and so am interested to learn more about him in the coming few books. There also was a small sub plot revolving around him that was left open at the end of this book so I expect this will likely get followed up soon and that should prove interesting too.

I found this to be a well written and well paced British Police Procedural style of book and I really enjoyed it. I particularly liked how for the vast majority of the book there was no clear motive to the murder. While there were a few really good red herrings and leads followed through much of the mystery came from trying to unravel the old dear’s life and work out why on earth anyone would want her dead. This was certainly a different perspective on the usual who-dun-it style of story and I actually found it quite refreshing. I also feel it left plenty of time and space for all the other sub-plots and character arc to really flourish and get some good mileage.

I definitely feel readers can pick this book up by itself and enjoy it – but must admit there’s a fair amount of progress with a number of longer-running character arcs so it might be felt that some knowledge of the previous books might give the reader a deeper emotional connection and interest in all these sub-plots going on. I feel the actual mystery itself is very well contained and explained in this novel but a deeper appreciation might be had by readers who know a lot of the history between the main characters and team