Murder At Work by Faith Martin

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.