Murder In The Village by Faith Martin

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

A would-be politician is found battered to death in the kitchen of his expensive home in a lovely Oxfordshire village. His wife’s alibi is full of holes and there’s another woman in the background. And what about his seemingly mild-mannered political rival?

DI Hillary Greene tries to get to the bottom of this perplexing murder. She certainly doesn’t think the prime suspect is as guilty as everyone thinks.

Just as she’s about to make a breakthrough, everything is turned upside down by a fatal development in another case she is working on . . .

Can Hillary find the murderer and will she survive a brush with one of Oxford’s most dangerous criminals?

DI Hillary Greene and her team is called in to investigate when a would-be politician is found battered to death in his own home. The complications arise almost immediately and Hillary is determined to get to the bottom of everything. But just as she gets traction in this case her world is upturned when events surrounding a different case take a deadly turn and soon Hillary has far more than one murder on her plate.

I have been really enjoying this series, and I felt this book was an excellent addition. Hillary is a character I really love – forty-something, logical and tenacious – I feel there’s plenty for many readers to enjoy. With a strong cast of interesting secondary characters lending Hillary support and a few intriguing across-the-series plotlines slowly gathering steam I am beginning to buy the subsequent books in this series more quickly as I eagerly read my way through.

I was particularly pleased that a few of the longer-running story arcs not only made headway, but a few even got some resolution which was very satisfying to read. I do admit there seemed to be two main plotlines to this story – Hillary’s murdered politician, but also a secondary investigation Hillary is drawn into. Between these two plots the book has a decent pace and a bit more action than I’m used to reading in a British police procedural style of book, but I found it exciting and well written so am eager to jump into the next book in the series.

Readers looking for an interesting and well plotted murder mystery series should enjoy this book, though I do recommend readers going back to book 1 and starting this series fresh.