My stop on the #blogtour for this #newrelease in the brilliant Hillary Greene series. This is book 7 and they just get better and better
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MURDER IN THE MEADOW by Faith Martin
Looking for a brilliant best-selling murder mystery with a feisty female detective?
Meet DI HILLARY GREENE, a policewoman struggling to save her career and catch criminals.
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 there were many wealthy married women 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?
This is a crime mystery full of well-observed characters, which will have you gripped from start to finish.
MURDER IN THE MEADOW is the seventh in a series of page-turning crime thrillers set in Oxfordshire.
Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Colin Dexter, or Ruth Rendell.
THE LOCATION
The pretty iron stone village of Deddington. Not far from the market town of Banbury (noted for its famous Banbury Cross of the nursery rhyme “Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross, to see a fine lady upon a white horse, with rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, she shall have music wherever she goes.”) It has an attractive and unusual church, antique shop and hotel, and several pubs known locally for their cuisine. Although not a tourist spot as such, it is a picturesque spot. Water meadows, such as the one where the body is found, are a feature of valleys in the area, and regularly flood in the winter time, adding nutrients to the soil, making them especially lovely in the spring and summer, when they can flower quite spectacularly.
THE DETECTIVES
DI Hillary Greene
An attractive woman in her forties, Hillary Greene is a police officer of many years’ experience, and came up through the ranks. Consequently, she knows how the system works, and is fiercely loyal to the force without being blinkered to its faults. She is a long-standing friend of her immediate superior officer, ‘Mellow’ Mallow and enjoys a rather enigmatic relationship with the steely Superintendent Marcus Donleavy. Popular with the rank and file for her no-nonsense attitude and competence.
DCI Philip ‘Mellow’ Mallow
Mel appreciates Hillary’s first-rate ability to solve her cases, and isn’t happy about her harassment by the officers from York. Known for his sartorial elegance and laid-back manners, he has a sharp mind, and an eye for the ladies. A good friend and ally for Hillary in her recent tribulations, he’s determined to keep his best investigator focused on the problems at hand.
PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A REVISED EDITION OF A BOOK FIRST PUBLISHED AS “BESIDE A NARROW STREAM.”
DI HILLARY GREENE SERIES
BOOK 1: MURDER ON THE OXFORD CANAL
BOOK 2: MURDER AT THE UNIVERSITY
BOOK 3: MURDER OF THE BRIDE
BOOK 4: MURDER IN THE VILLAGE
BOOK 5: MURDER IN THE FAMILY
BOOK 6: MURDER AT HOME
BOOK 7: MURDER IN THE MEADOW
Books 8-11 coming soon!
My Review
This is book 7 in the brilliant Hillary Greene series and the books get better and better. I have read all the books in this series and have got to know Hillary very well.
Hillary is a brilliant detective but is also an excellent mentor for the younger members of her team. She is often given novice detectives to ‘train’ and this means that she regularly loses team members to promotion. I was sad to see Tommy go and this time it was Janine that had moved on. Keith replaced Tommy and we are getting to know him but this book sees the introduction of Gemma but it appears Gemma has a hidden agenda and immediately we pick up on bad vibes between her and Hillary. Added to the obnoxious Frank and personal problems for Keith this book sees Hillary struggling with the case and her brood.
A dead body with a red paper heart and no clues except a note from a mysterious Annie and Hillary and her team are struggling to find even pieces to the jigsaw let alone fit them together. The victim is a gigolo and has many women all of whom could be the murderer but there are many other candidates too.
Another case with a very intricate plot to keep the reader turning page after page until the shocking ending. The issues with Gemma and Keith bring extra dimensions to the story to make it a brilliant read.
Absolutely loving this series each book gets better and better.
Author Bio
Faith Martin has been writing for over 25 years, in four genres and under four different pen names. She was born in Oxford and sets most of her crime novels within sight of the city of dreaming spires. A real nature lover and afficionado of the countryside, descriptions of wildlife and native flora often find their way into her manuscripts. Right now, JOFFE BOOKS are re-issuing the first eleven of the DI Hillary Greene novels in new updated editions! And the first of these, MURDER ON THE OXFORD CANAL. MURDER AT THE UNIVERSITY, MURDER OF THE BRIDE, MURDER IN THE VILLAGE, MURDER IN THE FAMILY and MURDER AT HOME are available now. Books 8-11 coming soon!
Her romance novels, written under the name of Maxine Barry, are now available from Corazon Books. IMPOSTERS In PARADISE, and HEART OF FIRE are both out, and others will very quickly become available in the future.
Her first foray into writing ‘spooky’ crime, (and written under the pen name of Jessie Daniels) comes out in November 2017. THE LAVENDER LADY CASEFILE is published by Robert Hale, an imprint of Crowood Press.
As Joyce Cato, she writes more classically-inspired ‘proper’ whodunits. So if you like an amateur sleuth, plenty of clues and red herrings, plus a baffling murder mystery to solve, these are the books for you.
