August 17, 2015
In Adams’s absorbing seventh mystery featuring no-longer-retired actress Rina Martin (after 2012’s Cause of Death), Rina comes home to quiet Frantham, England, after filming a new TV series, only to
hear a “nasty piece of news” on the radio. Someone blasted widowed Ellen Tailor
in the face with a shotgun at her remote farmhouse, where her two school-age children found her body in the kitchen. Det. Insp. Sebastian “Mac” MacGregor, Rina’s policeman friend, has few clues to go on. Given the isolation of the farmhouse, it’s unsurprising that no one saw or heard anything. Nothing was stolen, and none of the people Mac and his team interview has an obvious motive for killing the outwardly blameless Ellen. Rina, who does her own sleuthing, focuses on some accidental deaths that could be related to the murder. A cast of engaging characters and a number of unexpected plot twists make this one of the stronger entries in the series.
September 1, 2015
Inspector Mac MacGregor of Frantham, England, investigates the murder of a young, well-liked widow, Ellen Tailor, killed with a shotgun blast to her face. Suspects include her in-laws, a former lover, a current admirer, and a neighbor. Ellen's mother-in-law, Daphne, has always despised her and now wants custody of her two young children, although Ellen has left their guardianship to her sister. Are some missing letters and a WWII diary important to the case? Will someone kill to protect old family secrets? Rina Martin, star of the television show Lydia Marchant Investigates, takes an interest in the murders and ultimately offers her friend Mac some crucial information in forging a solution. Told from multiple points of view, the novel offers an engaging mix of police-procedural and amateur-sleuth subgenres, with quirky, likable characters and a frame story involving clandestine military missions from the WWII era.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)