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 Customer Reviews 
Average Markby and Mitchell tale
Rating: 
The good news is that Ann Granger has written a lot of very good crime novels; the bad news is that this is not among the best of them. Meredith and Markby are futilely house-hunting when they enter the creepy village near the even creepier woods where Alan's first big career case went unsolved two decades past.
There is nothing cozy about the English village of Lower Stovey, and it is beyond the limits of credulity to think that the author intended to write a "delightful" book set there. The natives are generally dim, sleazy, secretive, oversexed or demented, or some combination of all three; and except for them the place is pretty much deserted all week because most of the nicer houses have been purchased by weekending yuppies.
First, old bones turn up in the woods. Then a fresh body turns up in the church and a middle-aged woman who came to live in the village reluctantly, is left stewing about the dark secrets in her past.
At least this time the exhaustively "independent" Meredith doesn't get into the obligatory "female in jeopardy" scene quite as crudely as in some of the novels. And I believe I know where this loving couple are finally going to find a house.
It's hard to maintain a quality series over time, especially one with an amateur sleuth. This is a 3-star effort - not a wasted read, but not the best of the series. Though certainly not the worst.
(And at least Meredith isn't red-haired and feisty as well as obsessively independent and pigheaded. I'm so sick of red-haired feisty amateur sleuths that I won't read past that description in a novel before putting it back on the shelf.)
wonderful village cozy
Rating: 
Dr. Guy Morgan calls the Bamford police station to report he found human bones in the Cotswold Lower Stovey Woods. When Detective Superintendent Alan Markby on a house-hunting trip with his beloved Meredith Mitchell learns of the human remains, he thinks back to a haunting failure. As a rookie over two decades ago, he never caught The Potato Man, a serial rapist, who vanished, after his third rape.Alan hopes that even after all this time has passed, a break has finally occurred. However, a new concern surfaces when another dead body is found, but this one is a recent corpse. As he digs deeper accompanied by his lover, the locals refuse to cooperate making their investigation that much harder and leaving the dedicated cop feeling déjà vu as he wonders if he will fail again. The latest Mitchell and Markby novel is a delightful village mystery. The story line contains a strong who-done-it and an insightful look at a decaying hamlet especially the surly townsfolk and their detest of the new money brought in by outsiders. The two wonderful heroes augment the enjoyable plot, especially Alan's memories of that case that still disturbs him. Ann Granger provides her usual, a wonderful village cozy that is a treat for sub-genre fans. Harriet Klausner
About Meredith and Alan
Rating:
I used to love this series, but lately I find Meredith Mitchell, our commitment-phobic heroine, a little annoying. She calls herself independent, of course, and I'm all for the hard-to-get routine, but in her case it's getting a bit tedious. Alan Markby should really find someone else, or he'll turn into a complete wimp in the relationship area, always defensive and wondering. For quite some time now, I've wished for some serious competition for her, but in that I've been disappointed. OK, so now at long last she has agreed to marry him - in fact, she suggested it herself at the end of the last book - but somehow the fireworks are missing.
I realise this is not a romance story in the first place, but the Mitchell-Markby relationship does play an important part on the whole.
Also, in the first book - "Say it with poison" - which appeared in 1991 (I think), Meredith's age is given as 35, and now, in book 12, she is still only about 37 in the year 2000. Poetic licence? I checked all the books, and taking into account the seasons and other bits of information, she must be at least 39.
By the way: On page 10 of the paperback edition, it says: "... he heard a rumble of thunder. As he'd done when a child, Guy began to count in his head. One - two - three - four - The lightning burst across the sky ...". Perhaps it's different in Britain, but here on the Continent it's light before sound. :-)
On page 125 (still the paperback edition), an overbite is described as the lower jaw protruding further than the upper one - the exact opposite to what I thought from my experience and found in the Oxford dictionary. The author thanks some dentist for his help at the beginning of the book, which makes me wonder.
There are also quite a few spelling mistakes in this edition, which together with the inconsistencies mentioned above seem to indicate some rather negligent editing. Too bad!
Having said all this, I can still recommend this series to anyone who is interested in rural England and characters one can easily relate to. I'll certainly give the next volume a chance.
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