Published
by Severn House,
26 June 2014.
ISBN: 978-0-7278-8396-4
26 June 2014.
ISBN: 978-0-7278-8396-4
Vicar’s wife Jodie Welsh has been
well warned against Burble, the youngster she’s had helping out in her garden. So
when he disappears with her expensive camera, nobody else is surprised – until
a body’s found.
This
lively story of country skulduggery is narrated by Jodie herself. A former city
high-flyer with a massive trust fund behind her, she was prepared for a change
in lifestyle when she married the Reverend Theo Welsh, and her acerbic comments
on the home comforts of the vicarage and the trials of village life provide a
good deal of humour. However she’s determined to use her negotiating and
managerial skills to make a difference to the village, particularly to the
disaffected youngsters she sees around her. Local politics, the need to save
the church, shop and post office, and mysterious digging works visible only
from her favourite jogging spot join together to make a plot with plenty of
twists, and a surprise perp who’s finally unmasked after a lot of action.
The
characters were sympathetically drawn, the rural background convincing, and the
story great fun – I particularly enjoyed Jodie’s ability to call in unexpected
favours and use high-tech as a way of outwitting the villagers.
A
hugely enjoyable read with a lively and unusual heroine.
------
Reviewer:
Marsali Taylor
Judith Cutler was born in the Black Country, just outside
Birmingham, later moving to the Birmingham suburb of Harborne. Judith started
writing while she was at the then Oldbury Grammar School, winning the Critical
Quarterly Short Story prize with the second story she wrote. She subsequently
read English at university. It was an attack of chickenpox caught from her son
that kick-started her writing career. One way of dealing with the itch was to
hold a pencil in one hand, a block of paper in the other - and so she wrote her
first novel. This eventually appeared in a much revised version as Coming
Alive, published by Severn House. Judith has five series. The first two
featured amateur sleuth Sophie Rivers (10 books) and Detective Sergeant Kate
Power (6 Books). Then came Josie Wells, a middle-aged woman with a quick
tongue, and a love of good food, there are two books, The Food Detective and The
Chinese Takeout. The Lina Townsend books are set in the world of antiques
and there are five books in this series. There are two books featuring Tobias
Campion set in the Regency period. Her most recent series features Chief
Superintendent Fran Harman (6 books), and Jodie Welsh, Rector’s wife and
amateur sleuth.. Judith has also written
two standalone’s Scar Tissue and Staging
Death.
.
Marsali Taylor grew up near Edinburgh, and came to Shetland as a
newly-qualified teacher. She is currently a part-time teacher on Shetland's
scenic west side, living with her husband and two Shetland ponies. Marsali is a
qualified STGA tourist-guide who is fascinated by history, and has published
plays in Shetland's distinctive dialect, as well as a history of women's
suffrage in Shetland. She's also a keen sailor who enjoys exploring in her own
8m yacht, and an active member of her local drama group. Marsali also does a regular monthly column
for the Mystery People e-zine.
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