2 November 2023.
ISBN: 978-1-83526242-9(PB)
A wedding is to take place between Bridie Duggan and Reggie Fitch. Bridie’s deceased husband headed a known criminal gang, but she had never had anything to do with it. Detective Inspector Sebastian McGregor (Mac) is to be best man. He and his partner Miriam are good friends of Bridie.
A few days before the wedding, Mac is summoned to the office of Bradley Cotton, the Chief Constable, he is concerned that Mac is going to attend the wedding. He says the Duggan family are known criminals, but Mac insists that Bridie is clean. However, Cotton hints that he wants Mac to keep an eye open for anything untoward. He is worried about a turf war breaking out as opposing members of a rival criminal fraternity will also be in attendance.
Also going to the wedding is Rina, the T.V. sleuth, and Mac and Miriam’s close friend, together with the two Peter sisters and the Montmorency twins. All four of whom are all residents in Rina’s large house. Other close friends of Bridie, also known to Mac and Rina, travel down with them in a minibus.
The wedding is held in an impressive eighteenth-century venue set in large grounds and built on an island reached via a ferry. On arrival Mac and friends learn of tunnels underneath the house, but are assured they have all been sealed up – but have they? Events lead them to believe otherwise.
It becomes obvious that there is great rivalry between some of the wedding guests. After the ceremony Bridie and Fitch leave for the airport, and quite a few of the attendees leave too. The rest are to stay the night.
The next day while walking in the grounds, Rina and Mac hear a piercing scream, and come across a dead body. It soon becomes clear that it was murder.
Then a ferocious storm hits, the rain is torrential, all the roads become flooded, and the ferry cannot run. So, the police reinforcements are unable to get through.
Mac and Rina do what they can with the help of the venue’s staff, to protect the body and keep it dry. However, this is only the beginning of the horrors, soon there are more murders. How can Mac and Rina hope to solve all these on their own? How long will it be before the storm abates and help arrives? Is anyone safe?
I do enjoy Jane Adams’s books about Rina and Mac, and this one does not disappoint. Really
thoroughly recommended.
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Reviewer: Tricia Chappell
Jane Adams was born in Leicestershire, where she still lives. She has a degree in Sociology and has held a variety of jobs including lead vocalist in a folk rock band. She enjoys pen and ink drawing; martial arts and her ambition is to travel the length of the Silk Road by motorbike. Her first book, The Greenway, was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey Award in 1995 and for the Author's Club Best First Novel Award. Jane writes several series. Her first series featured Mike Croft. Several books featuring DS Ray Flowers. Seven titles featuring blind Naoimi Blake, and six titles featuring Rina Martin. Her most ret series is set between the two World Wars and featuring Detective Inspector Henry Johnstone and his sergeant, Micky Hitchens. Jane has also written several standalone novels. She is married with two children.
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