Louise Marley

contemporary, small-town, smoke-and-mirrors, secrets, lies, twisty, investigations, false-information, local-gossip, local-law-enforcement, local-legends, family-dynamics, family-history, rural, local-history, cozy-mystery, procedural, wry-humor, sly-humor, relationship-issues, relationships, relatives, England*****

The trouble with small towns is not that you know everyone, but that everyone thinks they know you.
DI Ben Taylor is in the village of Raven's Edge to investigate a rather bizarre murder in abandoned manor house only very recently occupied by Lorcan, music journalist Milla Graham's ex-boyfriend (now a Goth rock star). Ben and Milla are together at the beginning of the book, and that irritates both DS Harriet and shady PI Drake who is ex-police. All this plus a headless body in the pond, an abundance of blood in the chapel, and a notorious town history of highwaymen and witches. Lots of twists and a totally blindsiding ending! Super!
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from Storm Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you!… (altro)

contemporary, local-gossip, local-law-enforcement, secrets, lies, false-identities, false-information, small-town, rural, situational-humor, framed, fraud, family-drama, family-dynamics, family-history, professional-rivalry, dual-narrators, due-diligence, personal-issues, perspective, procedural, local-legends, multiple-murder, investigations, twisty, wry-humor, new-series, first-in-series, England*****

Milla is ready to do and say whatever she needs to in order to make sense of her past and find out more about her family and its history. DI Ben Taylor missed out on having his daughter for the weekend and instead gets sent to Raven's Edge to investigate a rather bizarre murder in abandoned manor house despite another jurisdiction claiming it for their own. The other DCI is an aggressive, dismissive sort of the kind that I really wanted to smack the smugness off her face. But in actuality she is more involved than is known until quite near the end. The characters are so real as compared to some of the situations and background, but the investigations are amazing to keep track of. Loved it! Hope it gets into audio for those of us with vision issues.
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from Storm Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you!
Available 07 May 2024 #EnglishVillageMysteryBk1… (altro)

2.5. I loved some elements of the worldbuilding, particularly the central idea of medicine being "women's work" and taboo for men, and I cared enough about the characters to keep reading. Alas, I found the story predictable and lacking in nuance. Many of the scenes did a better job telegraphing the political views of the author than telling a good story.

As far as this being a very second-wave feminist, white-lady take on a conservative Muslim-inspired culture, well, it could have been worse. That said, I was very sad not to see any portrayal of female spirituality. Most of the women in this book seem totally alienated from their own religion, and I don't think that's a fair portrayal of conservative Muslim women at all.… (altro)