Mostly Murders

“My dear Alec, reading Sherlock Holmes does not count as a study of criminology.”

Book 1 in the A Meredith and Alec Thatch Mystery series.

In private they are wife and wife, but to the world they are Mr and Mrs Thatch. Meredith “Merry” Thatch, formerly Miss Lancaster, scandalised the town of Fenwood-On-Sea when she married Alec Thatch, the son of her father’s stablemaster. What the town doesn’t know, is that Alec Thatch is actually Alice Thatch, the daughter of the stablemaster masquerading as a man.

As if that isn’t enough, Merry is running a charity hospital in her old family home, allowing former soldiers a chance to recover, not only from physical injuries, but also from shell shock and trauma, conditions not widely understood or accepted by many people back in the time after the First World War. One of the staunchest opponents to the hospital is Mr. Kenneth Braun, a wealthy and thoroughly unpleasant landowner. When he is found murdered, Inspector Carlyle Beresford is called in to sort through the many suspects among the people Braun antagonised, including Alec and Merry who both had altercations with Braun shortly before his death.

In a lot of cozy mysteries, the police are incompetent and the amateur sleuths do all the actual work. In this one, that is not the case. Beresford is more than capable of investigating, and for the most part Alec and Merry mind their own business and leave the detecting to the police. Their involvement in the case mostly stems from the fact that they are suspects and residents in a small town full of gossip, making it impossible for them not to ponder the case to some degree.

A cozy mystery that dares to be different, with compelling characters, a great setting and an interesting dynamic between Beresford, Alec and Merry. If you like 1920s cozy mysteries and appreciate different approaches and stories that stray from the beaten path and do things their own way, do give this one a try.

Cozy mystery – Historical mystery