A Fatal Night by Faith MartinMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Although this is the seventh book in a series it can easily be read as a standalone.
It is New Year's Eve 1962, the widowed Mrs Millie Vander is hosting a New Year's Eve party at her home, hoping that her man-friend, Terry Parker will propose to her, despite the ten year age difference. Millie's nineteen year old twins Jasper and Juliet are rather less than thrilled at the prospect of an oily second-hand sportscar salesman becoming their stepfather and spending their considerable inheritance.
Meanwhile, WPC Trudy Loveday is one of the few police officers still on duty, so many having been trapped at home by the unprecedented snowfalls that brought Oxford to a halt, and others being brought down by a flu epidemic. The last thing she expects to be asked to do is investigate a dead body found slumped in a car on New Year's Day morning, even if the verdict is expected to be death caused by driving a car into a tree whilst intoxicated. Trudy suggests asking the coroner, Dr Clement Ryder, to pronounce death, given the holidays and being short-staffed. Dr Ryder and Trudy have apparently solved a number of murders in Oxford by pursuing what appeared to open-and-shut accidents, and Dr Ryder has a soft spot for the young WPC.
This was a very enjoyable, easy-reading, police procedural, as a reader I was aware of several potential suspects but had no clue as to who had committed the murder or why. There were lots of what I really don't want to classify as red herrings, more like leads which didn't pan out, suspects who had motive but didn't commit the crime.
I've not come across Faith Martin before but I will definitely keep an eye out for other books in this series.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
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