Martha Ockley

Dear Readers,

There are times when I am handed a book by a company and asked to read it, I am just sure that I won't like it.  The Reluctant Detective by Martha Ockley was one of those that I was sure I wasn't going to like.  Well thankfully I was wrong.  I enjoyed it completely.

The book itself is not only set in England, the author lives there and I am sure that was part of the appeal for me.  The culture comes through strongly which does make for a lovely read.

Faith has followed her faith and became a priest in the Church of England.  She was a policewoman before that and when a case lands almost literally in her lap, she is forced to confront the ghost of her past.  Her former partner and boyfriend is the detective that is in charge of the case.  Which makes Faith question whether or not she made the right choice.

Faith is going to check out a parish whose priest is thinking of retiring.  While she is there the priest is murderd by poison right in front of everyone while preparing the Lord's Supper.  When rumors start to fly as to who it could be and who was last seen where, Faith knows she is going to be more involved with the parish than she planned on. 

The mystery itself is interesting enough that it kept me guessing and then second guessing the choice I made for the guilty party.  I was right in the end, but it took me a bit to get there.  (In my defense Martha doesn't release all the clues right away.)

The book itself sets up for a series very well.  I don't know if it is going to be or not, but it seems to be headed that way.  I really started to enjoy the fun and quirky town people, and even Faith became someone I was beginning to enjoy getting to know.  I will be interested to see if there will be a book #2.

Happy Reading