From Publishers Weekly
Amateur sleuth Dorothy Martin sets aside Christmas preparations in order to look into the disappearance of her best friend's beau in Agatha-winner Dams's captivating ninth mystery to feature the expatriate American living in the medieval English town of Sherebury (after 2003's
Sins Out of School). When the body of Bill Fanshawe, curator of the local museum, turns up in the museum's basement, Dorothy determines to find out who killed Bill and why, not only for the sake of her friend, Jane Langland, but for herself. With only a few puzzling clues to guide her, including a map of Indiana, she must sort out the conflicting information she gathers from the quirky and elderly characters who knew Bill during WWII. A revelation that even Dorothy could not have anticipated concludes a cozy as comforting as a hot cup of tea and as deliciously spicy as one of Dorothy's mince pies.
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From Booklist
Sixtyish American Dorothy Martin is facing Christmas in Sherebury, England, and she is not prepared, despite the support of her husband, retired from the Sherebury police, and her best friend, Jane. Then an old lover of Jane's is found dead in the tunnels beneath the local museum where he worked. Dorothy is fascinated by her friend's stalwart and unsentimental approach to loss, but when a local university student who also worked at the museum is attacked, both women begin a search through archives and interviews of the now quite elderly collection of RAF vets in the area. Quite fascinating RAF history is revealed in these conversations, as Dorothy uses her husband's contacts and her own American approach to get beyond British resolve. The truth is extracted from secrets as old as humankind, secrets concealing treachery, lies, and heartbreak, but Christmas comes, and so does resolution. Dams has a steadily growing audience, and her latest will be eagerly awaited.
GraceAnne DeCandidoCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
