When I last visited with Flora and Jack, I made a review comment that I was looking forward to my next visit. I not only wanted to know more about where their relationship was going but the area in which they live. In this book, my hopes were both addressed. The tension was upped, too, with both being in danger as they went about seeking answers. We also learn more about their families, quick bits of info that, naturally, made me want to know more.
The mystery seems relatively simple at first. Who killed the new church curate? Who was he meeting in the bell tower? Did you know bell ringers had to be trained and it isn't as easy as it might seem? Why would anyone kill a church curate? But, wait. Mistaken identities, long standing grudges, family hostilities, power struggles, financial problems, "accidents", women's roles, and more come into play. I don't want to ruin your reading, so won't say much more about the plot aside from the fact I felt hopeful for Flora and Jack, who both emerge from this one a bit battered but hopeful, as they celebrated Christmas 1956 and the book came to a tantalizing end. I thoroughly enjoyed getting both perspectives as the plot moved along.
Author Merryn Allingham did an excellent job sharing her own obvious love for the area. She moved the story along smoothly, often bringing in bits from past books to unify things, so to speak. I'll also note that, as always, her historic insight and ability to tie in things like Jane Austen send me off to research more than once. I love it when a book makes me not just think but strive to learn more.
Thanks #NetGalley and #Bookouture for inviting me back into Flora and Jack's world. Loved every moment of it.
FOR BLOG READERS ONLY: I'll post bit of the fun info I dug up in another post about some of the things that intrigued me, such as which rock'n'roll legend exploded onto the scene in 1956. [
And, here's the publisher's book blurb:
Description
Bookshop owner and amateur detective Flora Steele teams up with handsome crime writer Jack Carrington to unravel a curious murder in the village of Abbeymead!
Sussex, 1956: When Flora and her partner-in-crime-solving, Jack, arrive at the charming church of St Saviour’s the last thing they’re expecting to find is the curate, Lyle Beaumont, lifeless on the flagstone floor beneath the belltower, with a mysterious note in his hand.
Flora is dismayed to find the poor curate dead. But she can’t help being intrigued by the eclectic mix of bell ringers present at the old church – Mr Preece, the local butcher, Dilys Fuller, the busybody postmistress, and Stephen Henshall, a newcomer to the close-knit community. Any one of them could be the culprit – and Flora needs to act fast before someone gets away with murder…
When Flora and Jack begin their sleuthing, they quickly realise all is not what it seems with the victim, and the certainty of the dead man’s identity becomes the first twist in the investigation.
Just as they’re getting closer to the answer, the death of one of the suspects changes everything. As a series of unexplained accidents unfolds across the village, it seems no-one who was present at the church on the night of the curate’s demise is safe.
Has the bell tolled on Flora and Jack’s detective days? And will they work out the truth in time to save themselves?
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