MURDER IN THE VILLAGE by Faith Martin
Looking for a brilliant best-selling murder mystery with a feisty female detective?
 Then meet DI HILLARY GREENE, the police woman with a nose for the truth and a talent for trouble.
 A would-be politician is found battered to death in the kitchen of his expensive home in a lovely Oxfordshire village. His wife’s alibi is full of holes and there’s another woman in the background. And what about his seemingly mild-mannered political rival?
I really enjoyed this book. I did like Greene. Gripping read. 4*.

I probably would of liked it a bit more if I read others in the series. Murder in the Village is about a would be politician who is murdered and DI Hillary Greene begins her investigation.

It’s always good to catch up with Hillary Greene and the other members of her team. This was another well written and entertaining mystery with an attractive Oxfordshire setting and a good balance of suspense and action.

I wasn't aware when I started that this was the fourth book in a series, but you don't have to have read the rest of them to enjoy "Murder in the Village". I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I will be going back and starting at the beginning of the series.

I wish that I had read the previous books! I had never heard of this Author until Netgalley was kind enough to allow me to read it, all my Reviews are honest. DI Greene is in a precarious situation; dealing with two high profile murders is not helping. I loved the team, except for the creepy friend of her ex-husbands! He needs to be fired! Yuck! I would kick him where it hurts; when he is bent over, bring my knee up, and break his nose! Back to the main character, I would like to read the first four books. I love this Author; I appreciate having the opportunity of putting her on my TBR list!
I highly Recommend! Thank you!
carolintallahassee

Despite reading the previous book in this series, there were times when I felt a little confused at references to the earlier series. But I enjoyed it regardless, and I'd definitely think about reading the next books.

This is the first book in this series I've read and unfortunately it will be the last, I struggled with the concept

A good mystery I really enjoyed and recommend. Nice characters, good plot, well written.
I will go and and get the previous instalment in this series.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Joffe Books

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. A really old fashioned mystery murder, just what the doctor ordered

I recently had the delight of reading and reviewing ‘Murder Of The Bride’ by Faith Martin, which is the previous book in the series featuring DI Hilary Greene, and I absolutely loved it. So you can imagine my excitement when I was asked if I would like to read and review ‘Murder In The Village’. Of course I said ‘yes’ and oh wowzers I absolutely loved it. In fact I think that this series just gets better and better with each book that is released, but more about that in a bit.

DI Hillary Greene is a woman of a particular age, whose career is basically her life. She doesn’t have anything else. DI Greene was married to a less than savoury character and she had no idea about the true extent of his dodgy dealings until they were exposed. Her husband is no longer around and the couple had no children. Greene is one of those feisty female detectives, who are not easily, if ever, afraid and she does all she can to seek justice for the victims of crime and to ensure that the guilty party pays for what he or she has done. DI Greene is popular with her team and she is more than willing to muck in and do her fair share of the day to day work. DI Greene enjoys a close working relationship and friendship with her immediate superior DCI Phillip Mallow, also known as ‘Mellow Mallow’. DI Greene tells it like it is and doesn’t pull any punches and her no nonsense attitude earns her the respect of her colleagues. That is except for DS Frank Ross, who was her ex-husband’s best friend. DS Ross is one of those characters, who made me want to poke him in the eyes with a sharp stick before slapping him across the face with a wet flip flop and a wet fish. DS Ross is basically a slob, who avoids work when he can, he has no respect for those in authority, he doesn’t follow procedure, he doesn’t play by the rules, he cosies up to the criminal fraternity and he tries to get up DI Greene’s nose as much as he can. He also seems to be very much a lecherous pervert, who gave me the heebie jeebies every time he was mentioned. How he is still a serving police officer is beyond me.

I have to say that in my opinion ‘Murder In The Village’ is brilliantly written. As I mentioned at the start of the review, this is a series that just keeps getting better and better. The writing style is such that you can’t fail to be drawn in to the story. I was literally hooked from the first word on the last page and before I knew it I had got a quarter of the way through the book. I didn’t notice either the time passing or the pages turning. In fact the pages were turning that fast that it was almost as if they were turning themselves. Usually I have the attention span of a gnat and I am easily distracted but not in this case, as I was able to cut out all other noise and avoid any distraction. The writing was that good that I literally felt as though I was a member of DI Greene’s team. I felt that I could easily have fitted right in. Opening ‘Murder In The Village’ felt like being reunited with old friends, all apart from DS Ross that is. Reading this book was a bit like being on a rollercoaster ride with all the twists, turns and the odd occasional stomach churning moment. I smugly thought that I had fathomed out who the murderer(s) was/ were but I was wrong and the book sent me down another path entirely. This is a book that certainly kept me guessing and kept me on my toes.

In short, I absolutely LOVED this book and I absolutely love this series. I can’t wait to read more about cases involving DI Hillary Greene and her team. Here’s hoping that I don’t have too long to wait. I would recommend this series to anyone. I award this book an easy 5* out of 5*.

Having not read the first books I wasn't sure how easy this would be to follow but this was given to me in exchange for a review so I gave it a chance. The story was east to follow and gave enough information that I didn't need to read the earlier ones I am now planning on it.

This was an interesting read with some good characters. It's not often the main character is injured so early on but it added an interesting twist to the story.

I think the main murder did get a little bit lost in the book as it focussed on the other story but it was still good and the identity took me by surprise. I did figure out what might happen to Raleigh though.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

Faith Martin is one of my new favourite mystery authors! Thoroughly enjoyed the characters, story line and purchased the previous titles in this series. I am looking forward to reading the back story of DI Hilary Greene!

DI Hillary Greene is called out to a murder of a local candidate for office. Hard to see who could be responsible. Her team is working every angle but coming up with nothing. In the mean time Hillary is called out to a raid on a drug dealer. Those armed are to go in first and then when clear the unarmed go. The team leader has decided to go before the coast is clear. Out comes an armed suspect and Hillary is shot in the hip. The more she thinks about it as she is recovering the more she wonders why they went so soon. With time on her hands she starts to investigate. Can Hillary solve this point that keeps bothering her and solve the murder as well? Interesting how she is able to do her elimination.

My review as posted on Goodreads:

Although this is the fourth book in a series, I was keen to read it because of the Oxfordshire locations.

It was first published in 2006 under the title 'By a Narrow Majority '.

I soon found that I liked the writing style and the characters in this novel.
The descriptions of the people and locations help to add a sense of reality. The story develops at a fast pace and has some clever twists.

This is the first book by Faith Martin which I have read.

When I have posted this review I intend to start reading the fifth book in the DI Hillary Greene series (

My thanks to Netgalley and Joffe Books for a copy in return for this review.

Thank you Netgalley and Joffe Books for the eARC and the chance to discover yet another terrific series.
DI Hillary Greene is working on the case of a murdered politician, brutally bludgeoned to death, as well as going on several stakeouts to bring down a notorious gangster who they've been after for years without success. Her new boss is determined to bring the man to justice and on the final stakeout, the gangster is shot to death. Hillary herself is shot in the hip and, once out of the hospital, put on leave. Staying on her longboat drives her out of her mind and she sneaks off to try and find out more about her boss. There's something fishy about him; why would he have left a successful career in London to take a post at their small backwater? The fatal shooting on the stakeout is also suspect and while everyone is happy to put it behind them, Hillary needs to find answers; she knows all is not as it seems.
I love this series and am so happy to be reading no.5, Murder in the Family, right now!
All the books can be read as standalones, but I recommend starting at the beginning.

This is the fourth book in the brilliant series, all being re-published by Joffe Books.

I have read all three other books recently as they have been published and I have loved them all so far, therefore I knew this one would be just as good.

As with the other books in the series you can read them as stand alone novels, but to get to know the main cast better it is advisable to read them in order.

The main character DI Hilary is progressing very well throughout the series so far and I am loving that more of her back story is coming out, and some coming back to haunt her again in this book.  Despite of everything in her past, her career is progressing nicely at present and she is very good at fighting her corner, which I love about her.

The book itself is a very clever story, with all the usual twists and turns you would expect from one of Faith's books.  There are also some red herrings along the way to send you down the garden path a couple of times before you get to the end of the book and the stunning conclusion

This one surpasses the previous Hilary Green plots. Lots of action and exciting inner plots for her and her colleagues. A surprising end to an eventful story. A GRIPPING READ!

5 stars

DI Hillary Greene gets a case involving a minor politician who has been murdered. The man’s name is Malcolm Dale and he was battered to death with a blunt object. He lived in an affluent section of Oxfordshire. The body was discovered by his secretary. His wife is not at home at the time of the murder.

At the same time, her new boss’ boss Superintendent Jerome Raleigh has his sights set on capturing one of Oxfordshire’s major crime bosses, Fletcher. He will go to almost any lengths to catch him. When his raid on Fletcher’s place goes sideways, he scrambles to make it look right.

Hillary and her team interview possible witnesses, friends, acquaintances and relatives of Malcolm Dale. They learn that Mrs. Dale’s alibi does not hold water. They also interview the victim’s political rival George McNamara. He seems a good suspect. The assiduously follow the clues and work the case very hard.

The identity of the murderer comes as a real surprise, but not near as surprising as the killer’s motive.

This remarkable novel is both well written and plotted. It has just the right amount of action. I like DI Hillary Greene very much and I appreciate the way she gets along with her team. Her relationship with her boss, DCI Mel Mellow is solid and professional. Hillary has both compassion and empathy, not only for the victims, but also for her team members. She suffers DS Frank Ross with good humor and works well with team member Janine, even though Janine’s relationship with Mel is ill-advised at best. I like the way Ms. Martin injects little bots of humor here and there: “Puff the Tragic Wagon” is her nickname for her older VW Golf. Faith Martin is a brilliant writer and I can hardly wait for the next novel in the series to come out.

I want to thank NetGalley and Joffe Books for forwarding to me a copy of this great book to read and enjoy.

This book was really good and it was nice to see a female DI that was strong and had a good team that all worked well together.

This is the fourth book in the series but you can read it as a stand alone book. I have not read the other books but I certainly will now.

DI Hillary Greene and her team have to solve the murder of a politician at first his wife is thought to have killed him but as the book goes on with many different twists it is brilliant.

I can't wait to read the others