Murder in the Parish, by Faith Martin, is a clever and well-written mystery. Hillary Greene is a former Detective Inspector now working cold cases as a consultant. She and her small team are faced with re-examining the 30 year old murder of a popular, good looking vicar in the beautiful village of Lower Barton. The brutal murder occurred right before Christmas and was never solved. Two suspects are currently being blackmailed. To add to the complexity, Greene has a persistent cough, fears she could have a serious illness and insists that her boss be kept in the dark. Greene is a clearly drawn character. Enough is written about her backstory to make this acceptable as a stand-alone book. Overall this is a delightful read, with colorful characters including a quirky Greene who has named her car Puff! I was unaware it was the 20th in a series or I would have read the earlier books. Highly recommended.

With thanks to Netgalley and Joffe Books for this ARC. My opinions are my own.

This book started out slow for me, but about halfway through, it picked up, and I couldn't put it down. While I thought it was a bit predictable, it was a great story of "whodunit." We follow an investigator investigating a reopened 30-year-old case - a vicar was brutally murdered in the church, and the original DI never found who did it. Though the new investigator is determined to find the guilty suspect, she has her own personal issues going on as well - a cough that will just not go away.

I do recommend this novel - I appreciated the glossary of British terms at the back of the download. Being from the US, I could figure out what some of the terminologies in the book meant, but it was great to actually see the meanings!

Thank you got the ARC, NetGalley!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for an advance copy of Murder in the Parish, the twentieth novel to feature former DI Hillary Greene, now working as a consultant on cold cases for Thames Valley Police.

Thirty years ago the Reverend Keith Coltrane was murdered in his own church. Now Hillary and her team are taking another look at the unsolved case and uncover all sorts of secrets and feuds in the village of Lower Barton.

I enjoyed Murder in the Parish, which is a pleasant read with a few twists to keep it interesting. As ever with cold cases it is character driven, mostly due to a lack of forensics, and in this case it starts with victimology. The Reverend Keith Coltrane is a difficult man to pin down, in my opinion, as it is never overtly stated, because he is so charismatic, handsome and attractive to others that they tend to project what they want from him onto his character. This lack of clarity about his character makes it difficult for the team to identify suspects and motives. Still, it makes for good reading as Hillary and her team mull over all sorts of possibilities and throw in a goof few red herrings along the way.

The novel is mostly told from Hillary’s point of view with contributions from various villagers and one in particular with secrets to hide. This is cleverly done, putting the reader on high alert for a potential murderer, but it’s perhaps not what it seems. In fact the whole novel is full of not what it seems moments. It is a rather subdued Hillary in this novel. She has her own problems, so her mind isn’t fully on her work.

Murder in the Parish is a good read that I can recommend.

As always, Faith Martin writes a mystery with a bit of suspense, a bit of humor, and a lot of great characters.
Retired DI Hillary has been working cold cases as a consultant, when she is offered the 30 year old unsolved murder of the victor of a local church. There are a lot of clues, some finger pointing, and some odd misleading recent events - but nothing positively adds up. That is until an off handed comment by a witness gets Hillary thinking.
I loved the story, highly engaging. Had an interesting, but sad, twist at the end. One I honestly hadn't anticipated.
Looking forward to the next book.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Two days before Christmas, a young handsome Reverend Keith Coltrane is murdered in his church in the small village of Lower Barton. DI Hillary Greene (retired) and her cold case team investigate the thirty-year-old shocking murder in the sleepy little village. Was the Reverend really well-liked by everyone in the community or did someone love him too much?

Struggling to identify who had the motive to kill the Reverend, DI Greene also deals with health issues during this case. The Thames Valley Police Crime Review Team digs hard into the relationships in the village to come up with the murderer. This cozy police procedural is the 20th entry in the Detective Hillary Greene series. Although I have yet to read the others, I enjoyed this outing. The author plays with the humour of an aging detective, her aging car and her long-dead cold case. This is an easy read with a likeable mature main character.

Thank you to Joffe Books and NetGalley for access to the digital ARC Murder in the Parish by Faith Martin.

Another fantastically addictive book by this author starring Hillary Green. I love everything about this character, her life on a boat, her car, her bravery and the way she interacts with others. Great plot too.

Compelling..
The twentieth entry in the DI Hillary Greene series finds the former detective grappling with another cold case - a shocking, and seemingly impossible, crime. At the same time, Hillary is battling her own demons and hiding a potential health concern. Nicely plotted and penned with a deftly crafted cast, a compelling narrative and an intriguing storyline. A worthy addition to this long running and engaging series.

I’m so pleased our heroine is back from retirement.,this is another great story in the series however could be read as a stand alone, although it will make you want to read all the other books preceding it!

I found this one a bit downbeat from her other books, a different cold case to solve with a rather sad final twist. Looking forward to reading the next in the series

Thank you to the author publishers and Netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review

232 pages

5 stars

Thirty years ago the Reverend Keith Coltrane was bludgeoned to death with a shovel in the entrance to his church. Reverend Coltrane was a young man who was very attractive to the women in his parish. He was known to do his best to remain aloof to the gaggle of women who followed him around.

Now in charge of the cold case squad of three people, former detective Hillary Greene takes on the re-investigation of the Reverend’s murder. There are a plethora of suspects: from the woman who was - and still is - infatuated with Vicar, to the neighbor with whom the Reverend had a land dispute, to a blackmailer who intends to profit and a younger sister who hated him.

Meanwhile, Hillary is dealing with a health problem, but she hasn’t told anyone else.

This is perhaps my favorite novel of Ms. Martin’s Hillary Greene series. Hillary may be now older, but she’s still got it. The characters in this book are well fleshed out. I enjoy reading about the lives of the police officers and the suspects. It makes me feel more connected to the characters. I felt like I was in the car driving along and a witness to the interviews she and her teammates conducted. I truly enjoyed reading this book and will continue to read Ms. Martin’s work.

I want to thank NetGalley and Joffe Books for forwarding to me a copy of this book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

Another fabulous Hilary Greene mystery. I have read this series and Faith. Martin’s two other series published by Joffe Books - Jenny Starling and Monica Noble and recommend those as well. I was thrilled to see this was available as a Read Now advance copy and began reading it immediately after downloading..

Hilary’s cold case review team is given the file on a reverend who was found struck dead by a spade over thirty years before. As ever Faith Martin describes the country scenes around Oxford well and you feel as if you’re travelling around them in Puff the Tragic Wagon along with Hilary. Once the team start digging into the case again, old secrets come to light and memories are reawakened. Hilary is still coming to terms with being alone again following the sudden death of her partner Steven Crayle from a heart attack and has returned to living on her beloved narrow boat. She also has the additional worry of a pronounced cough that is not disappearing and needs intrusive investigation. However she resolves to let the work distract her and not let whatever the problem is get in her way.

Despite the team being reduced to two plus Hilary they manage to find clues and winkle out answers with good interview techniques and Hilary’s nose for truth.

I recommend this book to everyone!

Hillary Green gets a thirty year old case to try to solve. The Vicar in Lower Barton was been hot over the head with a shovel. He was very well liked, and very handsome. Several of the women in the church were somewhat besotted with him. The detective who had the case was looking at two possible killers, the besotted woman, and the Vicar's younger sister, but there was not definitive reason to arrest either one. One other suspect was Max Walker, who wished to buy the land next to the church to make a camping site, whereas the Vicar had wanted the land to enlarge the church burial grounds. The woman was divorced by her husband and ended up marrying a fairly wealthy man who is now deceased.

In the midst of the investigation Hillary and others find out that two of the suspects are being blackmailed now that the case has reopened. Meanwhile, Hillary has a medical problem. She has a bad cough and is seeing a doctor, but doesn't want to let her staff and boss know about it. At one point, Hillary finds out from the Vicar's sister that the Vicar was also popular with some of the teenagers in the village, and that she had seen Trevor Cornwallis and her brother trying out drugs!

As any reader of this series knows, Hillary always solves her case! However, you won't know the culprit until very near the end.

Murder in the Parish is the 20th book in the series. It was a fun read. Ex-DI Hillary Greene is the main character. She is now a civil consultant in the Crime Review Team at the Thames Police Headquarters in the town of Kidlington. She worked under Superintendent Roland Sale. along with the crime team Claire Woolley, retired from the police force and Gareth Procter retired military. They have been given a new case of Reverend Keith Coltrane who was killed when he was hit over the head by a shovel 30 years ago.

Hillary goes to the town where the reverend was killed and sees his tombstone in the cemetery. She speaks to an old lady who is in the cemetery and is told that the reverend was well liked by all. Hillary and Claire go to speak to his sister. Moira Coltrane, who was and still is an alcoholic. She does not have anything nice to say about her brother who she blames for everything.

Hillary and Gareth go to see Ben Keating, who is retired policeman who was the head of the case. He tells them that it was a hard case to solve as there were several people who were in conflict with the reverend. All were cleared. Anthea Greyling was in love with the Keith but he wasn't with her. and her husband divorced her because of it. She left the town in disgrace and remarried. Her last name is Roland. She is now a widow as her 2nd husband died leaving her very comfortable. Peter and Dorothy Cornwallis and their son Trever were also mentioned as well as Max Walker who owned the land next to the church. He and the Keith had a disagreement about the land next to his land that Keith wanted for a cemetery and Max wanted it for buildings.

This is where the story takes off on an adventure along with the crime team of who killed Keith and why. There is blackmail, etc. of the above people who were questioned to laying a trap to find the blackmailer. There is a surprised ending.


Thank you NetGalley and Joffe Booksk for this ARC.

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC Copy. This is number 20 in the Hillary Greene cold case series, and one of my favourites. Hillary retired from the police service with an enviable solve rate. She was lured back to the service as a civilian tasked with reviewing cold cases. The cold case she and her team are reviewing in this book is that of Reverand Keith Coltrane killed thirty years ago just before Christmas. Rev Coltrane was a much loved pastor so who in the small village he called home would want him dead. And who's alive thirty years on that can help Hillary solve the case.
This series is consistently good. The book can be read as a stand a lone but Faith Martin is an excellent writer and the series so good I highly recommend reading the series.

_Another excellent book by Faith Martin continuing the series involving Former Detective Hilary Greene investigating the 30 year cold case of the murder of the vicar Reverend Keith Coltrane being hit over the head with a spade in his church in Oxford.. Keeps the reader guessing until the final pages of the mystery of this unsolved death.

I was delighted to be given access to a review copy of Murder in the Parish by Faith Martin. But I found it curiously flat. In it Hillary is dealing with health problems and they're causing her some low-level anxiety, but they created no tension in me as the reader. Likewise the crime being investigated didn't really move me (and I speak as a daughter of the manse!) and the murderer was fairly obvious. But I could have forgiven these things if the usual interaction between the characters had been there. Hillary's team just didn't come off the page as far as I was concerned. And I'd really like to see Hillary develop some friendships!