Death in Elysium

When you see this novel is set in Kent in the village of Lesser Hogben and features the wife of the rector you may be tempted to plunk it down in the cozy but totally predictable category. Don't make that mistake because Judith Cutler has begun a new series with a lead character that doesn't fit into any mold I've experienced before. To begin with, Jodi Welsh is a woman in her early fifties who has had a career which was both very satisfying and financially rewarding and she has just married for the first time. She and Theo have only been married for two months, after having dated "long distance" for six months, and leaving her lovely home in St. John's Wood to try to settle in the pokey house in Lesser Hogben is proving to be something of a challenge. Fitting in with the other people in the village is also proving somewhat difficult especially since Jodi tends to be especially sympathetic toward the unemployed and sometimes wayward youths who have nothing much to keep them occupied. One of those young men has been helping clear out the garden for Jodi but now she's seriously worried because Burble hasn't been seen in a few days and she thinks someone tried to run her down with their car while she was walking home one evening.

I enjoyed becoming familiar with Jodi, definitely a character of contrasts because of her previous successful life spent in London and then moving on to a life completely different in the village. The London life doesn't go away after her marriage and figures very prominently in allowing her to get away with Theo on his one day off each week. As mysterious happenings around the village begin to come faster and intrude on their personal life more and more there are fewer times to get away from it all and enjoy the luxuries of the city. Keeping her wealth and previous career private from the villagers and also keeping Theo from knowing about some of her expenditures poses some interesting situations which differ from the usual plots of just learning to get along with the members of the WI. The pace of the novel builds gradually until I found it hard to put it aside because I needed to know what was going to happen. There is a conclusion to the current mysteries, even though not every loose end is completely tied up, but not a definite resolution for the futures of Theo and Jodi. I have to confess that there were times when all the talk of Jodi's wealth became tiresome and her attitude of trying to fix every problem in the village by funding it from behind the scenes wasn't altogether realistic. I will look forward to reading the next novel in this series and hope that some of the emphasis of the story will move from her wealth to more complex mystery plotting.

I received an ARC of this novel through NetGalley. The opinions expressed are my own.

Meet Jodie Welsh. After a successful career when she has earned more money that she knows what to do with, she astonishes herself by falling in love and marrying Theo, a vicar in Lesser Hogben, a village in Kent. As she works out how to be a vicar’s wife, she finds herself in a village that is struggling to survive in the modern world and sets her mind to helping out.

However, there are strange goings on in the village and when a young man who Jodie has taken under her wing disappears, she suspects the worse. And when a body turns up, things begin to take a turn for the worse. What exactly is being built on nearby land? How far is someone willing to go to keep their secrets? And is Jodie at risk as well?

Judith Cutler is not an author that I’ve come across before, despite the fact that she has written over thirty crime novels before this one, starting out in 1995. I spotted this one on NetGalley as the first in a series so I thought I’d give it a try.

It’s a great read – the character of Jodie leaps off the page. She’s a great creation and her story, as she finds her place in the village, is an entertaining read. The intrigue and level of threat buzzes nicely in the background and slowly builds to a head. While some characters verge on the stereotype – the village traditionalist who fights any change, the school drop-outs who are just misunderstood – Cutler fills them with enough life not to make this an issue.

Mystery wise, it does all fall a bit flat towards the end as the villain doesn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone – indeed, they are suspected long before the “reveal” – and I’m pretty sure that the building project couldn’t happen without being investigated by the authorities.

What’s impressive about the writing and the characters that they were entertaining enough that I didn’t care about the disappointment in the mystery, which says a lot. I’ll certainly be hunting out more from Judith Cutler. Any recommendations?

This is the first book in a new crime series featuring Jodie Welsh. Jodie is an interesting main character – a high powered businesswoman who was made redundant and now finds herself married to Theo, a widowed rector in a rural parish. Trying to bake cupcakes for the WI or take notes for the parish meetings are not exactly the height of excitement and, although Jodie loves Theo dearly, she slightly resents that she cannot use her money to improve their rather uncomfortable house in Lesser Hogben and feels she is often compared to Theo’s first wife, Merry. However, Jodie tries her best to help Theo and be involved in the community. One day, whilst out running, she comes across a large building site deep in the countryside and nobody seems to know what is happening there, or who is responsible. Her questions about the site will soon put both her and young Burble, an unemployed youth she gives odd jobs to, in danger.

Although this is described as a ‘cosy’ mystery, this is not just a beautiful, picturesque rural setting. Jodie is constantly being sniped at for her belief in helping the young people in the village find work. Along with Burble, she also becomes involved with a young man called Mazza and his sister Sian. This is real village life; lack of work, often poor housing, crime and intolerance are all explored. Jodie tries to make suggestions to keep the few village amenities going, but many locals feel she is either interfering or that the young people she is trying to help are involved in minor thefts around the village. As well as Jodie, the other characters work well. Jodie’s cousin Dave is a former DCI and the local villagers help flesh out the storyline. What begins as a gentle, typical mystery story, gradually becomes a fast moving plot with an exciting ending. I look forward to reading on in this series and thought it an excellent start. Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publishers, via NetGalley, for review.

Very fun new cozy series. The life of a Vicar's wife is never quiet and this is a great mystery with the cozy atmosphere as a plus for the Vicar's wife involved in a mystery.. Very enjoyable read. Thank you Netgalley for this advance read.

Death in Elysium by Judith Cutler

Jodie Welch is a woman who married late in life and then she married a rector. She leaves her job and her old life and settles in to married life and church duties. Church duties don't come naturally to her. She's a person who likes to get things done and do them her own way. So when she starts to mentor the upcoming young men who have nothing to look forward to but trouble, some town folks aren't happy.

Severn House and Net Galley let me read this book fro review (thank you). It will be published the first of October, so look for a copy then.

Jodie comes up with an idea to make a website for the town and the church. The church board is hesitant but since there is no cost involved, they agree. When Jodie gives her expensive camera to the young man that does yardwork sporatically, the naysayers tell her he'll steal it and sell it and she'll never see it again. She doesn't believe that, but the boy doesn't come back either. When she begins to search for him, she finds out even more that's hidden in this town.

It seems the boy she is looking for is dead. If she's not careful, she might be the next body found...

Somehow it seems all these small villages have big secrets cooking somewhere. While this is a familiar theme, Ms. Cutler gives us unusual characters and a unique way to solve the mystery. I enjoyed the story of Jodie and the man she loves and will be looking for another in this series. Give it a read and tell me what you think about it.

Death In Elysium by Judith Cutler. Billed as a new cozy mystery series, I wouldn’t necessarily agree with the word cozy. The setting is in small town Little Hogben where wealthy London businesswoman Jodie has married a country vicar. Jodie is having trouble adjusting to village life and people are slow to accept her. She befriends some of the troubled youth in town and that’s when the troubles start. One of them disappears with her valuable camera; another is accused of bicycle thefts. When one of the churchwardens is attacked, Jodie is almost run over twice, and the rectory is torched, it is obvious she has stirred up someone.

With the help of her ex-cop cousin Dave and using her considerable financial resources and contacts, Jodie does most of the background work for the local police who are reluctant to consider any suspects other than the town’s troubled youth. The climax comes in scenes where both Jodie and her husband are in harm’s way.

I received an ARC of this book and enjoyed it. Jodie is a contemporary woman: she has her doctorate and has been head of big corporations. Giving that up to become a vicar’s wife has to be incredibly hard! I think the way she handles things is just right and I like her and her husband. The mystery was way more involved than I first suspected and involved more people. I think this is a promising series.