Friday, November 14, 2014

The Seventh Link: An English Village Cosy Featuring the Colonel by Margaret Mayhew




From Goodreads:
"The village of Frog End may be peaceful, but that doesn't mean that the Colonel s life there is quiet not with his friendly but nosy neighbour Naomi, desperate to know what he s keeping in his new shed; the curious Miss Butler, who tracks his every move with her German U-boat captain s binoculars; and the attentions of the local vicar, who s keen to involve him in church affairs. That s not forgetting the demands of the aloof, imperious cat Thursday, who seems to have adopted the Colonel.So the Colonel is pleased when his old friend Geoffrey Cheetham invites him up to the village of Buckby for the weekend, to coincide with a RAF reunion event. After depositing an outraged Thursday at the Cat Heaven cattery, he drives up, and meets his fellow guests at the Cheethams B&B: including a Lancaster bomber crew, reunited for the first time. But everything is not as it seems, and the Colonel finds himself taking on the reluctant role of sleuth once more when tragedy strikes . . ."   

The Seventh Link, part of the Village Mystery Series, is a fun little British mystery. I loved the village setting and the wonderful characters of  the Colonel, his neighbor Naomi and the ever so comical Miss Butler. Mayhew did a great job with these characters bringing out all their quirks and personalities.

While attending a reunion for his old RAF Bomber Command group, the Colonel and his old pals experience a tragedy. One of their own has passed away in somewhat unusual circumstances. The mystery of how Don Wilson died is a tad ambiguous. Did he drown by accident due to his drunkenness or was he helped along the way?

Even though I found the book to be a little short with no resolution, I still enjoyed it. The historical references to the Bomber Command was interesting, albeit sometimes overshadowing the "mystery".

Margaret Mayhew, a Goodreads author can be found on her page here. Mayhew is a prolific author who can also be found on her web page at Severn House.

Disclosure: A review copy of the book was provided by Severn House Publishers/Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

2 comments:

  1. I do like these village settings and the names are so quaint.

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  2. Sounds like I could get into this one, given the right mood. I will have to put this on my maybe list.

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