From Publishers Weekly
Amateur sleuth Dorothy Martin sets aside Christmas preparations in order to look into the disappearance of her best friend's beau in Agatha-winner Dams's captivating ninth mystery to feature the expatriate American living in the medieval English town of Sherebury (after 2003's Sins Out of School). When the body of Bill Fanshawe, curator of the local museum, turns up in the museum's basement, Dorothy determines to find out who killed Bill and why, not only for the sake of her friend, Jane Langland, but for herself. With only a few puzzling clues to guide her, including a map of Indiana, she must sort out the conflicting information she gathers from the quirky and elderly characters who knew Bill during WWII. A revelation that even Dorothy could not have anticipated concludes a cozy as comforting as a hot cup of tea and as deliciously spicy as one of Dorothy's mince pies. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Sixtyish American Dorothy Martin is facing Christmas in Sherebury, England, and she is not prepared, despite the support of her husband, retired from the Sherebury police, and her best friend, Jane. Then an old lover of Jane's is found dead in the tunnels beneath the local museum where he worked. Dorothy is fascinated by her friend's stalwart and unsentimental approach to loss, but when a local university student who also worked at the museum is attacked, both women begin a search through archives and interviews of the now quite elderly collection of RAF vets in the area. Quite fascinating RAF history is revealed in these conversations, as Dorothy uses her husband's contacts and her own American approach to get beyond British resolve. The truth is extracted from secrets as old as humankind, secrets concealing treachery, lies, and heartbreak, but Christmas comes, and so does resolution. Dams has a steadily growing audience, and her latest will be eagerly awaited. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Description
Dorothy Martin's neighbor and closest friend, Jane Langland, has been having a fling with Bill Fanshawe--or, as much of a fling as two 80-year olds in a small town are allowed. Now there are rumors that Jane and Bill may move in together, and Dorothy needs to know exactly what's happening. What neither woman expects is that Bill is missing, and that within a day his body is going to be discovered in the tunnel under the Sherebury town museum.
Why would anyone want to harm a harmless old man, a historian who loves the town and the people who live there? Given his age, and the strange letter found in his hand, Dorothy thinks that whatever happened has its roots in WWII. Everyone, including her husband, retired police office Alan, looks askance, but when another old man is murdered--a man who served at the same RAF base as Bill--no one denies Dorothy's suspicions may be right.
Dorothy investigates, knowing that the best Christmas gift she can give her friend Jane is the truth about what happened to Bill. And Jane has a surprise of her own for Dorothy...
About the Author
Jeanne M. Dams is an Indiana native. Her first Dorothy Martin mystery, The Body in the Transept, won the Agatha Award as Best First Mystery. A retired teacher, she has degrees from Perdue and Notre Dame, and lives in South Bend, IN.
Winter of Discontent: A Dorothy Martin Mystery #9 FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Dorothy Martin's neighbor and closest friend, Jane Langland, has been having a fling with Bill Fanshawe - or, as much of a fling as two 80-year olds in a small town are allowed. Now there are rumors that Jane and Bill may move in together, and Dorothy needs to know exactly what's happening. What neither woman expects is that Bill is missing, and that within a day his body is going to be discovered in the tunnel under the Sherebury town museum." Why would anyone want to harm a harmless old man, a historian who loves the town and the people who live there? Given his age, and the strange letter found in his hand, Dorothy thinks that whatever happened has its roots in WWII. Everyone, including her husband, retired police office Alan, looks askance, but when another old man is murdered - a man who served at the same RAF base as Bill - no one denies Dorothy's suspicions may be right. Dorothy investigates, knowing that the best Christmas gift she can give her friend Jane is the truth about what happened to Bill. And Jane has a surprise of her own for Dorothy.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Amateur sleuth Dorothy Martin sets aside Christmas preparations in order to look into the disappearance of her best friend's beau in Agatha-winner Dams's captivating ninth mystery to feature the expatriate American living in the medieval English town of Sherebury (after 2003's Sins Out of School). When the body of Bill Fanshawe, curator of the local museum, turns up in the museum's basement, Dorothy determines to find out who killed Bill and why, not only for the sake of her friend, Jane Langland, but for herself. With only a few puzzling clues to guide her, including a map of Indiana, she must sort out the conflicting information she gathers from the quirky and elderly characters who knew Bill during WWII. A revelation that even Dorothy could not have anticipated concludes a cozy as comforting as a hot cup of tea and as deliciously spicy as one of Dorothy's mince pies. Agent, Kimberley Cameron at Reece Halsey North. (Dec. 1) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
A cozy glimpse of growing old, and the alternative. Former schoolmarm Dorothy Martin, whose creaky knees are within hailing distance of 70, and her second husband, retired Chief Constable Alan Nesbit, have settled into a comfortable routine in the village of Sherebury, enjoying their morning coffee, afternoon tea, and nightly bourbon. But old habits die hard, and when local museum curator Bill Fanshawe, aging beau of their neighbor Jane, goes missing, the sleuths (Sins Out of School, 2002, etc.) forego their easy chairs and afternoon naps to find him. Alas, poor Bill has keeled over in the old Roman tunnel beneath the museum, a coded letter in his hand. Dorothy and Alan can't make sense of it. Neither can Bill's young assistant Walter, soon bound for the hospital with a bashed head. Could all this mayhem have to do with Bill's missing appointment book and atlas, or the exhibit he was mounting on Sherebury's role in WWII? After chatting up the few remaining members of Bill's air squadron, Dorothy and Jane have just about settled on Wing Commander Merrefield as a past traitor and current villain when he too dies. Many inquiries and cups of tea later, Sherebury's war record is set straight and Jane can find solace in mothering Walter while Dorothy finishes her Christmas shopping and Alan puts the kettle on. A so-so puzzle that threatens to drown readers in tea but excels as a primer on aging. Agent: Kimberley Cameron/Reece Halsey North
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