Murder at the Village Fete - A Review

 

Murder at the
Village Fete

By
Catherine Coles

Definition of “Fete”:

1: festival 2 a: lavish, often outdoor, entertainment 2 b: large elaborate party

Two things made this year's fete unique. First, it was the first year that Tommie and Evelyn Christie would be hosting it as the newly named Lord and Lady Northmoor. It was also the first year in which a dead body found near the stream running behind Hessleham Hall brought a quick end to the fete. And there was “no doubt that Robert Billingham, the Member of Parliament for Northmore & East, was most assuredly dead.”

Robert Billingham was one of four men to receive letters threatening to reveal details of a crime that any one of them could have committed, but all had been cleared of months earlier. The four men had also been invited to Hessleham Hall to attend the day’s celebration and now one of them was dead.

As somebody recently said, the murder rate in small villages found in the UK was far larger than in many major cities around the world. The village located near Hessleham Hall was no different.

As the publisher notes, the tale is a wonderful blend of Murder, She Wrote and Downton Abbey. It is the similarity to the former that gives the book some life; and its similarity to the latter that left this reader feeling that he was sometimes slogging through a giant mud patch - but sometimes even playing in the mud patch can be a worthwhile experience. Such was this book.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are my own.