Book Review and Giveaway: The Reluctant Detective by Martha Ockley

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge, from the Kregel PR, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it




Back in Decmber, I introduced you to Martha's previous book in this series, The Advent of Murder. I'm thrilled to be able to bring you this second book in the series!




Synopsis:

Former cop Faith Morgan may have quit the world of crime, but crime has not let her go. Now a priest in the Church of England, she is assigned to the improbably named village of Little Worthy, and within an hour of her arrival she witnesses the sudden, shocking death of a fellow priest. To her distress, the detective assigned to the case is Ben, her former partner and former boyfriend.


As she meets her parishioners she learns some surprising details about her apparently well-loved predecessor, and starts to suspect a motive for his death. The cop may have donned a clerical collar, but the questions keep coming. How will she reconcile her present calling with her past instincts? Is she in danger herself? What should she do about Ben?


Review:


This is the precursor to The Advent of Murder, which I loved, so I was quite happy to check out this book! This was a VERY quick read and I finished it in 2 sittings! It filled in all the questions I had from the second book, and fleshed out the characters quite nicely. The series is an interesting concept, mashing police procedural with faith, but in a more honest, realistic way. Faith has doubts about leaving the police force, and what her true calling is. As she says God speaks to her in unexpected ways (a song on the radio), and leads her where she least expects it. She and her ex, Ben, have a realistic relationship- trying to piece together what went wrong, stay friends, and find their new way. In the meantime, they have a double mystery to solve, with many twists and turns. Fans of the old style Agatha Christie mysteries will adore this book! I highly recommend the series!



About the Author:

Martha Ockley is the pen-name of Rebecca Jenkins. She read history at Oxford University, and spent several years working alongside her father, the Rt. Revd. David Jenkins (Bishop of Durham 1984-94) during the turbulence of the 1980s. She lives in Teesdale in the North East of England where the landscape and history provide the inspiration for her Regency detective, F R Jarrett. Since September 2009 she has been Royal Literary Fund Fellow and Writer in Residence at York St John University. She is a full-time author, writing both fiction and non-fiction. 



Giveaway:

One lucky BTHM reader, will win this review copy!


Thanks for reading this post and entering the giveaway!

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