Murder in the Meadow by Faith Martin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Of note, Murder In The Meadow is book seven in the DI Hillary Greene series. I did not realize that going in and I think that although the book stands on it’s own I suspect that it is far more enjoyable when read as part of the series.

I say this because the author leans heavily into describing details unrelated directly to the murder early on in the book. I set the book aside several times because structurally I enjoy learning about the primary story and then being granted permission to view the surrounding world. Faith Martin spends the first few chapters detailing the world surrounding the murder mystery. Once I realized it was part of a series I thought it was far more appropriate but it did create a little dissonance for me early on. Martin’s style is in the Agatha Christie take on mystery, which is to say that the mystery is a vehicle to explore a small town world with gossip and intrigue. It’s a light mystery without gore or significant darkness—a cozy mystery. On that front it is very enjoyable and highly recommendable. Having not read the previous books in the series I can’t say if you should start at the beginning but I’d venture a guess that it will be more satisfying to start with the first book in the series and catch up to this one. It does, however, stand alone and can be enjoyed as such. If you’re looking for a female led detective series this one is entertaining, a fairly quick read and wonderfully atmospheric with a little humor and not too much drama.

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