4 out of 5 Stars

Thank you to Book n All Book  Promotions and Joffe Books for allowing me a stop on this thrilling tour!

Synopsis

Looking for a brilliant best-selling murder mystery with a feisty female detective?

DETECTIVE HILLARY GREENE IS SOLVING THE COLD CASES NO ONE ELSE COULD CRACK.

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A REVISED EDITION OF A BOOK FIRST PUBLISHED AS “A NARROW MARGIN OF ERROR.”

Ten years ago, Rowan Thompson was found stabbed to death with a pair of scissors in his student house. It turns out that Rowan was quite a lover, with many disgruntled partners left in his wake.
But did any of them have a strong enough motive to murder him?

Meanwhile. Hillary’s stalker is getting more aggressive with his messages and flowers. And it looks like he may be much, much worse than she thought.

Has Hillary finally bitten off more than she can chew?

Hillary Greene has returned to Thames Valley Police HQ, acting as a consultant for the Crime Review Team, looking into murders which the police have never been able to solve.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to go back. But solving crimes is irresistible for Hillary Greene. And it doesn’t hurt that her new boss is devastatingly handsome.

This is a crime mystery full of well-observed characters, which will have you gripped from start to the absolutely thrilling conclusion.

MURDER OF A LOVER is the thirteenth a series of page-turning crime thrillers set in Oxfordshire.

DI HILLARY GREENE SERIES
BOOK 1: MURDER ON THE OXFORD CANAL
BOOK 2: MURDER AT THE UNIVERSITY
BOOK 3: MURDER OF THE BRIDE
BOOK 4: MURDER IN THE VILLAGE
BOOK 5: MURDER IN THE FAMILY
BOOK 6: MURDER AT HOME
BOOK 7: MURDER IN THE MEADOW
BOOK 8: MURDER IN THE MANSION
BOOK 9: MURDER IN THE GARDEN
BOOK 10: MURDER BY FIRE
BOOK 11: MURDER AT WORK
BOOK 12: MURDER NEVER RETIRES
BOOK 13: MURDER OF A LOVER

My Thoughts

This almost had a feel of a cozy mystery… It was like a cozy mystery had a baby with a Kathy Reichs novel. There was all the wonderful focus on character building that a cozy mystery would have, with a little more of an ominous scientific feeling to it.

I will say that I have not read the other books in the DI Hillary series, the nice thing is that I don’t think that this fact detracted from anything. I don’t know if this can be said of each book in the series, but this one could definitely be read as a stand alone without a problem. There were obviously some people and situations that I had to be brought up to speed with, but Faith did a wonderful job of explaining things without getting too descriptive or pandering.

DI (or retired DI by this point) Hillary Greene is a likeable and realistic character. She is beautiful and intelligent, even if she is one of the “wrinklies” as Vivienne says. (Apparently if you are 40 or above, this is the club you belong to. That had me laughing!)

Having retired from her position as DI she is now working with the CRT solving Cold Cases. I liked that this was very different from other novels. It’s definitely a slow burn because of this, it’s not quite the crazy roller coaster as the murder happened in the past, but the added suspense of Hillary’s stalker lends an urgency (and a little romance) to the present.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for great characterization and some somewhat cozy mystery and suspense. I’ll definitely be checking out the other books in the series!

The Author

Faith Martin has been writing for over 25 years, in four genres and under four different pen names. She was born in Oxford and sets most of her crime novels within sight of the city of dreaming spires. A real nature lover and afficionado of the countryside, descriptions of wildlife and native flora often find their way into her manuscripts. Right now, JOFFE BOOKS are re-issuing the DI Hillary Greene novels in new updated editions! The first 13 books in the series are available now.

Her romance novels, written under the name of Maxine Barry, are now available from Corazon Books. IMPOSTERS In PARADISE, and HEART OF FIRE are both out, and others will very quickly become available in the future.

Her first foray into writing ‘spooky’ crime, (and written under the pen name of Jessie Daniels) comes out in November 2017. THE LAVENDER LADY CASEFILE is published by Robert Hale, an imprint of Crowood Press.

As Joyce Cato, she writes more classically-inspired ‘proper’ whodunits. So, if you like an amateur sleuth, plenty of clues and red herrings, plus a baffling murder mystery to solve, these are the books for you.

Murder of a Lover is Best Served with

a Leprechaun Cocktail

In this book, one quote really stayed with me. This was the description of the boy, Rowan Thompson, who’s murder Hillary was trying to solve,

“You probably won’t remember an actor called Tommy Steele but he had that sort of way about him. Little-boy, mischief-maker, but with a heart-of-gold feeling about him.”

I. LOVE. TOMMY STEELE!!!

I should have had him on my list of older loves in my One Lovely Blog post!One of my favourite film’s that he was in was “Finian’s Rainbow” in which he played Og, the Leprechaun from Glocca Morra.

So, Cheers to you, my little Leprechaun!!

Ingredients

• 2oz Jamesons Irish Whiskey (or any, I like Jamesons)
• 4-6oz Tonic Water
• Twist of Lemon

Directions

1. Fill a glass with ice
2. Pour in Irish Whiskey
3. Top with Tonic Water
4. Give it a little stir
5. Add a little lemon
6. CHEERS!!

FOLLOW THE REST OF THE TOUR!!