Ah sure, one other cozy thriller sequence for me to take pleasure in – and this time it contains a feisty feminine farmer doing the sleuthing! Grounds for Homicide by Betty Ternier Daniels is a part of the “Jeannie Wolfert-Lang Thriller” sequence, and in keeping with the writer bio, Daniels is presently engaged on the second within the sequence, so hopefully that may come sooner somewhat than later. That is an apparent debut novel, with a couple of of the frequent pitfalls one falls into when it’s the primary ebook, however I loved attending to know Jeannie and the farm life she revels in. It’s undoubtedly a singular setting for a thriller, and supplied plenty of drama exterior of the everyday whodunit.
Plot Abstract
Jeannie is a widower, her husband having handed away in a automobile accident 6 months earlier than. She stays on their farm, over a thousand acres in Northern Saskatchewan. At 60 years previous she’s nonetheless in good condition and lively, reveling in her gardens, portray, and baking, completely happy to maintain busy with all of the duties required on their stunning property. Nonetheless, a pesky actual property agent, Monica continues to hound her into promoting the property, refusing to call the keen purchaser, even going as far as to counsel that Jeannie’s son is in determined want of the cash. When Jeannie lends Monica her automobile and it finally ends up smashed in a gully with its brake traces lower, Jeannie realizes she was the supposed sufferer – however why would anybody need her property badly sufficient to kill her, particularly contemplating there are such a lot of different farms surrounding hers on the market? Enter an off-duty cop named Derek with some unusual historical past, however an curiosity in Jeannie. Figuring out her life is at risk, Derek affords to stay across the farm, assist out the place wanted, and hold a watch out for suspicious characters, however contemplating he’s entered the story at such an odd time, it’s tough to utterly belief him. After which there’s the younger, farming hopefuls who’re leasing a piece of Jeannie’s land however scuffling with the realities of property upkeep, as those that by no means grew up on a farm themselves. There’s plenty of individuals round to assist and hinder, however potential suspects are few and much between.
My Ideas
Monica’s homicide is one typical in cozy mysteries – she wasn’t all that good to start with, and though the demise of anybody is a tragedy, nobody spends a major time mourning her, because it’s later revealed she had no drawback with mendacity and dishonest others. And one other hallmark of a comfortable thriller is the individual placing collectively the clues is a citizen-turned-detective, on this case, Jeannie is an (admittedly grumpy) older girl who resents a messy home, dangerous meals, and normal laziness of any form. Her life is at risk, however she’s nonetheless going to interrupt for tea and cook dinner a hearty meal for friends, so her priorities aren’t actually shifting regardless of the brand new risk. The writer of this ebook appears like she leads a really related life to Jeannie, in truth, they each have an orange cat named Diesel, so it’s not stunning that the characterization itself, in addition to the small rural neighborhood round her, appears exceptionally plausible and well-drawn. This was my favorite a part of the ebook; these round Jeannie, and the way they work together along with her occasional acidity; it felt very practical.
What I did have bother believing was a few of Jeannie’s motion and people round her, in relation to the homicide straight. For instance Derek’s entry into the story could be very unusual; he was beforehand married to Monica and checking up on her, but in addition a cop engaged on different instances who begins to fall in love with Jeannie. He seemingly places his life on maintain for 2 weeks to spend time along with her, and shield her from this potential assassin. Because the thriller deepens and we uncover familial connections between others, the plot threatens to turn out to be utterly unbelievable, however I learn on, nonetheless wanting to comply with Jeannie round whilst she complained about misbehaving kids and burnt meals. It grew to become simpler to disregard these stretches of the creativeness once I grew to become absorbed in Jeannie’s life, and reminding myself this was a primary time writer.
This looks like a wierd factor to say in a evaluation, however one thing else I appreciated about this ebook was the nod to a different small-press Canadian thriller author. Jeannie at one level mentions she’s excited to relaxation and browse for a bit, and be a part of “Lacey McCrae in Jayne Barnard’s newest thriller novel”. A couple of years in the past I learn a Barnard novel and actually loved it, you will discover my evaluation right here. Though somebody caught in a real-life thriller is unlikely to need to dive right into a fictional one, I nonetheless appreciated this shout-out, supporting different Canadian authors is so necessary in such a crowded style as this.