Summary:
A tranquil village.
A poisoned cupcake.
A murdered vicar.
A simple case – or it should be. All clues point to the Toot Hansell Women’s Institute, but Detective Inspector Adams is about to discover there’s more to these ladies than bake sales and jam-making.
Alice Martin, retired RAF Wing Commander and W.I. chair, knows her group isn’t guilty. But she’s got a bigger problem: Toot Hansell’s dragon-sized secret must stay hidden — and she’d rather not be arrested for murder. Again.
Beaufort Scales, High Lord of the Cloverly dragons and survivor of the days of knights and dragon hunts, knows dragons only survive by staying out of sight. But he also knows friends don’t let friends face murder inquiries alone. Beaufort fully intends to Get Involved.
This investigation is about to take on dragonish proportions.
Best put the kettle on…
Review:
This is a book that I found entirely by accident. It’s not through a “traditional” publisher and might never have come to my attention except for the whims of Amazon recommendations. And my God, would I have missed out if I hadn’t found this author! Cozy fantasy has become popular in the past few years, and this series deserves much more publicity than it has gotten.
For one thing, the characters are wonderful. Most of the human characters are, as they describe themselves, ladies of a certain age. That’s something else that has gotten more popular–midlife heroines–and a more delightful crop of women you won’t find anywhere else. There are several of them, but they are all distinct and charismatic in their own ways. This isn’t like The Hobbit where there are thirteen dwarves and only about half of them actually have dialogue; you get to know all of them, and you’ll probably want to go have tea with them (or perhaps something stronger).
For the younger end of the spectrum, there’s Detective Inspector (DI) Adams, recently arrived in the area from London after unspecified events caused her to leave. (If you’re curious about those events, there is a companion series that answers that question.) I never fail to crack a smile as Adams attempts to navigate interactions with the ladies of the Women’s Institute with varying degrees of success. There’s never any pandering or talking down to the older characters, mainly because I’m not sure anyone would dare to do that more than once, and enjoy that air of mutual respect. Even though the Women’s Institute is usually doing exactly as they please despite requests that they not do so.
And I can’t leave out the dragons. There are two main ones: Beaufort, their leader; and his young, nervous friend Mortimer. They adore tea and cake, can blend into the background, and have just as much attitude as the ladies–sometimes more. Beaufort in particular shares their penchant for seeming to agree to behave himself and then doing what he was going to do all along. I probably identify much more with Mortimer, though, the poor anxiety-ridden youngster who is constantly stress-shedding his scales as events happen around him.
The story is a fitting setting for this great cast of characters, invoking the feeling of a bucolic English village touched by magic. I love the description of Toot Hansel, with its meandering streams encircling the village and running through it. The fells where the dragons live provide the backdrop, and winding roads cut through the landscape, framed by stone walls and green fields. In this setting, a murder mystery plays out with all the charm and warmth of a BBC mystery series. Yes, it sounds odd to call a murder mystery charming and warm, but the draw of cozy stories lies in a story that includes interpersonal relationships and comfortable settings, which this book has in spades.
As soon as I finished this book, I jumped right into the next one, and the next one, and… You get the idea. I can see re-reading these books in the future just to revisit the village of Toot Hansel and the characters who have come to feel like old friends. If you’re looking for something to distract you from the stresses of everyday life, you can’t do better than this.
