Murder on the Farm by Jane Adams

21^st February 2023.

We’re back in Frantham for the seventh novel in the series. Rina, fresh from filming a new series for TV, returns home feeling weary but satisfied. She’s soon drawn into the murder of Ellen Tailor, a popular single mother who’s shot in her kitchen. Mac and his small team investigate, trying to make sense of the killing, struggling to find a motive.

The secondary plot involving a former 2^nd World War airfield, and events during the conflict, bring a retired historian into the investigation. Missing archives, his abrupt nature and his friendship to Ellen place him firmly under suspicion. The family of Ellen’s former husband, who never approved of her, are also high on the list of police suspects.

A second murder changes everything, adding pressure to the investigation and casting doubt on some of the leads being followed.

It’s a familiar complex puzzle with Rina at one end and Mac at the other, both investigating and coming together to solve the murders. Their relationship and the bright characters who make up the cast lift the stories and add colour, humour and compassion, casting some welcome light over the grim tale.

Once on the trail, it doesn’t take Mac and Rina long to join the dots and solve the case, wrapping up all the loose ends for a satisfying ending.

While you can read this novel on its own, the whole series is a warming, charming journey with terrific characters, relationships and storylines to keep you turning the pages. It would be a shame not to enjoy them all.

Description

Meet Rina Martin, a retired actress with a taste for tea, gardening and crime solving.

She played a TV sleuth for years, but now she has to do it for real.

On a bright September day, mother-of-two Ellen Tailor is shot dead while making dinner in her idyllic farmhouse kitchen.

Rina and her policeman friend Mac cannot understand how kindly, popular Ellen could have met with such a violent death in this peaceful, close-knit community.

But all is not as it seems at pretty Low Ridge Farm. Ellen was struggling to make ends meet. Her interfering mother-in-law controls the family with an iron fist. And Ellen’s creepy ex-boyfriend had recently turned up.

As Rina and Mac question Ellen’s family and friends, another local resident meets a sudden end.

Is there a killer on the loose among these gentle farming folk . . . ?

With a little help from Rina, the community must rally round to uncover the murderer in their midst.