Today I’m giving away the hardcover of The Body in the Casket, a Faith Fairchild Mystery by Katherine Hall Page, to one lucky commenter. Entering is as easy as leaving a comment. Winner will be listed here this week. Good luck!
UPDATE (1/1): The winner is LISA BROWN
Congrats, Lisa! Please email me at contact at smittenbybooks dot com with your snail mail address to collect your book. Also, don’t forget to include the title in your email. You have 3 weeks claim your prize.
**US residents only
For most of her adult life, resourceful caterer Faith Fairchild has called the sleepy Massachusetts village of Aleford home. While the native New Yorker has come to know the region well, she isn’t familiar with Havencrest, a privileged enclave, until the owner of Rowan House, a secluded sprawling Arts and Crafts mansion, calls her about catering a weekend house party.
Producer/director of a string of hit musicals, Max Dane—a Broadway legend—is throwing a lavish party to celebrate his seventieth birthday. At the house as they discuss the event, Faith’s client makes a startling confession. “I didn’t hire you for your cooking skills, fine as they may be, but for your sleuthing ability. You see, one of the guests wants to kill me.”
Faith’s only clue is an ominous birthday gift the man received the week before—an empty casket sent anonymously containing a twenty-year-old Playbill from Max’s last, and only failed, production—Heaven or Hell. Consequently, Max has drawn his guest list for the party from the cast and crew. As the guests begin to arrive one by one, and an ice storm brews overhead, Faith must keep one eye on the menu and the other on her host to prevent his birthday bash from becoming his final curtain call.
Release Date: Dec 5, 2017
Series: A Faith Fairchild Mystery
Publisher: HarperCollins
Imprint: William Morrow
Price: $12.99
Faith Fairchild is married to a pastor and owns a successful catering firm in the small Boston suburb of Aleford. She is excited for the chance at a break from the drama of small town politics and her two children to go away for a weekend job. She has been hired to cater all meals for a weekend house party to celebrate the client’s 70th birthday. The client is Max Dante, a former Broadway musical producer, and Faith is flattered that someone famous has heard of her cooking skills. She is surprised to learn that it’s actually her reputation as an amateur sleuth that influenced Dane to hire her. Dante has received an unusual and not too subtle message that someone wants him dead and he wants Faith to figure it out before that can happen.
This book is the author’s latest in a long-running series. I’ve enjoyed some of the later books in the series, but haven’t followed it regularly. I thought the premise of this book sounded interesting and I was eager to dive in. The idea of a weekend party with a potential murderer as a guest is right out of Agatha Christie and makes the perfect set-up for a cozy mystery. Unfortunately, the first past of the book deals with some of the domestic details in Faith’s life, some of her other jobs, and the preparations for the party. She does some research and asks a few questions about some of the potential suspects, but doesn’t do much investigating. The actual party doesn’t begin until about two-thirds into the book. That part of the book is as good as I had anticipated, with interesting characters, all with a motive for murder, but I wish it had begun earlier in the book.
Faith is a likable main character. She’s a hard worker and loyal wife and mother, although sometimes she comes across as a little self-centered. She also has a tendency in both her personal life and during the course of the investigation to keep important information to herself, causing unnecessary problems for everyone. My favorite character in this book isn’t even related to the main plot. Samantha, the daughter of Faith’s best friend has moved back home after some problems with her boyfriend and her job. I really enjoyed this sweet story of what Samantha went through and how a new friend helps her get a fresh start and even though it was a separate story, found it fit in well with the account of the main investigation.
All issues in the investigation and for zoning issues Faith’s husband is involved in for Aleford are resolved by the end and the book’s conclusion is satisfying. Fans of the series, as well as fans of Leslie Meier or Sheila Connolly, will enjoy reading this book
~ Christine
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I’ve never read any of Katherine Hall Page before so it’s time I did. Thanks for the review. Sounds interesting and fascinating. I’ll be checking it out.
Carol L
Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com
Love a good mystery; thanks for the chance
It’s tradition. I always read two cozy mysteries for Christmas. I hope this is one of them!!
spooky
I enjoy mysteries and Agatha Christie is a favorite. It is unfortunate that Ms Page seems to have gotten distracted early on in the book. For a light read, I can tolerate that if the book finally does get better and has a satisfying ending. Thank you for the review.