A Pint of Murder

A Pint of Murder This is the first of the Madoc and Janet Rhys books by Charlotte MacLeod writing as Alisa Craig - and the start of another good series. Not quite as much fun as the two series MacLeod wrote under her own name, but good - fun and interesting. She sets up the mystery beautifully. And her descriptions of small town life are good.

The first appearance (as far as I can tell) of Madoc Rhys of the RCMP, as he investigates a mysterious death in a small town in Canada. Everyday life on a remote farm gets a fresh look in this quirky, sweet mystery. Charlotte MacLeod's stories are always a joy. Everyone thinks the old lady's death was an accident. It looks like she died of botulism after eating a pint of improperly home-canned green beans, but her niece Janet has doubts. Some things just don't add up, like why the deadly green beans were neatly sliced with a knife, rather than snapped by hand as her aunt always did. When a bombastic elderly neighbor dies in another "accident," it's time to call in the Mounties. Rhys falls for Janet long before he solves the mystery, and the reader gets to know some great characters along the way.