A Touch of Mortality: A Mitchell and Markby Village Whodunit

Ann Granger is definitely one of the best out there that pens English village cozies. This book was extremely good! One of Meredith's old friends finds herself a victim of a number of attempts on her life. She can't figure out why her when it's her husband who riles up the animal rights activists. There are some wonderful secondary characters in this book too. Old Bodicote with his pet goat Jasper, Libby the village mail deliverer, and numerous others. That is what I usually enjoy the most about these books. Yes, the mysteries are intelligent and not easily figured out; yes, Meredith and Alan are wonderful sleuths and their personal relationship helps holds these books together, but it's always the secondary characters that make my enjoyment of the book more complete. I cannot wait to read the next book in this wonderful series.

#9 in Granger's Markby/Mitchell series is definitely a good read especially if one is already immersed in the characters by having read the earlier books. This one just didn't take off for me until about midway but I wouldn't have missed it for anything because it provides more insight into both Markby and Meredith. The ending delivers as Granger always does and I love the explanation of the title. Probably most of us can also use "A Touch of Mortality" in our own personalities.

Ann Granger's novels involving Chief Inspector Alan Markby and his on-and-off paramour, Meredith Mitchell, take the classic British countryside cozy and update it in ways that turn it into an end-of-the-millennium contemporary. The inhabitants of a duplex in Oxfordshire symbolize this clash between the old and new. The ancient building with large back lot, once used to house farm families, is now split between Bodicote, the elderly village eccentric who keeps goats and has a wandering eye, and Liam and Sally Caswell, a professional couple who moved from London to the peaceful countryside so that Liam, a scientist whose research involved beagles, can write a book based on his work. Trouble shows up swiftly. Liam's a dragon whose short fuse and total lack of manners has enraged nearly everyone he's met. Bodicote and he have already clashed over the goats getting into his garden, and Boticote's habit of barging into their house led to numerous unpleasant scenes. Bodicote's also angry at Sally when she fed his goats turnips and unknowingly spoilt their milk for awhile. Then a letter bomb goes off, nearly killing Sally. A local animal rights group is suspected, but Markby's not sure. The more popular Brit mysteries these days, and here I'm thinking of the ones on PBS and A & E featuring Inspector Morse, Jane Tennison and Dr. Edward Fitzgerald (of "Cracker"), feature the walking wounded as heroes. In general, they're unpleasant to be around, and saved only from total ostracism by the brilliance of their work. Granger's Mitchell and Markby are good people in the tradition of the classic characters, and she leaves the bad attitudes, shaky morals and addictive habits to her villains, such as the wonky thirtysomething son of the lady of the manor, who share the same manorial home and lead the local animal rights group. "A Touch of Mortality" is full of twists and turns in the second half that led this reader to continue turning pages long after bedtime, and ends with a satisfactory climax in which justice triumphs and the guilty get punished, sometimes in ways that have nothing to do with the legal system. Granger scatters her clues fairly, lays down red herrings with consummate ease, and leads readers repeatedly, and fairly, down the garden path. As an excellent example of classic mystery storytelling, "A Touch of Mortality" is the best I've read this year.

Ann Granger has done it again. Mitchell and Markby are quite a pair. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a quiet read by the fire (or during the present heatwave the airconditioner). Granger conjures up good images of the characters and the English countryside. I enjoy the little tidbits of life in the pubs, the cottages, the towns and the interplay amongst the characters. My only regret is that since they start in England it takes a long time to get the next volume in the United States.

Liam and Sally Caswell leave London for the quiet rural community of Oxfordshire so that Liam, an animal research scientist, can write a book on his findings. However, instead of finding the countryside quiet and serene, the Caswells are immediately drawn into a squabble with their elderly neighbor Bodicote over the senior citizen's wandering goats. Liam also manages to alienate just everyone else in the neighborhood with his boorish behavior. ..... Everything abruptly changes for the worse when Sally nearly dies from a letter bomb. Assigned to investigate the case is Chief Inspector Alan Markby, who thinks that blaming animal rights groups for a terrorist act may be premature. As he digs deeper, with the help of his sometimes girl friend, Meredith Mitchell, Alan realizes that Liam has many enemies in London and here in Oxfordshire, including Bodicote. Danger mounts and Alan knows that he must solve the case soon before murder occurs. ...... A TOUCH OF MORTALITY is a great mystery based on the concept of a classic English cozy in modern times. The story line is superb as it is loaded with numerous false starts and reasonably distributed clues. Alan and Meredith are great lead protagonists, making Ann Granger's novel one of the best mystery stories of the year. This reviewer strongly recommends the previous Inspector Markby novels as well. .....Harriet Klausner