The Body in the Bog: A Faith Fairchild Mystery

This series has been around for a while, but it was new to me. I happened to stumble across this book and couldn't put it down. I really enjoyed the characters, the setting, and the mystery. It was just very well written and a lot of fun. Great cozy for cozy lovers!

In the 7th book in the Faith Fairchild Mystery series, a group of environmentalists have the town of Aleford, Mass divided. A group of housing developers wants to build homes near the Beecher's Bog, and a group of tenacious environmentalists are trying to block the construction. Faith gets pulled by both sides, and feels tension in the town mounting. When her child's preschool teacher starts receiving threatening phone calls, and a house in the new development burns to the ground (with a body inside), Faith feels things have gone too far. But when Faith stumbles upon a body in the bog, she is determined to call out the killer. After reading "The Body in the Big Apple" on a whim, I decided to continue with this series due to the likeable character of Faith. I like the town, and the interesting characters brought to life in this book, and thought it was an appealing mystery premise. I look forward to reading all of the books in this series. The first book in the series is "The Body in the Belfry". Enjoy!

Lora Deane appeals to Tom and Faith Fairchild for help when she begins receiving threatening phone calls. She figures that it must be either her ex-boyfriend or a relative, Joey Madsen who is threatening her because she refuses to contribute to his new housing project at Beecher's Bog. The controversy becomes broader when the town becomes divided over the new project and those who oppose it begin to receive poison pen letters. A brick through Lora's window and the destruction of a piece of heavy equipment at the construction site deepen the community's concern. Soon there are two dead bodies and an attempted poisoning. Faith, as always, feels that her investigative powers are superior to the police, so she sets up a trap for the person she suspects is the murderer. Instead, Faith herself is trapped in a dangerous situation. This is another good "cozy" from a reliable author who also includes delicious recipes from her heroine at the end of the book.

Faith Sibley has always detested living in the fishbowl of being a Minster's daughter. So it is a shock even to her that she fell in love with the Reverend Thomas Fairchild. Her feelings are genuine and deep for the man. She leaves the sophistication of her beloved New York City to settle with him in the backwater town of Aleford. Initially, Faith was bored with her relocation, but after opening her own catering business, the town began to grow on her. Also helping her keep the ennui away is the fact that she always seems to keep stumbling over corpses and spending much of her time on solving how the victims died despite the vociferous protests from the police and her husband to mind her own business. An independent woman, Faith goes her own way so it is not surprising that when a rash of ugly incidents, culminating in arson and murder, happens, she is in the forefront trying to discover who the culprit is. Once again, Faith stumbles over a corpse in an isolated area. After a few more days of sleuthing without any progress, Faith decides to use herself as bait in order to catch the guilty party. Her plan backfires when she becomes caught in the murderer's web with no one but herself nearby to help her. Like the previous six Faith Fairchild novels, THE BODY IN THE BOG, is a classic cozy that showcases the pros and cons of living in a small New England town where everyone knows everyone else's most intimate secrets. Katherine Hall Page makes her characters and the town come alive, leaving the reader feel as if they are visiting with old friends. This is a very special and charming mystery series that entertains and educates at the same time. It is strongly advises to read all the books in this series for an extraordinary experience. Harriet Klausner