The Body in the Transept

It's Christmas Eve in the small town of Sherebury. Dorothy Martin, a recently widowed American, is looking forward to her first Christmas as a resident of England. But when leaving the cathedral's midnight mass, she literally stumbles over a body. Soon the questions are flying. Who killed Canon Billings? Since the list of suspects includes most of the town, more importantly why? Dorothy has her hands full trying to figure this one out.I was drawn in by the charm of this book. It starts out rather quickly and the pace never lags until the gripping conclusion. Dorothy is an interesting main character. I felt her interest in the murder was a little under explained, but I was willing to let that go. I really enjoyed the writing style. The first person narration felt like a letter to a friend and the scenes where Dorothy argued with her self were funny because they were so true.Having already discovered this author's other series, I now look forward to reading more in this one as well. She is a truly talented mystery author.

Dorothy Martin and her husband had planned to move to England when they retired. When he died she decided to go ahead with their plan. She moves to Sherebury England where she starts to put the pieces of her life back together. Because this is a murder mystery she promptly stumbles over the body of Jonathan Billings. To the dismay of her new friend, Chief Constable Alan Nesbitt, she starts to investigate and as she gets closer to the solution the danger increases. A charming cozy with a main character whose affinity for hats rivals Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Pollifax.

I enjoyed this book from page one. Dorothy Martin is an extremely likable heroine. The plot was interesting and the interaction between the characters was realistic and believable. Although Dorothy had never solved a mystery before, the author moves the plot along in a very credible manner. It was not contrived in any way. Dorothy is someone who would make a great next door neighbor. I'm looking forward to the other books in the series.

I fell in love with Dorothy Martin right off the bat. Dams has managed to create a character to equal those penned by Agatha Christie, Dorothy Gillman, Marian Babson, and Charlotte MacLeod. Dams mixes the quaint English village, the recently transplanted American widow, handsome widowed British Detective, and the body of a church official found on Christmas eve into a delightfully delicious murder investigation. Fans of classic British mystery you won't want to miss any Dorothy Martin mystery!