Body in the Belfry [Hardcover]

Katherine Hall Page (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2004

There was no question that the body in the church belfry was Cindy Shepherd and that she was dead. The kitchen knife sticking out of her curvaceous young body left no doubt. As Faith Sibley Fairchild, the minister's wife who made the grisly find soon realises, there is no shortage of suspects who might have wanted Cindy dead: childhood enemies, jilted lovers and angry victims of her vicious tongue. But ex-New Yorker Faith has a lot to learn about murder in Massachusetts. Digging up seedy little secrets in a quiet New England village can make the natives a bit nervous...and turn the lady from the big city into just another small town statistic.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Page's first novel lacks professional polish and a likable heroine, flaws not compensated for by vivid evocations of a New England autumn in Aleford, Mass. This is home to Faith Fairchild, a native New Yorker, now the wife of the town minister, Tom, and mother of their baby Benjamin. Although she loves her husband and child, Faith belittles the stodgy townspeople, except for a few friends. Eager to help good neighbors Patricia and Robert Moore, the minister's wife throws herself into investigating the murder of their niece, Cindy Shepherd, whose body Faith discovers in the church belfry. Cindy had been an embarrassment to the Moores, her guardians after the death of her parents; a promiscuous young woman, she had upset virtually everyone, even her pathetic fiance, Dave Svenson. When the police arrest Dave, the logical suspect, Faith goes on sleuthing while Tom tries to help the youth and his family. The self-appointed detective pries into the affairs of numerous suspects, risking her life as well as the lives of Benjamin and another child. Perhaps Faith's continued adventures will find her less snobbish and almost as cute as she thinks she is.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A humorous and entertaining addition to the murder-in-the-village genre. Watch for a sequel'faith is a promising sleuth." -- --Booklist

"Faith is a gem." -- Toronto Globe & mail --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Robert Hale (July 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0709076827
• ISBN-13: 978-0709076827
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,924,071 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Katherine Hall Page is the author of seventeen previous Faith Fairchild mysteries, the first of which received the Agatha Award for best first mystery, and recently The Body in the Snowdrift was honored with the Agatha Award for best novel of 2006. Page also won an Agatha for her short story "The Would-Be Widower." She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and son.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Murder and Gourmet Cooking in a Boston Suburb., December 31, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Body in the Belfry: A Faith Fairchild Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

Page has created an energetic and rather believable heroine in Faith Fairchild, a gourmet chef who marries a clergyman and moves from her hometown of New York City to a small town in New England. She feels like an outsider in her new home, but gets right in the thick of things when she finds a body in the town's most historic building. She is amazed to find that many of the residents are more upset that she rang the old bell than that a person was murdered!

I thought this book was highly entertaining, though I must admit that I spent a good deal of time wondering just which suburb she was supposed to be in, being myself a resident of the area. I would definitely recommend this book as a fabulous New England "cozy" with fun characters, solid writing, and good red herrings. She has written a good number of books in this series (Body in the Belfry being the first), so there is a lot to look forward to when you dive in! Page has also written a few young adult mysteries under the title of Christie and Company, which I have heard are also quite fun and educational for young readers.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars First book of the series, November 7, 2000

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Body in the Belfry: A Faith Fairchild Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is the beginning of a growing list of "Body in the _____" series. Its heroine is Faith Sibley, a native New Yorker who has started a gourmet catering service. She meets and falls in love with Tom Fairchild, a young minister who whisks her away from her beloved home town to a much different life in rural Massachusetts. Faith is trying her best to fit into the role of pastor's wife in a small town where everyone's family goes back several generations and where everyone knows everyone else's business. While taking a walk with her baby son, Benjamin, Faith discovers a dead body in a belfry. The body is that of Cindy Shepherd a young, willful girl who had made plenty of enemies in their small town. The suspects include Cindy's fiance, and several men with whom she had had affairs and was subsequently blackmailing. Faith's curiosity and unofficial investigations eventually lead her and Benjamin into grave danger. This is an interesting and well-written "cozy".

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A really fun read!, May 24, 2005

By 

FunToTeach (North Park, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Body in the Belfry: A Faith Fairchild Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)

I recommend this book for a really fun read - it's perfect for any vacation. Ms. Page has a wonderful sense of humor and is a fantastic writer! I am looking forward to reading all the other Faith Fairchild mysteries.