Customer Reviews

The Body in the Lighthouse: A Faith Fairchild Mystery (Faith Fairchild Mysteries)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I guess I don't much care for Faith Fairchild. It got a little tiresome to be reminded 10 times how slender the heroine (usually a stand-in for the author) is. Okay, okay, so you're thin! Congratulations! It got even more tiresome that her reaction to anyone with any kind of social concern was to parody or shun them as "lunatics" or "terrorists" (terrorists?!). Faith's vision and concern never extends beyond her family, except for helping out with the Concord Players (sorry, Sanpere Players). She's as eager as the "ecoterrorists" to pull up the drawbridge and let no one else settle in Sanpere, yet doesn't recognize her own hypocrisy. Her view of life was summed up, for me, in her belief that her family was entitled to first refusal on a plot of land owned by someone else, destined to be sold to someone else, simply because her family enjoyed looking at it. This was my first Faith Fairchild mystery: I don't plan to bother with another.

This is the thirteenth novel in the Faith Fairchild series, and Katherine Hall Page continues to provide a fine reading experience. Unlike some other long running series, Page's writing continues to be clear, consistent, and the story lines and characters remain congruent.

The Body in the Lighthouse finds Faith and her family at the summer vacation home in Maine. While waiting for renovations on the home to be completed, the Fairchild family moves in temporarily with the mother of Faith's best friend Pix. This creates the setting for Faith to gain understanding of and empathy with the long-term residents of the town and their slow loss of their property and livelihoods to summer residents and newcomers building "MacMansions."

The unrest in the town is also portrayed through a quarrel between families over lobster traps, a local play that puts a spotlight on the unknown talents of some residents, and a Romeo & Juliet type love story. As in the other stories in the series, Faith's family life runs in parallel to these activities and the crimes in the town.

Well written and contemporary without relying on undue violence or profanity, The Body in the Lighthouse is an enjoyable read. Although the final conclusion will not be a surprise to most readers, it is satisfyingly consistent with the story line and human nature.

There are only two reasons to stick with this slow-moving story to its end: (1)you enjoy reading page after page of household and shopping trivia about upper middle class families who can afford vacation homes, or (2) you're curious to see if any real action ever takes place. There is no tension in the first half of the book; no suspense, no real mystery. The action is concentrated at the end. The author employs a tactic used too often in female-centered mysteries; the murderer behaves like a gentleman the first time the protagonist gets too nosy, bopping her on the head but then delivering her unconscious body to her home. That behavior truly requires suspension of disbelief. Male readers in particular are likely to find the story terminally boring.

Faith Fairchild arrives in Sampere Island, Maine only to find that the summer house is incomplete, that a Romeo and Juliet scenerio is being carried out in the town even as villagers rehearse the play, and that eco-terrorists are battling developers for the future of this once pristine, but now highly priced town. Faith involves herself with the play and suffers mixed feelings about the eco-terrorists. While she agrees that huge mansions mar the beauty of the island and also cut off beaches from the ordinary citizens, surely fires and destruction are not the way to achieve them. When she stumbles across a body near the abandoned lighthouse, though, things start looking serious. Although the death is certainly accidental--isn't it?

Author Katherine Hall Page immerses the reader in the details of Faith's life--her cooking, caring for her two children, and her joy in discovering paint chips at Home Depot. The story moves forward at an unhurried pace, as Faith uses her connections to the Island's grapevine to discover the secrets so many Islanders hide.

THE BODY IN THE LIGHTHOUSE is a short quick read. It didn't grip me, and I found Faith to be not especially interesting as a character, but Page's writing is solid and her insights into a changing era on an island transitioning from fishing to resort.

I am always in a rush to get the latest "Faith Fairchild" mystery and have read them all, however, this one wasn't my favorite. Too many characters and a boring ecoterrorist plot made this book drag on forever for me. Still, I'm hooked on this series and will anxiously await the next book.

Tom and Faith Fairchild accompanied by their two children leave their Massachusetts home to spend the summer renovating their cottage on Sanpere Island, Maine. To their surprise the usually serene residents are livid as mansion building is in vogue with the invasion of wealthy individuals having houses built as toys for their use.

Some Sanpere islanders are a bit more active in their resentment, mostly with protests. When the tide ebbs the corpse of developer Harold Hapswell is found jammed between two ledges at the base of the lighthouse. Faith thinks Hapswell was murdered, which is confirmed when someone attacks her near the lighthouse. As the island simmers in anger, summer events continue. Faith unable to ignore the homicide following the attempted assault on her and begins her own brand of investigation.

THE BODY IN THE LIGHTHOUSE is a fun summer breeze cozy that is an ideal beach book. The story line moves in a contrasting way between the murder and the festivities. Though Faith should know better than to risk her life as she does, she remains a fresh amateur sleuth (after thirteen novels, amateur seems wrong, but then again the professional gets paid) willing to do what she thinks is right. This is simply a lighthearted breezy mystery.

Harriet Klausner

This is a fairly mediocre mystery novel in a series I've always found enjoyable if not memorable. But this one has something I'd not previously seen in any book, though I've heard it is a new trend.
Apparently the author isn't making enough money from book sales and has resorted to product placement. The frequent mentions of Walmart might have been overlooked, but the laudatory paragraphs advertising Home Depot in the middle of the book are startlingly obvious and strain credibility. (Good service? Not in my experience.) At any rate, advertising seeping into books is a terrible idea. Let's hope it doesn't catch on.

Faith Fairchild and her family have gone to Sanpere Island, Maine, to their summer vacation home during a hot August. The renovations on their place aren't finished, so they move in with her friend Pix's mother. She learns a lot about the attitudes of the residents versus the summer people and especially the problems of residents losing their property to those building McMansions. The unrest is also evident by a feud going on between two families.

Faith discovers a body while exploring Sanpere's historical lighthouse and its grounds. Things begin to get serious, and Faith worries about keeping her family safe while she tracks down a killer.

I enjoy the books in this series. The first one I read featured Pix, so when I read the next one featuring Faith, I was confused. But Faith has won me over. She is a great character. She didn't do as much catering in this book as usual due to being at their summer place. But her outlook on life and family rang true through this book.

I enjoyed getting to know Pix's mother and the struggles of the island. I highly recommend this book and series.

What a fun book! This is the second Faith Fairchild mystery I've read, and boy, what a great read! It's a book that the reader wants to take their time with, savor the words and the situations. This is a must series for Mystery lovers, both men and women!

I have read all of the Faith Fairchild mysteries from Katherine Hall Page and this one, while not her best, did not disappoint. Faith and family travel to Maine for work on their vacation home and, of course, Faith finds yet another body! This book had the added appeal of letting us get to know Pix Miller's mother on an intimate level and I fell for Ursula in a big way. I love to read the recipes from her books, although they make me have to get up in the night to get a snack while reading! I hope Faith will be with us for a long time!