Customer Reviews

The Body in the Transept (Dorothy Martin Mysteries, No. 1)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a delightful first novel and for those of us who are sick onto death of mystery and crime novels that portray sickenly graphic violence, Ms. Dams novel is even more of a pleasure.

Dorothy Martin is an American widow living in the fictional English town of Sherebury. Dorothy is over 60, overweight, and given to wearing wonderful hats wherever she goes! She has a great sense of humor and a genuine feeling for others. She has made friends with many of the local people and her interactions with them are charming.

Dorothy lives next door to a famed cathedral; at Christmas Eve services she discovers a body and the game is afoot! Her curiosity is piqued and she decides to solve the crime. In her sleuthing efforts, she wanders about the town talking to people in high and low places. Dorothy makes fast friends with the head of the local police, Alan Nesbitt, and it becomes obvious to readers that a romance is in the making.

There are wonderful descriptions of the town and its inhabitants abound and Ms. Dams nicely explains the differences between American and English viewpoints.

Buy this and enjoy! (I've already purchased and read her next three books and they were all wonderful!)

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.

The Body in the Transept is a perfect example of why I switched from being a die-hard thriller reader to being a reader of cozy American and English mysteries. I love the Dorothy Martin and Alan Nesbitt characters and was interested in the mystery until its conclusion. What I didn't get out of this book were nightmares and an unsettled, spooked feeling. Just felt warm and, well...cozy. I plan to read everything this author writes.

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.

The Body in the Transept was fun and satisfying. Here's an American lady leading the life of my dreams - retirement in England in a cozy little English cottage with a cat and an attractive and interested cop just a murder away! Brew a cup of tea and settle back for a pleasant evening.

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!

American Dorothy Martin and her academic husband, Frank, had planned to retire to the cathedral/ university town of Sherebury, England. Unfortunately Frank died, and Dorothy made the move on her own. Still a new widow and a bit wobbly about being on her own, Dorothy is making steady progress at making friends and becoming a member of the community. Shortly after the Christmas Eve service in the cathedral, Dorothy literally stumbles over the body of Canon Billings, an argumentative man who had many more enemies than friends. Her discovery of the body makes Dorothy feel a sense of responsibility in helping discover the identity of Billings's killer. Little does she know that she's putting herself in harm's way.

Dorothy is a round little woman in her sixties who has a penchant for colorful, over-the-top hats:

"I made for it like a homing pigeon, and five minutes out of Victoria I was asleep. I would have slept right past my station if the guard hadn't remembered my hat from the morning and wakened me. There are some advantages to being conspicuous."

I enjoyed the depiction of her life in a new town and a new country, as any Anglophile would who's harbored daydreams of moving to England. The Body in the Transept is a pleasant cozy mystery, but it's really not very memorable for me. Nothing like damning a book with faint praise, is there? As in everything else, reading mileage varies greatly from book to book and from reader to reader. If you do enjoy cozies about an older American lady living in England, by all means give this book a try. Even though it wasn't my cup of tea, it may very well be yours.

This is the first book in the Dorothy Martin series which consists of nine books. Dorothy is a sixty-something plumpish woman (by her own description) who is an American living in England. She and her husband had long dreamed of moving to England and shortly after their arrival, he dies. Thus, this title is about Dorothy coping with widowhood as she delves into the death of a clergy found in her local church.
Dorothy is known for her exotic hats, and each book cover has an illustration of a woman in a wonderful hat!
I enjoyed this cozy mystery! I found it a page turner, and Dorothy is portrayed as a believable character with strengths and weaknesses.

The British cozy mystery is practically an institution so it's fun when a book comes along that respects that tradition while giving it a different twist. In this case, an American protagonist, Dorothy Martin, guides us through British village life, high church nuances and murder.

This book has all of the things I want in a four star rated book. The writing is always competent and sometimes quite witty. The plot moved along with only one or two annoying digressions into tourist information. And, most important, I like Dorothy. Maybe it because I've recently helped my own mother cope with widowhood but Dams has created a character who ran both true and likeable. Of course, the hint of an upcoming romance with the widowed chief constable will have me back for more soon.

The mystery itself is solid. There are plenty of suspects with reason to kill the victim. Was it church politics? Was it a matter of musical taste? Was it an agrieved employee? Was it a jealous scholar?

I've held back a fifth star for a couple of reasons. While I throughly enjoyed the book it isn't so outstanding that I'll be recommending to friends (yet). Also, as a non-Christian, I felt Dams was a bit heavy handed with the religious angle (even if the victim was a Canon).