Customer Reviews

This Enemy Town: A Hannah Ives Mystery (Hannah Ives Mysteries)

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Marcia Talley has done it again. Hannah Ives has returned to face yet another adventure that fans of Ms. Talley will enjoy. If you haven't yet read a Hannah Ives mystery, I encourage you to start. It's all here, intrigue, betrayal and murder set on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy during a production of Sweeney Todd. Honestly, yummy.

This Enemy Town is a wonderfully, and tightly constructed mystery. The story begins with Hannah Ives being arrested and accused of murder! Someone has murdered the woman that had falsely accused Hannah`s husband Paul of sexual harassment a few years earlier. Hannah, a five year breast cancer survivor, and my favorite amateur sleuth has to solve this murder to save herself. The action of the story centers around a Naval Academy production of Sweeney Todd and the mystery has as many possible murders with motives as the Demon Barber has victims of a close shave. The story is loaded with authentic local flavor; you know the author has an intimate knowledge of Annapolis and its environs. Vivid descriptions, meticulous detail, and fast paced action fill Marcia Talley's latest Hannah Ives mystery which will keep you guessing until the very end.

I've read every one of Marcia Talley's mysteries featuring Annapolis-based amateur sleuth Hannah Ives, and this is the best one yet! Hannah is a survivor - a breast cancer survivor - and those survival instincts serve her well in THIS ENEMY TOWN. Hannah not only has to solve a murder but also finds herself the prime suspect. Always comfortable conveying the charm of her Annapolis setting, Talley takes us literally backstage at a Naval Academy production of Sweeney Todd, where Hannah is building sets and real-life murder trumps the on-stage drama. Fans of her series will find the feisty Hannah in rare form. From rarely seen nooks and crannies of the Academy to the inner sanctum of the Pentagon, Talley unfolds a complex and satisfying plot. Enjoy the read!

I've read all of the Hannah Ives mysteries by Marcia Talley and this is the best one yet. In particular the character development was magnificant. I felt as if Talley was sharing more about Hannah through her words and thoughts and action than ever before. As always, Hannah's relationships with friends and family are front and center, as is the U.S. Naval Academy, but there are new interesting twists like subplots about the dilemma of gays in the military and about a false sexual harassment claim against Hannah's husband. I have been an avid reader of mysteries by female authors with female sleuths for 16 years and am a book reviewer for Washington Woman magazine. For me, Talley is a great local find, for all readers, a great find. (reviewer Karen Kullgren)

Many years ago I worked for Marcia Talley, when she was the cataloging librarian at St. John's College, and I was a student aide. It's cool that she's achieved her writing ambition and so successfully, to boot.

I'm not that big a fan of mysteries as a rule, and, while this book was interesting, it didn't do much to change my mind. Hannah Ives is clearly a continuing character that we return to some time after she's recovered from having breast cancer. Now, she's helping with a musical stage production at the Naval Academy when a former enemy, who accused her husband of sexual harassment, returns and is murdered under circumstances that point the finger at Hannah. The resulting story focuses more on the human aspects of the situation: Hannah is humiliated and traumatized by her arrest and subsequent treatment, and resolves to get to the bottom of the mystery herself. Meanwhile, she's also trying to comfort Dorothy, a woman currently undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, as well as working with her on the production.

Talley focuses strongly on the local color of Annapolis, perhaps a bit too strongly. It's not merely, "I drove to Annapolis Mall to buy a hat" but "I drove out West Street to Route 50, then got off at the first exit and parked at the garage next to Nordstrom's". For someone who knows all this already, it's a little over-the-top.

That being said, the book is well-written, and the characters have depth and believability. You done good, Mrs. Talley!

Author Marcia Talley had me hooked from the first page. I've read all of Talley's mysteries starring breast cancer survivor Hannah Ives--and "This Enemy Town" is the best yet. Set against the backdrop of a naval academy production of "Sweeney Todd," this novel delves deep to show us Hannah struggling with some of her worst fears. I highly recommend this well-written, engrossing mystery!