Death in the Garden City
(Book)

In Victoria, B.C., far from their home in England, American Dorothy Martin, a former schoolteacher, and her British ex-cop husband, Alan, are investigating a series of thefts, at the request of their Canadian friends. At first, it's a bit of a lark, a chance to immerse themselves in Canadian culture and encounter people from various levels of Victoria society, but soon, after a disappearance and the discovery of a body, the lark becomes something else entirely. She may be outside her sleuthing comfort zone, at least geographically, but Dorothy won't let an unfamiliar city and its unfamiliar people stand in the way of ferreting out a killer. Dams makes a smart decision, sending Dorothy and Alan on a trip; it's a nice way to shake up the series without altering it structurally, giving the action a fresh feel while retaining all of its familiar elements. Good stuff for cozy fans.--David Pitt Copyright 2020 Booklist

Dams's tedious 22nd outing for retired American schoolteacher Dorothy Martin (after 2019's A Dagger Before Me) takes Dorothy and her husband, retired police officer Alan Nesbitt, from England to Canada's Vancouver Island to look into some nastiness that has come to the attention of retired Mountie John McKenzie. This includes the theft of poisonous plants from a botanical garden, fake letter bombs, the killing of kittens, and--once Dorothy and Alan arrive--the death of an ambitious computer programmer and her philanthropist boss, and the disappearance of the boss's sexy sweetheart. How does Dorothy resolve all the mysteries that are swirling around her? As she tells Alan, "I just go bumbling around asking questions and annoying people, and somehow the two of us usually get there in the end." Meanwhile, Dorothy complains about various old-age woes--recurrent backaches and the need for naps, reading glasses, and snacks to keep up her blood sugar level--and the rudeness of people in general. This one's strictly for series fans. Agent: Kimberley Cameron, Kimberley Cameron Agency. (Feb.)

Combining travelogue with mystery, Dams (A Dagger Before Me, 2019, etc.) treats her England-based sleuths to a case in Canada.American expatriate Dorothy Martin and her husband, retired Chief Constable Alan Nesbitt, enjoy traveling. So when their friend Judith Montcalm asks them to go to Victoria, British Columbia, all expenses paid, to help solve a perplexing case, they readily agree. Lady Montcalm's uncle, John McKenzie, is a retired Mountie who's concerned about a series of odd events and thinks an outsider's view may help. After staying with John while they're introduced to the area, they move to a condo normally occupied by the absent daughter of John's fiancee, Amy Hartford. They visit the stunning Butchart Gardens, from which a number of poisonous plants have been stolen, and take a trip to meet Silas Varner, whose hawks are housed in high style while he lives in a hovel, brooding over the neighbors who think his raptors are killing chickens. After Dorothy is almost kidnapped in broad daylight, she and Alan wonder who could be targeting them. When the sleuths get threatening phone calls and an unknown woman is killed, ostensibly by Varner's birds, the stakes are raised. An autopsy proves that the birds were framed; a knife was used to mimic the marks of talons. The murder was committed near a lovely tourist town that's also home to surviving members of the Cowichan tribe, an Indigenous people almost wiped out by Europeans and their diseases. A Cowichan woman tells Dorothy that the victim may be a tribe member who moved to Victoria for an IT job. All roads seem to lead to Paul Hartford, Amy's wealthy ex, who owns the IT firm, a man widely known for charitable giving and less widely known for his inability ever to forgive a slight.Tension runs high until the surprise ending, the depravity tempered by lyrical descriptions of Victoria and environs. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In Victoria, B.C., far from their home in England, American Dorothy Martin, a former schoolteacher, and her British ex-cop husband, Alan, are investigating a series of thefts, at the request of their Canadian friends. At first, it's a bit of a lark, a chance to immerse themselves in Canadian culture and encounter people from various levels of Victoria society, but soon, after a disappearance and the discovery of a body, the lark becomes something else entirely. She may be outside her sleuthing comfort zone, at least geographically, but Dorothy won't let an unfamiliar city and its unfamiliar people stand in the way of ferreting out a killer. Dams makes a smart decision, sending Dorothy and Alan on a trip; it's a nice way to shake up the series without altering it structurally, giving the action a fresh feel while retaining all of its familiar elements. Good stuff for cozy fans. Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews.

Dams's tedious 22nd outing for retired American schoolteacher Dorothy Martin (after 2019's A Dagger Before Me) takes Dorothy and her husband, retired police officer Alan Nesbitt, from England to Canada's Vancouver Island to look into some nastiness that has come to the attention of retired Mountie John McKenzie. This includes the theft of poisonous plants from a botanical garden, fake letter bombs, the killing of kittens, and—once Dorothy and Alan arrive—the death of an ambitious computer programmer and her philanthropist boss, and the disappearance of the boss's sexy sweetheart. How does Dorothy resolve all the mysteries that are swirling around her? As she tells Alan, "I just go bumbling around asking questions and annoying people, and somehow the two of us usually get there in the end." Meanwhile, Dorothy complains about various old-age woes—recurrent backaches and the need for naps, reading glasses, and snacks to keep up her blood sugar level—and the rudeness of people in general. This one's strictly for series fans. Agent: Kimberley Cameron, Kimberley Cameron Agency. (Feb.)