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    Smile and be a Villain: A Dorothy Martin Investigation
    Unavailable
    Smile and be a Villain: A Dorothy Martin Investigation
    Unavailable
    Smile and be a Villain: A Dorothy Martin Investigation
    Ebook289 pages5 hours

    Smile and be a Villain: A Dorothy Martin Investigation

    By Jeanne M. Dams

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    A holiday on the picturesque island of Alderney leads to a case of cold-blooded murder for American Anglophile Dorothy Martin.

    When Dorothy Martin and her husband, retired police detective Alan Nesbitt, decide to visit the beautiful island of Alderney in the English Channel, they hope for a pleasant, peaceful holiday. It’s not to be. Taking a walk on their very first day, they discover a body, apparently the victim of an unfortunate accident, on a precipitous hill path.

    The dead man, they learn, is an American named Abercrombie who had made himself both loved and hated during his few weeks on the island. Although there is no concrete evidence of foul play, both Dorothy and Alan are uneasy about the death and decide to delve further.

    And then they unearth some most disquieting revelations . . .
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSevern House Publishers
    Release dateOct 1, 2016
    ISBN9781780107974
    Unavailable
    Smile and be a Villain: A Dorothy Martin Investigation
    Author

    Jeanne M. Dams

    Jeanne M. Dams, an American, is a devout Anglophile who has wished she could live in England ever since her first visit in 1963. Fortunately, her alter ego, Dorothy Martin, can do just that. Jeanne lives in South Bend, Indiana, with a varying population of cats.

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    Reviews for Smile and be a Villain

    3.5/5

    15 ratings3 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Jeanne Dams and her Dorothy Martin have been favorites of mine for years. I haven't read the whole series yet, and in fact was a bit startled to find that this one is the seventeenth book – it's nice to have a backlog of pretty reliable quick and fun reads, but I had no idea that much time had gone by. Dorothy is an American ex-pat in England, basically living the life I would claw any random person's eyes out for. She and retired-Chief-Constable-husband Alan Nesbitt plan to enjoy a vacation on the island of Alderney in the Channel. "Plan" being the key word there, because on their very first day they fulfill the purest destiny of the cozy mystery heroes and literally stumble over a corpse. (As a former cop, he should have known better than to contaminate what might or might not be a crime scene, but that's all one.) The dead man turns out to be quite the conundrum. He's another American expatriate, a priest who has been assisting in the local church and making himself very popular – except where he's very unpopular. (Dorothy and Alan are told 'He can’t actually take services, because of course he hasn’t been through the "safeguard" vetting procedure' – which makes a great deal of sense. I wonder if he would have passed.) The more that is discovered about the dead man, the more likely it is that he was not a victim of an accident. "'And he became a priest! What kind of a twisted mind could do such a thing?'" But it's perfect – I'm surprised we don't hear more stories like it. "'I believe that he was a sociopath, a man with no moral scruples, no conscience. When I was working in the police, we occasionally came across such criminals. They were almost always charming people, at least charming when they wanted to be. They could also be vicious, but it was an odd sort of viciousness, with no anger or spite involved, simply a cold determination to have their own way.'" – This quote struck a deep chord with me. I knew that man… I enjoy the relationship between Dorothy and her Alan. It feels authentic, and their contentment makes for an enjoyable tale. The writing flows nicely along, including references to Alice in Wonderland and Dorothy L. Sayers and Harry Potter. (No Doctor Who, but nobody's perfect.) I'm not sure if the murder mystery is all that successful, on the whole, but it's almost irrelevant – which is a funny thing to say about a murder mystery novel, but that's part of what makes it a cozy mystery. I don't remember whodunit, quite (this review is being written longer after I finished the book than it ought to be), and it doesn't really matter. It's the exploration of the story that counts, how everyone ended up where they were when a body popped up among the rocks, and what Dorothy and Alan talk about when they go back to the hotel and relax. It's all about the wonderfully realized setting, familiar and alien at the same time. It really is cozy. Well done."As long as you don’t forgive him, your hatred of him will fester. Someone said it’s like giving a person permission to live in your head, rent-free, and mess it up forever."The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Dorothy and her retired detective husband, Alan, have gone to Alderney for a relaxing vacation. They plan to take lots of walks on the scenic island, but on their first hike along a cliff, they find a dead man. The police rule it an accident, but Dorothy and Alan can't help wondering whether he was murdered. The dead man was active in the local church and loved by (almost) everyone. Was he too good to be true? Smile and Be a Villain is a good British cozy with tales of forgiveness and letting go of hatred, but it is thoughtful, not preachy. I was caught up in the story from the beginning to the final sentence.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Dorothy and her husband Alan are off on a two-week holiday to visit the charming island of Alderney. But taking a hike up a rather steep hill, they chance to discover a body on the trail, and all hopes of a peaceful time away are gone. The victim turns out to be a relocated priest from America, and Dorothy cannot resist finding out how a fellow American came to die on an island so far from home. The more she and Alan dig into the priest’s past, the stranger the case becomes. It seems that this priest was equally loved and hated by various people in this village, without much middle ground. Dorothy and Alan find themselves ostracized by both sets of villagers, neither group wanting to hear anything contrary to what they believed to be true. While it is part of a series, this novel works well as stand-alone. Though not a complicated plot, it is still intriguing to read as Dorothy and Alan go about unraveling the life of the dead priest, and reconciling the villagers.

      1 person found this helpful