Time of Hope - Hardcover

In their second appearance, following Hope Against Hope , Nick Trevellyan and Alison Hope find that the sleepy English village of Little Hopford is a hotbed of illicit activity--past and present. When sexually generous 19-year-old Frisco Carstairs is fatally strangled, local police inspector Nick knows who would have liked to have wrung the victim's neck: Dot Lawson, who was vehemently opposed to her son Ben's plan to marry Frisco. Yet inquiries into the private lives of the Lawsons (including Dot's husband, Sam, a petty thief) only cloud the issue. Then Molly Armitage, an elderly woman who Nick believes has deliberately obstructed his inquiries, is attacked and nearly strangled to death. Nick is equally stalled off the job as the fiercely independent Alison, who owns a software business, dismisses his marriage proposals while continuing to host an obnoxious houseguest, Londoner Ralph Squires, who is openly contemptuous of "whatsizname . . . the country bobby." Blending mystery and romance and laced with humor, this portrait of English village life is a delight. In fact, its fluid narrative pace makes it easy to overlook the clues Kelly cleverly weaves into her brisk tale. Mystery Guild alternate.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Kelly's second contribution to traditional village mystery confirms the promise of her first. Police Inspector Nick Trevellyan and companion Alison Hope ( Hope Against Hope , Macmillan, 1991) bounce ideas off each other as he attempts to solve the murder of a pleasantly promiscuous woman who only recently announced her engagement. Nick's hunt for clues uncovers hints of smuggling and various shades of romance--including his and Alison's own. Sturdy prose, recognizable local folk, and efficient plotting characterize a compact mystery that belongs in most collections.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.