A Dark and Stormy Night

As Dorothy Martin and her husband Alan Nesbit head to a country estate for the weekend, the stage is set for a variation of Agatha Christie's classic locked house mystery, And Then There Were None. A hurricane-like storm hits soon after their arrival, uprooting trees and flooding the river. A body is found under one of the uprooted trees. Soon more bodies are discovered and other members of the party disappear. With communications cut off even in the modern age depicted in the novel, Alan, a retired law enforcement officer, takes it upon himself to gather evidence and begin the investigation even though he has no authority and lacks jurisdiction.Needless to say, Dorothy also gets involved. It's an interesting twist on the classic Christie novel. ( )

Dorothy Martin has reappeared in the mystery market, and I welcome her back! This time Dorothy and her husband, Alan Nesbit, head off to the English countryside for a relaxing weekend at a very large, newly restored country manor. Well, it would have been relaxing had a huge storm not blown through and cut the manor off from the immediate vicinity due to a rising river, hundreds of downed trees, and utility outages. This enables the mystery to become a classic locked room mystery. One of the guests is murdered after an old skeleton is found on the property, and two other guests turn up missing. It's very well written and suspenseful. The only thing I found questionable, as the survivor of a long-term power outage, was the cook's ability to turn out great meals and to provide ice for beverages. That might have stretched things a bit. Otherwise, however, it's a fun read. ( )