Wendy M. Wilson

Sergeant Frank Hardy and his pregnant wife Mette and their 2 adopted sons are stranded in their high pasture by the flooded river. Two other families, one a neighbor and the other passing through are stranded with them. When one of the men is murdered Frank has to protect his family and figure out who in their little group did it. The action covers 2 days of high water and several more as the water recedes leaving mud. Mette is unbelievable organizing and caring for the kids in a little tent show more grouping and 2 weeks from her due date. I like that Frank isn't perfect and can make the wrong choice at times but always for the right reason, but puts himself on the line always for his family. show less

I don’t know how author Wendy M. Wilson does it. She’s writing this fabulous series set in late-19th century colonial New Zealand, and she gets the voice and plot just perfectly. You’d never know Not the Faintest Trace was written 140 years after its setting.

In this debut, we meet Sergeant Frank Hardy. Despite his title, Hardy has left the Imperial Army and now drives a coach for the Royal Mail. Hardy agrees to help search for two Scandinavian-born boys who are presumed drowned, show more although no one’s found the bodies. That brings Hardy in close contact with the clever Mette Jensen, a relative of the two teens. Here’s hoping that the two get even better acquainted in the next book! We also get to meet New Zealand’s Māori and learn about the many iniquities foisted upon them by the invading British.

Cozy lovers will truly enjoy the start to an adventurous mystery series. show less

I loved Not the Faintest Trace, the first novel in this historical mystery series set in frontier New Zealand, but I liked the sequel even more. A few anachronistic attitudes intrude on occasion, but I learned a lot about the settling of New Zealand. The mystery was well plotted, and it was good to be reunited with characters I’ve come to appreciate. I read it in one sitting, and there’s no greater testimony than that.

The story takes place in New Zealand in 1877 eight years after the end of the Land Wars. Former Sergeant Frank Hardy of the old Die Hards platoon is now the Mail Coach driver from Palmerston to Woodville, but contemplating becoming a private investigator. In the local Danish community a couple of teenagers, Paul and Jens, have gone missing and are thought to have drowned in the nearby river. Paul's brother Hans comes to Frank to find the boys so they can be sure. He promises to look in his show more spare time. He can see if this is what he is meant to do and explore his attraction to Mette, one of the Danish women. Meanwhile there is an escaped Maori prisoner who has gone on a killing spree specializing in former members of the Die Hards group. Frank tries to figure out why they are being targeted. This was a very different plot from any I've read before and a part of history that I was completely unfamiliar with. I will look for more in the series. show less