Jane Adams (2) (1960–)

What an adventure to meet Miss Rina Martin and Detective Inspector Sebastian McGregor (Mac) in the coastal town of Frantham-on-Sea, Dorset, England. I loved Rina from the moment of introduction. As proprietress of a guest house named Peverill Lodge it didn't seem at all surprising that "no wooden vacancy flag ever swung in the stiff breeze in front of Rina Martin’s door. Rina’s guests came to stay and stayed. If a vacancy should happen to arise, then it was rapidly filled by someone on show more Rina’s informal but jealously guarded ‘waiting list’."

After a 6 months leave, Mac has a new assignment and has only been working in Frantham for a few weeks when he's asked by Chief Inspector Eden to visit Mrs. Freer, an elderly and frail woman that lives alone but managed to chase off intruders after a break-in at her home on the prior evening. As circumstances escalate in the neighborhood Mac and Rina are both pursuing leads to resolve inquiries that are more intertwined than they could have possibly imagined.

This book is not merely a mystery but a novel that has multi-dimensional layers related to Spousal Abuse, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse, Bullying, and PTSD. It also quietly enlightens by sharing how adults and children alike respond to kindness and caring that may help begin the healing process, may allow trust to begin, and may be the beginning of meaningful friendship.

I am looking forward to reading more of this series! show less

Although The Room with Eight Windows is just being released now (July, 2023), it reads like top-notch work from the "golden age" of mystery fiction. Jane A. Adams shares a good deal with the readers, so one has a sense of where the mystery is heading, but even with that fact, it is full of moments when "what next?" becomes a more and more pressing question.

This is the 9th volume in a series, but the first that I've read—and it definitely has me wanting to read more. But I can attest to the show more fact that it works well as a first-read-in-the-series. I didn't have trouble knowing who the characters were. I had a sense both of their evolution in this one novel, but also in previous novels. Adams deftly gives readers a generous helping of backstory, which makes engaging with individual characters easy.

Henry Johnstone, the key figure of the series, is a Detective Chief Inspector who has been forced to retire due to an injury he suffered on a previous case. His sister has finagled a job for him cataloging the library of a recently deceased man, hoping it will prove satisfying—Johnstone is an active reader. Johnstone stays in the home of the deceased man in, of course, the room with eight windows. There should be no one in the house except him, and the local girl who drops in one a day with a dinner for him, but he hears footsteps from an attic he can't find and in other unexpected areas in the home. Feeling lessened because of the physical injury, he's now wondering whether his mental faculties are weakening as well.

If you enjoy having a good mystery for your beach read, I can definitely recommend The Room with Eight Windows. Of course, you could also read it on a mountaintop, beside a creek, or in the comfort of your own home. If you like classic mysteries, this is a title you'll definitely enjoy. show less

snow-season, extortion, retired-actor, amateur-sleuth, murders, investigations, local-law-enforcement, suspense, friendship, rage, england, dual-perspectives

The body was in the library but the murder scene was a mystery in itself.
Rina Martin plays a sleuth and has the nosiness to make her useful to DI MacGregor. That's especially true in this case where there is an acting troupe of people she knows working at this murder mystery weekend. We hear how the investigation goes from her point of show more view and also how things spiral out of control from the point of view of the murderer who is also one of the blackmail victims. There are some truly astonishing plot twists as well as the kinds of misdirections that made me groan. Another winner in this series.
I requested and received a free temporary uncorrected proof e-copy from Joffe Books via NetGalley. show less

This is a very different take on a detective series. 'Secrets' is sixth in the series and my first read. Our protagonist plays a very different role than just about any other I've seen. Adams is succinct, getting the job done in just 204 pages. She keeps the action moving with lots of characters and chapters moving back and forth along different, merging trajectories. It is not just action though, the players are nuanced and believable. She also uses nice historical backdrop to the plot that show more gives an additional dimension to the book. Adams is my kind of author, a great storyline, characters that make you want to come back served up with that beautiful, spare style. I should also say that the publisher, Severn House, gives fine attention to the quality of the book, making it a pleasure to handle page by page. show less