Lilies That Fester

Mrs. Malory’s son Michael is finally engaged, at the age of 30! Sheila could not be happier, as Thea is a wonderful person and both she and Michael fully intend to spend their married life together in Taviscombe. But when Thea is seen fleeing the office of a lawyer shortly before the discovery of his murder, Sheila must use all of her resources and wit (and village contacts) to solve the crime before Thea is imprisoned for life…. In this eleventh book in the series, we again find Sheila Malory using her intuition, along with her knowledge of human nature, in ways that the more methodical police could never do - and, of course, she succeeds in her task. I am enjoying this cozy series, set in 1990s England and almost always featuring show more a victim who is utterly loathsome, such that nobody minds too much when s/he is killed off, although of course justice must be served. Because this particular book is set in Sheila’s home town, it is probably more useful than usual to have read the previous books in the series in order to fully understand the relationships between Sheila and the various townspeople; recommended! show less

I enjoy the Mrs. Malory books for the characters and setting more than the plot, and especially this one. Sheila's future daughter-in-law is suspected (for no good reason) of murdering a disagreeable co-worker, and the resolution is no resolution.