"The Case of the Missing Letter" by Alison Golden

Detective Inspector David Graham has much to be proud of with his team. As the story in the newspaper reports, since his arrival on the island of Jersey, crime has dropped 16 percent and solved cases now constitute half of the statistics. And when a policeman is feeling proud of his and his team’s accomplishments, the reader knows trouble lies ahead.

A lot of trouble.

First, Graham is called to the island’s cultural museum. It appears that a burglary went very, very wrong. The night guard is found dead next to the museum’s prize possession, an 18^th century desk made by a master carpenter, one of only three in the world. It appears that the guard interrupted a burglar, but the man had a heart condition and actually died of a heart attack.

The desk was damaged when the guard fell, and a local furniture maker and repairman is capably restoring it. Then he’s found with his head bashed in. It’s that desk again. And if a burglary-gone-wrong and a murder weren’t enough, someone is out to kill the new librarian in town.

Alison Golden

In The Case of the Missing Letter by Alison Golden, DI Graham and his team suddenly have their hands full. What the reader knows, if the police team doesn’t, is that two people are after a letter believed hidden in the desk, one that could smear a well-known family and upend a parliamentary election race. 

Golden has three mystery and suspense series involving signature detectives. The Diana Hunter series is set in Vancouver; the series includes Hunted, Snatched, Stolen, Chopped, and Exposed. The Rev. Annabelle Dixon series is set in Cornwall. And the Inspector David Graham series is set on Jersey, one of the Channel Islands. The last two are officially “cozy mysteries,” which translates as minimal violence and any romantic interest will not involve graphic sex. Golden also includes recipes mentioned in the books at the end of the Anabelle Dixon stories. Raised in Bedfordshire, England, Golden now lives in the San Francisco area. 

The Case of the Missing Letter is fast-moving, with an intriguing plot and more villains running around than you can shake a fist at. But Graham and his team will persist, and they will catch more than one guilty party. 

Related:

Hunted and Chopped by Alison Golden.

Three Cozy Mysteries by Alison Golden.

Grave in the Garage by Alison Golden.

Two Annabelle Dixon Mysteries by Alison Golden.