Cold cases offer both good news and bad news. The bad news is that witnesses have often moved on, memories dull over time, and official records can be lost or shelved in some out-of-the-way place. The good news is that people are often more willing to talk. They may remember things they forgot or overlooked in the immediate aftermath of a crime. And nothing seems quite as urgent as it does right after the act or event.
Hillary Greene, retired Detective Inspector for the Thames Valley Police and now a full-time cold case consultant to the police, knows this well. Her knowledge of crime and human behavior, plus a certain doggedness, has served her well and continues to do so.
The latest case for Hillary and her team: a 10-year-old murder case. The body of a young man was found floating in weeds of the River Cherwell. He was known to be bright, deeply in love with ancient history, and well-liked. He had bicycled away from home one morning, his parents thought it might be to town (Oxford), and then his body was found. He had no addictions, no involvement in drugs or crime, and no enemies. Unless you counted the woman he’d broken up with who had stalked him, or perhaps the tutor who mistook friendliness and interest in history as something other than professional interest.
Faith Martin
At first, Hillary and the team get nowhere. They go over case notes and old ground, re-interviewing all the witnesses. No breaking leads or tips. And then an offhand remark by the young man’s mother about his metal detecting interest starts an entirely new line of investigation. And by the time they’ve finished, Hillary and her team will solve not just one but four murders.
Murder Now and Then is the nineteenth installment in the Hillary Greene mystery series, and it’s just as fascinating and entertaining as its predecessors. The reader is given access to an investigation that’s happening independently of Hilary’s cold case, suspecting (rightfully so) that the stories will converge. And she keeps a side story going about one of the police team members, which is a standard feature of her stories. It’s a very satisfying read.
In addition to the DI Hillary Greene novels, Martin (a pen name for Jacquie Walton) has also published the Ryder and Loveday novels as well as the Jenny Sterling mysteries. Under the name Joyce Cato, she has published several non-series detective stories. Both Cato and Martin are also pen names for Walton. (Walton has another pen name as well – Maxine Barry, under which she wrote 14 romance novels.) A native of Oxford, she lives in a village in Oxfordshire.
Related:
Murder on the Oxford Canal by Faith Martin.
Murder at the University by Faith Martin.
Murder of the Bride by Faith Martin.
Murder in the Village by Faith Martin.
Murder in the Family by Faith Martin.
Murder at Home by Faith Martin.
Murder in the Meadow by Faith Martin.
Murder in the Mansion by Faith Martin.
Murder by Fire by Faith Martin.
Murder at Work by Faith Martin.
Murder Never Retires by Faith Martin.
Murder of a Lover by Faith Martin.
Murder Never Misses by Faith Martin.
Murder by Candlelight by Faith Martin.
Murder in Mind by Faith Martin.
Hillary’s Final Case by Faith Martin.
Hillary’s Back! by Faith Martin.
Some Monday Readings
My Mom Was Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Then She Got Better – Sean Fischer at The Free Press.
The Killers Angels Still Sings: Revisiting a Classic Civil War novel on its fiftieth anniversary – Will Collins at The Spectator.
Murders for January – Jeremy Black at The Critic Magazine.
Things Worth Remembering: ‘He Died Standing Up’ – Douglas Murray at The Free Press.
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