The Cherry Pickers by
Betty Rowlands
hbk out March 98
Published by Hodder & Stoughton
at £16.99
The village of Upper Benbury, crime centre of the Cotswolds, has another problem to cope with. Betty Rowlands’ writer sleuth, Melissa Craig, returns to her detective duties when the corpse of a young gipsy girl is found in a chest freezer. The police move surely but far too slowly for the victim’s Romany relatives, who have their own idea of who was responsible. When the Romanys threaten to administer their own brand of wild justice to the stranger they believe responsible, Melissa tries to warn their intended victim of what is in store.
Melissa’s high-octane blend of compassion and curiosity carries her further than expected, much to the disapproval of her lover, ex-Detective Chief Inspector Ken Harris. There are many pleasures in this serpentine village whodunnit - the shrewd dissection of a village community, sympathetic characters, a quiet wit and an unguessable murderer. Betty Rowlands demonstrates conclusively that there are vigorous new shoots emerging from the old stem of the traditional cosy detective novel.
(
Andrew Taylor
- author of the highly acclaimed Roth & Lydmouth Series)
The Cherry Pickers by
Betty Rowlands