A Deadly Web

June 1, 2020
The cathedral and university town of Durham, England, is the quaint setting of Dams' twenty-third Dorothy Martin mystery, after Death in the Garden City (2020). Dorothy, an American, and her English husband, retired police officer Alan Nesbit, are getting on in years, a happy find in a genre filled with whippersnapper detectives. When they visit a friend, David Tregarth, in Durham, they are faced with a deadly puzzle to solve, as David's aunt, who has dementia, has been accused of murdering a fellow resident in her nursing home. She will be evicted from her sanctuary if the real killer?who is also the possible perpetrator of other crimes?isn't run to ground. Dorothy and Alan's investigation gives readers an inside glimpse of life in a medieval town that's now a tourist haven, while the author's tale-telling and dialogue?the back and forth of a comfortable couple is wonderfully depicted?will also serve to draw readers in. Dams' followers know what to expect and will be happy to find it here.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

November 1, 2022
Dorothy Martin is a retired American schoolteacher who now lives in England with her husband, retired policeman Alan Nesbitt. This is the twenty-fifth novel in the series, and if you're wondering whether Dorothy or her author are showing signs of slowing down, the answer is no. This book, which involves the mayhem that ensues when a sort-of relative of Alan's comes to town, is as lively and satisfying as the earliest books in the series. Dams, who also writes another series about amateur sleuth Hilda Johansson (the most recent appeared about a decade ago), doesn't go in for big, splashy plots and action-filled set pieces; her stories are smaller, more focused on the interplay between characters. Regular readers know what to expect, and Dams never lets them down. It's nice to see Alan playing a more substantial role in this story than he often does; he's an interesting guy and deserves to emerge from the background now and again. Above all, he and Dorothy make an effective team. A treat for fans.

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October 1, 2022
Dorothy Martin, an American expatriate in the English countryside, and her husband, retired chief constable Alan Nesbitt, solve a murder and gain a relative. Alan's unofficial great-niece Lucy Bowman, who was born in England but moved to the U.S. with her family as a young tween, plans to visit them while she's in Sherebury to head a conference at the university. Although Dorothy's a bit apprehensive, she's also a warm person who loves to entertain and can always count on her neighbor Jane Langland to pitch in. The delightful Lucy admits to being in love with Iain Campbell, a wealthy fundraiser whose marriage proposal has been sealed with a ring that's the spitting image of Princess Diana's. Naturally, Alan and Dorothy both sense something wrong with this picture of perfection. When Alan takes Lucy's uninsured ring to be appraised and learns that it's only a well-made copy, they both use their networks to find out more about Iain. In the meantime, their dog, Watson, brings home a tiny kitten who'll go on to play a crucial role in their investigation. As Iain makes his way to the U.K., they acknowledge that they've been unable to find out anything about him, almost as if he'd never existed. After Iain's killed in a hit-and-run in London carrying ID in the name of William Gray, the ensuing investigation reveals a tangled web of criminal schemes. Lucy, first devastated, then furious at having been taken in by a clever con man, resolves to help solve the crime. Old-fashioned British mores take some very modern twists in this charming mystery.

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