Books*Reviews*Etc: THE ADVENT OF MURDER by Martha Ockley

RATED 4 CANDLES

KREGEL PUBLICATIONS BLOG TOUR

DECEMBER 9-13, 2013

THE ADVENT OF MURDER

A Faith Morgan Mystery

Book Two

Martha Ockley

Pseudonym for Rebecca Jenkins

Paperback, 224 pages

Published August 19th 2013

by Lion Fiction

(first published July 19th 2013)

OVERVIEW

( from Goodreads)

Faith Morgan, former policewoman and vicar of the small English village of Little Worthy, goes to visit one of her parishioners at his farm, only to discover the house surrounded by police cars. A body has been found in the local river and farmer Markham is charged with murder.

Though busy with preparations for Christmas, Faith is called on to investigate when it's found out that the victim is also a member of her congregation--Lucas Kemp, a member of the choir.

Faith's informal inquiries lead her to uncover a hotbed of tensions and romantic rivalries in the choir, questions about drugs, and a run-in with an unsavory uncle--which leads to a dramatic rescue by Ben, Faith's former detective partner and ex-boyfriend.

In the tradition of Father Brown and Miss Marple, The Advent of Murder brings readers an authentic picture of English rural and church life combined with a satisfying mystery that will keep readers guessing until the end.

REVIEW

"We've found a boy's body by the river.

Want to come take a peek?

Faith struggled with her demon curiosity a moment.

Ben watched her lose the fight,"Of course you do."

THE ADVENT OF MURDER starts with the cold, tingling days before Christmas. It is also following Faith, a perceptive police woman who is now vicar and her odd parishioners. I would suggest that you read Book One first. I was a little lost to begin with with the English terms and the ways of the church. That has no bearing on the author or the book. I just think it would make Book Two easier to read. Faith's personal life loved and lost the man she was in a relationship with. He was a tough cop just like Faith. Their conflict arose when he didn't want to accept Faith's new life as vicar to souls. When Ben saw something bad, there was no changing his mind. It was bad and he had no intention on looking for anything else. It was just bad. When a young boy's body was found in the River Ichen, Faith was still a copy in her heart and soul. The boy was a member of the choir, he took care of his Uncle who was nothing but a drunk. His mother had died. She finds herself investigating the murder. People got the idea she was still a cop and were quite surprised when they found out she was a member of the clergy. Faith and Ben still compare notes on the murder case. There were some things that didn't look good, as the murder wasn't called in.

The author wrote a book that had Faith digging into spirituality in it and she gets into some big topics.

Faith has a combination of street smarts from being a cop and her belief in God. She has seen some of the worst in human behavior and yet she has fallen at times and she believes that redemption is for all who ask for it and are truly sincere. There are two sides to her; one is the sad and dark world and the other is God and his pure love . Faith doesn't see the perpetrator as just a bad person but a person who needs God's love and help to get back on the right track. Each character had their own personality, very well described. Some had evil in them and didn't want help while others were crying out for redemption. Of course the parishioners of Little Worthy had a lot of opinions. Guess what, most were wrong. This author, Martha Ockley wrote a wonderful murder mystery with the addition of people who need love and spirituality back in their lives. Can Faith do this? Will Faith and Ben get back together again? Will Ben realize there are two sides to everything?. All isn't bad. This was a good murder mystery, not too heavy and not too light. It didn't bog you down with too much detail and yet there was just enough to keep the plot alive. I would say, grab a copy and help Faith unravel the murder.

I would give this book 4 Candles.

I was given a complimentary copy of THE ADVENT OF MURDER by Martha Ockley from Kregel Publications for my uncompensated opinion.

AUTHOR

Rebecca Jenkins is a novelist, biographer and social historian based in Teesdale, UK. She likes to write about anything that interests her - from 19th century theatre to Edwardian Olympics, through crime and theology in between. An early affection for the Scarlet Pimpernel led to her F R Jarrett mystery series, set in the early 1800s in the north east of England. A fascination with the origins of celebrity culture evolved into her biographical portrait of nineteenth-century actress, Fanny Kemble: The Reluctant Celebrity, which was short-listed for the 2005 Theatre Book Prize. Her book The First London Olympics, 1908 has been acclaimed as the definitive social and sporting history of the event illustrating the moment when American sporting science transformed the amateurism of the early modern Olympic movement. The First London Olympics, 1908 was long-listed for the William Hill 'Sport Book of the Year' Award in 2008. Rebecca has been known to blog and is a regular contributor to radio and TV.