Tuesday, May 24, 2011

The Reluctant Detective by Martha Ockley

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
The Reluctant Detective
Monarch Books (April 30, 2011)
by
Martha Ockley


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:



Martha Ockley is the pen-name of Rebecca Jenkins. She read history at Oxford University, and spent several years working alongside her father, the Rt. Revd. David Jenkins (Bishop of Durham 1984-94) during the turbulence of the 1980s. She lives in Teesdale in the North East of England where the landscape and history provide the inspiration for her Regency detective, F R Jarrett. Since September 2009 she has been Royal Literary Fund Fellow and Writer in Residence at York St John University. She is a full-time author, writing both fiction and non-fiction. (She should not be confused with a Canadian actor and singer, also called Rebecca Jenkins.)






ABOUT THE BOOK

The Reluctant Detective sees Faith Morgan arriving back in the region of her birth - Winchester in Hampshire. Recently ordained, she had been working as a curate in an Anglican inner-city church. Within an hour of her arrival at Little Worthy, she witnesses the sudden shocking death of a fellow priest during a communion service at St James's. He had been poisoned with a pesticide mixed with the communion wine. The senior police officer who arrives at the scene turns out to be Detective Inspector Ben Shorter, Faith's ex long-term boyfriend.

She is urged by the Bishop to stay on to look after the parish of Little Worthy. As she meets her parishioners she learns some surprising facts about her apparently well loved predecessor, and starts to suspect a motive for his death. And it is she who finally identifies the murderer.

The story gets off to a dramatic start with the previous vicar collapsing as soon as he drank the communion cup, and it holds the interest throughout. There is some romantic interest too. Inspector Ben Shorter starts by sneeringly telling his sergeant, "Ms Morgan is a vicar. One of the ordained," Ben emphasized the word. “She's a card-carrying professional at the touchy-feely stuff.” But he soon starts to feel differently about her again, although she is well aware that he "didn't understand the reality she experienced through her faith. He didn't even recognize its existence. That was the gulf between them." Her own beliefs and doubts are convincingly described, for even she can't help wondering, "What if there is no truth to it?" But for her, as for Pascal before her, it was a gamble worth taking.

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Reluctant Detective, go HERE

Cut Here

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Posting Information


The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1854249851

Author's picture is:

The book cover photo is:

The code for this post is:

Martha can be reached through the Contact link on her Website

Note: Sometimes you will find missing posts for bloggers. The main reason is that their book has been delayed. We do not expect a review if they haven't had the opportunity to read the book :-) Check the comments for additional posters and follow our list of bloggers for this tour:

Andie at Radiant Light
Bonnie at Bonnie Writes
Cara at the law, books, and life
Carla at Carla's Writing Café
Carol at Blogging With Carol
Cheryl at Writing Remnants
Christy at Christy's Book Blog
Dave at The Plot Thickens
Dave at Novel Spotlight
Deanna at Deannna's Corner
Debra at Soul Reflections
Delia at Gatorskunkz And Mudcats
Edyth at Great Reads by Jasmine
Ernie at Writing: My Adventures In Words
Gina at Upon Reflection
Hannah at Word Lily
Heidi at Reviews And Reflections
Janis at The Nearsighted Bookworm
Jill at Christian Work At Home Moms
Jill at Artistic Blogger
Julie at My Own Little Corner of The World
Kathleen at Reviews From The Heart
Kay at Views & Reviews by K
Kristi at Stamped With Grace
Lauri at Knits, Reads, and Reviews
Linda at Reading For His Glory
Lori at Noggin Bits
Marjorie at The Writer's Tool
Mark at Thoughts Of A Sojourner
Molly at Book Reviews by Molly
Pam at Daysong Reflections
Sally at Book Critiques
Tara at Tara's View On Books

15 comments:

Jill said...

My post with review is up at Artistic Blogger.

SmilingSally said...

Hi Bonnie,

Here's my review:

http://bookcritiques.blogspot.com/2011/05/reluctant-detective-by-martha-ockley.html

carla stewart said...

Scheduled for Friday am. Thanks!

Cara Putman said...

mine goes up Friday a.m. I really enjoyed this book.

Ernie W. said...

Post is up.

Pam at Daysong Reflections said...

Posted with review. http://www.daysongreflections.com//?p=7958

Jasmine said...

Posted!

Deanna said...

Posted

Heart2Heart said...

Another great book selection with an interesting twist.

http://reviewsfromtheheart.blogspot.com/2011/05/reluctant-dectective.html

Love and Hugs ~ Kat

Jim Thompson said...

http://bookreviewsucanuse.blogspot.com/2011/05/this-week-christian-fiction-blog_26.html

Tarasview said...

posted

Marjorie Vawter said...

Posted. Review to come later.

Christy Lockstein said...

I'm up with review

Cheryl Klarich said...

Posted with a review!

Anonymous said...

Forgot to mention that this posted! Thanks~!