The Madoc Rhys Mysteries

A book review

Today I’m not reviewing one book, but five. This series of mysteries has an internal arc as well as each individual book’s murder mystery plot. I found them to be charming reads, with the characters making up the best part of the books, as the series takes us from the first meeting of Janet, a young Canadian woman, and a Mountie undercover, Madoc Rhys in A Pint of Murder. Their romance, marriage, and eventual parenthood are all large parts of the books, and for me, surpass the mysteries.

These books are populated by a whole cast of characters I enjoyed hugely, as each one was brought to life and portrayed engagingly, in particular both Janet and Madoc’s families, who played parts in some of the mysteries. I think the weakest book, in fact, is Murder Goes Mumming, which takes place mostly in a snowbound family mansion where Janet and Madoc had gone to represent family but were unrelated to the kooky family where death struck repeatedly.

The mysteries themselves are more than a little far-fetched in places, with situations set up so wildly improbable as to be obvious authorial diktat to get a group of people, in both Mumming and Trouble in the Brasses, isolated to make the solution easier on the Mountie. I did like that he valued his wife’s perceptions and insights highly, while being very protective of her (and his mother, in Brasses). I didn’t mind this, because this series was such a light, pleasant read that I never felt it was about whodunnit. More critical readers may not enjoy this.

However, I do recommend them, as light-hearted reads with a healthy romantic relationship in the center of the whole series. It is so refreshing, sad to say, to find this well-written romance that will make you smile, in a book that reads so well. I’m going on to read more of her books, these were originally published under the penname of Alisa Craig, written by Charlotte McLeod who also wrote other series along very similar lines under her own name. I’m hopeful they will be a heart-warming and cheerful as this series was, and for a pleasure read I can’t say much higher praise for a book than that.

I’ll add a spoiler below, so do not read on if you want to enjoy the first book fully!

The conceit behind the murder in the first book is that two pints of home-canned beans were deliberately canned improperly, which led to a death by botulism. This is, while remotely possible, certainly not a given from a mere two pints slipped into a pantry. I have canned many a bean and other things myself, and while I appreciate the concept the author was playing with, it’s really not a practical way to murder someone, as you might have dozens of jars be perfectly fine, nor is botulism a sure-fire way to kill someone! Statistically, even someone over 80 (as the victim in the book) is only about 35% likely to die of a case of botulinum poisoning. Knowing this made me sigh a little, because so many people fear home canning due to myths like this book depict. Now you know, though!