When Susan moves to Bishopstone on the Isle of Wight, she’s not given up her habit of dog walking, but she’s not expecting to be drawn into another murder investigation. That was something she was leaving behind with her move. She throws herself into becoming a part of her new community, even joining the local choir. But it’s not long before she pulled into investigating the death of Lawrence, headmaster of the local school…considering she was one of the last people to see him alive. At first, police aren’t sure if the death was a suicide or an accident, but when Lawrence’s widow asks Susan to investigate, she can’t turn her down.

The author has created an community of characters with plenty of secrets they want kept under wraps. There’s more than one viable motive and suspect for Lawrence’s murder.

Susan’s character is well developed, with personal issues related to her family creating plenty of drama outside of her sleuthing, including having to spend time with her ex-husband (after forty years of marriage) at a family event. Will she be able to resolve those problems and create a happy life for herself in Bishopstone? Will she be next on the killer’s list as she gets close to the secrets in Lawrence’s life?

Mary Grand has crafted a well written mystery and there’s enough twists and turns that the reader will be suspecting more than one Bishopstone resident is capable of killing.  

4 stars