Hate Bale
by Stephanie Dagg
Grumbling guests and escaping piglets are precisely what Martha doesn’t need. She’s already struggling to run a holiday cottage and a rather large smallholding single-handedly. Since her husband Mark died, three years ago, her rural property in France, beautiful as it is, has become an increasingly heavy millstone around her neck.
So whilst she’s horrified to stumble across a corpse at the local farm supplies shop, it does at least distract her from her own woes. Best friend Lottie, the cheese to Martha’s chalk, swoops in to offer moral support and encourages Martha to join her in some unofficial sleuthing. Meanwhile, police officer Philippe Prudhomme, a former fellow chess-player of Mark’s, undertakes a rather more professional investigation.
However, despite everyone’s efforts, the killer remains at large. And when more bodies (one and a bit, to be precise) come Martha’s way, it definitely feels like he’s closing in on her…
There’s suspense, humor, and excitement in this entertaining cozy mystery set in the French countryside.
My Rating:
Favorite Quotes:
French people spoke fast generally, but the added excitement of imparting misfortune that had occurred to someone else made them talk at breakneck speed.
‘Angxious’ messages, as Mark would have described them, being a mixture of concern-induced anger and anxiety.
“I sometimes wonder if she’s after my husband,” murmured Lottie, only half-joking, as Roger and Madame laughed heartily over a lame joke he’d cracked. “I think you’re safe. She’s got more facial hair than he has.” Martha couldn’t stop the uncharitable but true remark slipping out.
My Review:
This was my fourth exposure to Stephanie Dagg’s amusing prose. I always enjoy her wry humor and comfortable storytelling, regardless of the unusual conditions of the murder victims her main character of Martha seems destined to encounter in this pleasantly entertaining cozy mystery. Martha was a highly relatable and realistically drawn character whom I enjoyed getting to know. Adding to my reading pleasure, I also picked up a few new additions to my Brit word list with two having the same meaning – todger and John-Thomas are both slang for penis; and rosbif – which the Urban Dictionary defined as a derogatory term for a Brit by the French, “probably because of the enjoyment and pride the English take in their roast beef.”
I’m an English expat living in France, having moved here with my family in 2006 after fourteen years as an expat in Ireland. Taking on seventy-five acres with three lakes, two hovels and one cathedral-sized barn, not to mention an ever-increasing menagerie of animals, has made for exciting times. The current array of creatures ranges from alpacas to zebra finches, with pretty much everything in-between! Before we came to France all we had was a dog and two chickens, so it’s been a steep learning curve.
I’m married to Chris and we have three bilingual TCKs (third culture kids) who are resilient and resourceful and generally wonderful.
I’m a traditionally-published author of many children’s books and am now self-publishing too. As well as being an author, I’m also a part-time editor and, with Chris, manager of three carp fishing lakes. My hobbies are cycling, geocaching, knitting, and sewing.
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Thank you so much for your kind and lovely review. Sorry to be so slow getting round to thanking you 🙁 I really appreciate your support 🙂 x