Book Review: The Seventh Link by Margaret Mayhew

Title: The Seventh Link
Author: Margaret Mayhew
Source: NetGalley

Goodreads Summary:

The village of Frog End may be peaceful, but that doesn't mean that the Colonel s life there is quiet not with his friendly but nosy neighbour Naomi, desperate to know what he s keeping in his new shed; the curious Miss Butler, who tracks his every move with her German U-boat captain s binoculars; and the attentions of the local vicar, who s keen to involve him in church affairs. That s not forgetting the demands of the aloof, imperious cat Thursday, who seems to have adopted the Colonel.So the Colonel is pleased when his old friend Geoffrey Cheetham invites him up to the village of Buckby for the weekend, to coincide with a RAF reunion event. After depositing an outraged Thursday at the Cat Heaven cattery, he drives up, and meets his fellow guests at the Cheethams B&B: including a Lancaster bomber crew, reunited for the first time. But everything is not as it seems, and the Colonel finds himself taking on the reluctant role of sleuth once more when tragedy strikes . . .

My thoughts:

I have a weakness for cozy mysteries, which some of you may know, and this book looks so charming doesn't it? I love the cover, and I love the idea of living in a quaint little English village. Well, this book had the charm but the mystery lacked a little luster.

This book is part of a series, which I have never read, but it didn't seem to matter. The Colonel is a widower, trying to adjust to his new life, and he has his little cottage, Pond Cottage, and his cat Thursday, who is a cat about town, visiting hither and yon. But he and the Colonel do well together, sitting in their companionable silence in the evenings.

The Colonel is invited by his friends Geoffrey and Heather, who own a B and B, to visit for the weekend. His visit will be at the same time as an RAF reunion, and one Lancaster bomber crew is staying at the B and B as well. The men are the only full crew in attendance, as they are surprised by their mid-upper gunner from Australia, whom they haven't seen for years and years. As expected there is a lot of reminiscing and celebrating as the weekend goes along, and the old Lancaster bomber crew is getting the recognition at last that they deserve. All is well, until after a night of drinking one crew members turns up dead. Is it just an unfortunate accident, or is it murder? The reader never really knows.

I don't want to give anything away, but when I got to the end, I couldn't believe it. I thought maybe there was a chapter or more missing. Then I realized that I would never know the answer, and had to draw my own conclusions. To be honest, I would have liked more resolution, but in this particular case, that might have been difficult. It was also a little boring and slow.


If you read this book, shoot me an email and let me know what your final conclusion was!