Death in the Village (Sukey Reynolds #11) by Betty Rowlands

I do enjoy this Britsh cozy murder mystery series featuring DC Sukey Reynolds though I often find that the synopsis is a bit misleading. Reading about Sukey's latest cases is like coming home. The characters are all so familiar and there is usually quite a bit going on in the local areas handled by the Avon and Somerset Constabulary where Sukey is in CID. I feel that, if you want to get the most from the stories, it is important to read them all in order from the beginning as Sukey has made some really significant changes in her personal and professional life over the years.

The CID team is all hands on deck as they are investigating a missing persons case. Daisy Hewett, a 15-year-old girl had left home for school 3 weeks prior and had seemingly vanished. It seems that the situation is quite similar to another cold case -- another girl, Valerie Deacon, had disappeared 20 years ago and police believe the same person might be responsible. Then, the body of a girl is found buried under some bricks in a ditch...Meanwhile, Sukey has another suspicious death to be concerned about when a homeowner is found dead in her bathroom. The woman, Adelaide Minchin, was well-liked and quite healthy and her GP is certain that a fall did not kill her. The coroner isn't convinced, however, so Sukey enlists the help of her journalist boyfriend, Harry Matthews, to do some digging around into the woman's family history to find out who might benefit from her death. Could these seemingly unrelated cases be connected? NO SPOILERS.

I love the writing style and the narrative flow of these books in the series. As a reader, you feel as if the installments just pick up where the last one left off as if you were just following Sukey around in her job and in her life. Sukey is a great character and very likeable. This one didn't have her interacting much with her son, Fergus, but she's busy and she does have a new romantic interest that might be taking more of her focus. She works hard and doesn't seem to be messed up or damaged or have a tendency to do stupid things -- and I appreciate that. I'm definitely looking forward to the next episode as the cases are always interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the e-book ARC to read and review.

This is book #11 in the series and these books should be read in order from the beginning.
Genre - cozy mystery and police procedural series