★ 05/01/2019
It's an unusual summer for caterer Faith Fairchild. While she and husband Tom are spending it on their beloved Sanpere Island, ME, he's working on a book on one side of the island, and she has time for her friends on the other. Their daughter, Amy, is laboring for long hours in the kitchen at a new conference center. Faith's worrywart friend, Pix Miller, is planning daughter Samantha's wedding, and all of Pix's worst nightmares come true when Samantha's future mother-in-law unexpectedly shows up with over-the-top plans. Faith's quiet summer blows up when she discovers a body in her favorite pond. Then she and Tom find another body. Both victims have a tattoo in common, as well as connections to a town in the drug chain that extends from Colombia to Maine. The vivid summer island lifestyle, intended to be family-oriented, turns dark with the interference of opioids, and an addiction that hits close to home. The 25th outing for Faith Fairchild, following The Body in the Casket , is marked by a celebration of family and friends for fans of the series. VERDICT Traditional yet timely, this mystery also confronts the opioid crisis head-on in a dramatic, disturbing way. [See Prepub Alert, 11/5/18.]—Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN
03/04/2019
In Agatha winner Page’s tantalizing 25th Faith Fairchild mystery (after 2017’s The Body in the Casket ), plans for a relaxing summer on Maine’s Sanpere Island quickly go awry when caterer Faith and friend Sophie Maxwell find the body of an unknown man with an unusual tattoo floating in a pond. The death is only the beginning of trouble for the usually peaceful community. Also disrupting the peace are Pix and Sam Miller’s new neighbors from hell, the Cranes, who are unlawfully cutting down trees on their property with loud chainsaws. Meanwhile, Pix and Sam have an uninvited guest, Alexandra Kohn, a high society snob and their daughter’s future mother-in-law. Sophie’s mother, Babs Harrington, one of society’s grande dames, deals with the imperious Alexandra, while the Millers battle it out with the Cranes. The discovery of another body raises the stakes, and Faith once again turns amateur sleuth. This long-running traditional mystery series is still as fresh as a cool pitcher of Faith’s strawberry shrub. Agent: Faith Hamlin, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc. (May)
If you think of cozy mysteries as palate cleaners, The Body in the Wake is for you.” — New York Times Book Review
“Pure pleasure to read from the opening paragraph to the all-too-soon ending....An intelligent, well-plotted, satisfying mystery with some twists at the end that I loved. Highly recommended.” — Suspense Magazine
“It’s a treat to wish Faith Fairchild a Happy Anniversary. May she be around for many more! The world—the real one, as well as the world of books—needs more people who are smart and compassionate and can cook.” — Lois Lowry
“The twenty-five mysteries that Katherine Hall Page has cooked up for her sleuth, Faith Fairchild, make for delectable reading. What a body of work! Dig in.” — Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked
“Book by book for more than 20 years, Katherine Hall Page has earned a place among the best American mystery writers.” — Joe Meyers, Hearst Connecticut Media Group
“Cheers and good wishes for a landmark 25th anniversary for Katherine and Faith. Here’s to another great 25, for a very special lady and her creator!” — Charles and Caroline Todd
“This long-running traditional mystery series is still as fresh as a cool pitcher of Faith’s strawberry shrub.” — Publishers Weekly
“Traditional yet timely, this mystery also confronts the opioid crisis head-on in a dramatic, disturbing way.” — Library Journal (starred review)
“Happy Happy HAPPY 25th Anniversary to Katherine Hall Page and one of my favorite amateur sleuths, Faith Fairchild! For those of us who are longtime fans, it’s a great time to rejoice and read. For those new to the series, you’re in for a treat in more ways than one.” — Harlan Coben
“Fans of the long-running series will enjoy this twenty-fifth installment, which is filled, as usual, with tasty recipes.” — Booklist
Cheers and good wishes for a landmark 25th anniversary for Katherine and Faith. Here’s to another great 25, for a very special lady and her creator!
Charles and Caroline Todd
Pure pleasure to read from the opening paragraph to the all-too-soon ending....An intelligent, well-plotted, satisfying mystery with some twists at the end that I loved. Highly recommended.”
Happy Happy HAPPY 25th Anniversary to Katherine Hall Page and one of my favorite amateur sleuths, Faith Fairchild! For those of us who are longtime fans, it’s a great time to rejoice and read. For those new to the series, you’re in for a treat in more ways than one.
It’s a treat to wish Faith Fairchild a Happy Anniversary. May she be around for many more! The world—the real one, as well as the world of books—needs more people who are smart and compassionate and can cook.
The twenty-five mysteries that Katherine Hall Page has cooked up for her sleuth, Faith Fairchild, make for delectable reading. What a body of work! Dig in.
Book by book for more than 20 years, Katherine Hall Page has earned a place among the best American mystery writers.
I cherish Faith Fairchild and her creator, Katherine Hall Page...Thank you, dear Katherine, for fine whodunits, delicious recipes, and, most of all, thank you for you. Happy Silver Anniversary.”
If you think of cozy mysteries as palate cleaners, The Body in the Wake is for you.
New York Times Book Review
Fans of the long-running series will enjoy this twenty-fifth installment, which is filled, as usual, with tasty recipes.
Fans of the long-running series will enjoy this twenty-fifth installment, which is filled, as usual, with tasty recipes.
Pure pleasure to read from the opening paragraph to the all-too-soon ending....An intelligent, well-plotted, satisfying mystery with some twists at the end that I loved. Highly recommended.”
2019-03-18 Veteran sleuth Faith Fairchild (The Body in the Casket , 2017, etc.) finds other fish to fry when she vacations on Sanpere Island, Maine.
Despite the summer's record-breaking heat, Penobscot Bay holds pleasures aplenty for Faith. There are porches to loll on, like the one at The Birches, her younger friend Sophie Maxwell's family home; Bar Harbor rockers to admire; and lots and lots of family history to absorb, starting with learning Sophie's much-married mother Babs' five last names. Now that Faith's best friend Pix Miller's daughter, Samantha, is getting ready to marry Zach Cohen, there's a wedding to plan, with all the attendant food and festivities. So when Faith finds a dead body in Lily Pond, she really doesn't have time to think much about it except to notice an odd-looking tattoo on the young victim's arm. The corpse gets pushed even further from the spotlight when Zach's mother, Alexandra, comes to town and does her best to upend Pix's carefully laid wedding plans. Pix, Faith, and Alexandra all enroll in a course on writing memoirs; Faith's daughter, Amy, has an increasingly demanding job at the Shores, a local resort run by Dr. and Mrs. Childs; and the summer wears on and on. The dead body is barely mentioned for the next hundred pages, until a second, similarly tattooed corpse is found. Even then, Faith keeps her promise to husband Tom not to investigate, and the case solves itself when the killers push their greed a step too far.
When the heroine can't summon much interest in the murder, it's hard to imagine readers will either. This one's strictly for fans of Down East local color.