A Walk Through England #2
This series, one of the sweetest around, centers on Widower Chase, a retired policeman, who, enthralled by the beauty of the British countryside, goes on frequent walking tours. This is the second book in the series and so far every time Chase goes on one of these journeys, someone gets murdered. In the first one, he met a man, Mike, a coroner in the UK (Chase is American) and sparks flew. In this installment they will be reunited, but Chase’s walk through Lake Country is the real focus, and the pair don’t even get together until nearly the end.
Chase is a truly nice guy, who often goes on walking tours with his friend Billie, an avid knitter and fellow nature lover. This one is disrupted, however, by an obstreperous and loud family of Texans who continually fight with one another, threatening to hijack the trip, despite the tour leader vowing to throw them out without a refund if another punch is thrown.
But the roughhousing continues, and when there is eventually a murder, Chase’s puzzle instinct kicks in, and the police on the scene are happy to accept his offer of assistance. When Mike, finished with his own work, comes up to meet up with Chase, he’s pressed into service too, as a fill-in coroner. With the two men so invested, it’s inevitable that Chase solves the crime.
This is an intriguing mix of a professional and an amateur sleuth. As Chase is retired, he’s technically an amateur, but still retains his old skill set, and so far local police have gladly accepted his help. The tone is completely on the traditional side of things, with fair clues, a suspect circle, and a crucial scene where the entire cast is brought together by the detective for the big reveal.
The most striking feature in these books is the scenery, as George immerses his readers and characters in the ageless English countryside. Chase, while being a nice, decent guy, also remains an interesting enough person to hang a series on, and as a reader, you’re always glad when he turns up to settle things down. His nascent relationship with Mike seems sweet and might provide the kind of yin and yang demonstrated by such partners as Christie’s Tommy and Tuppence, Moyes’ Henry and Emmy or Maron’s Deborah and Dwight. All of these loving couples are the tentpoles of their series, adding heft and depth, and I’m guessing Chase and Mike may well do the same.
The mystery part was also quite clever and Chase’s wrap up was excellent. The book held my interest, threw in some surprises, laying out all its clever twists fairly for the reader. All in all George could not have produced a more pleasant reading experience. — Robin Agnew