What starts as a metaphoric soothing tea served in exquisite porcelain ends with the kick of a brandy-laced double espresso ... a complex tapestry of suspense and intrigue ... Andrea Carter has constructed the Inishowen Mystery series on an equally sound substructure. Like her character’s namesake, Georgia O’Keeffe, Carter constructs an intense and complex painting of an Irish maritime village.
Sometimes you come across a crime mystery that is so good it reads like a regular novel, and Death at Whitewater Church is one of those ... Andrea Carter was a lawyer before she took to writing crime fiction, and the technical details are fascinating. The complications of the mystery, and its eventual disentangling are brought to a satisfying and unexpected conclusion.
I did enjoy this book, and I hope that the author is able to turn it into a series with Ben constantly sticking her nose in other people’s business. However, I found the plot explanation in the final showdown to be a little complicated ... The author did a great job of noting the way a small town works ... She also described Ireland beautifully ... Overall, an entertaining read that I hope leads into a profitable series for Ms. Carter.
Some readers will be happy to go with Carter’s languorous pace, relishing every particle of vividly described landscape. Others will wish the talented author had sharpened the scenes a bit, reduced the number of characters, sparked the dialogue, and decomplicated the plot ... Still, Carter’s world is a bit like that of Ann Cleeves, and this might well appeal to the latter’s fans
...[an] atmospheric first novel ... The complex, slow-moving plot can be challenging to follow at times, but readers will feel the effort is well worth it.
Writing with Agatha Christie in mind, Carter draws her heroine as curious, if bordering on interfering, and her debut’s pacing as she explores the story encourages readers to seek the same connections she does.
