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Dorothy Martin #9
Winter of Discontent
Dorothy Martin's neighbor and closest friend, Jane Langland, has been having a fling with Bill Fanshawe--or, as much of a fling as two 80-year olds in a small town are allowed. Now there are rumors that Jane and Bill may move in together, and Dorothy needs to know exactly what's happening. What neither woman expects is that Bill is missing, and that within a day his body is going to be discovered in the tunnel under the Sherebury town museum.
Why would anyone want to harm a harmless old man, a historian who loves the town and the people who live there? Given his age, and the strange letter found in his hand, Dorothy thinks that whatever happened has its roots in WWII. Everyone, including her husband, retired police office Alan, looks askance, but when another old man is murdered--a man who served at the same RAF base as Bill--no one denies Dorothy's suspicions may be right.
Dorothy investigates, knowing that the best Christmas gift she can give her friend Jane is the truth about what happened to Bill. And Jane has a surprise of her own for Dorothy...
Why would anyone want to harm a harmless old man, a historian who loves the town and the people who live there? Given his age, and the strange letter found in his hand, Dorothy thinks that whatever happened has its roots in WWII. Everyone, including her husband, retired police office Alan, looks askance, but when another old man is murdered--a man who served at the same RAF base as Bill--no one denies Dorothy's suspicions may be right.
Dorothy investigates, knowing that the best Christmas gift she can give her friend Jane is the truth about what happened to Bill. And Jane has a surprise of her own for Dorothy...
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
59 people are currently reading
332 people want to read
About the author
Jeanne M. Dams
46 books217 followersJeanne M. Dams lives in South Bend, Indiana. The Body in the Transept, which introduced Dorothy Martin, won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. Dams is also the author of Green Grow the Victims and other Hilda Johansson mysteries published by Walker & Company.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
June 5, 2016
I read Sins Out Of School, the eighth book in the series featuring Dorothy Martin, an American retired to the Cathedral town of Sherebury in southeastern England, years ago — maybe a decade. I had been reading them as audiobooks, and I was waiting for the ninth volume, Winter of Discontent, to come out in audio. Which it never did.
When I stumbled onto the ebook edition at my library, I wholeheartedly jumped right in. And it was as if Dorothy; her husband, retired policeman Alan Nesbit, and Dorothy’s reserved, bullying, but kind-hearted neighbor, Jane Langland, had hardly been apart!
In Winter of Discontent, Jane’s old flame, museum curator Bill Fanshawe, goes missing. At 80, police at first blame his age, but Dorothy and Jane both know that something has gone terrible amiss. The women realize that something in Bill’s Royal Air Force past has come back to haunt Bill, and the two them are determined to find out what.
Author Jeanne M. Dams renders some of the secondary characters — Jane Langland and her stiff upper lip, the naïve college boy Walter Tubbs, the snobby RAF Commodore John Merrifield — a bit too stereotypical. But vivacious, tenacious Dorothy makes up for it, and Dams also creates other characters — the patient Alan, the widowed Leigh Burton, and the loquacious, lonely Stanley Rutherford — that ring true to life. Best of all, Dams plays fair with the mystery, which is cleverly plotted. All in all, I’m glad Dorothy and I got reacquainted. I promise not to be such a stranger.
When I stumbled onto the ebook edition at my library, I wholeheartedly jumped right in. And it was as if Dorothy; her husband, retired policeman Alan Nesbit, and Dorothy’s reserved, bullying, but kind-hearted neighbor, Jane Langland, had hardly been apart!
In Winter of Discontent, Jane’s old flame, museum curator Bill Fanshawe, goes missing. At 80, police at first blame his age, but Dorothy and Jane both know that something has gone terrible amiss. The women realize that something in Bill’s Royal Air Force past has come back to haunt Bill, and the two them are determined to find out what.
Author Jeanne M. Dams renders some of the secondary characters — Jane Langland and her stiff upper lip, the naïve college boy Walter Tubbs, the snobby RAF Commodore John Merrifield — a bit too stereotypical. But vivacious, tenacious Dorothy makes up for it, and Dams also creates other characters — the patient Alan, the widowed Leigh Burton, and the loquacious, lonely Stanley Rutherford — that ring true to life. Best of all, Dams plays fair with the mystery, which is cleverly plotted. All in all, I’m glad Dorothy and I got reacquainted. I promise not to be such a stranger.
November 24, 2013
Dorothy Martin, a retired school teacher from Indiana, married Alan, a retired Scotland Yard detective. When their elderly neighbor Jane admits that she and her war time sweetheart Bill have reconnected after years, Dorothy is delighted. But Bill goes missing and Dorothy, who has a habit of becoming involved in local mysteries, investigates.
It's always a joy to find a new cozy series, and this one hits the mark. I have to go back and read all the others--looking forward to it. Fans of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and Donald Bain's Jessica Fletcher should try this.
It's always a joy to find a new cozy series, and this one hits the mark. I have to go back and read all the others--looking forward to it. Fans of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and Donald Bain's Jessica Fletcher should try this.
November 22, 2014
Winter of Discontent by Jeanne M. Dams.
Its winter in England and Christmas is approaching. Dorothy feels Christmas shopping is at hand and calls on Jane, her neighbor and close friend, to join her. Together they do some of the needed shopping for Christmas presents and decided to stop off at the Museum for a visit with Bill. Bill Fanshawe is the curator at the museum and long time friend and beau of Jane's. They enter the Museum and search high and low for bill but he's nowhere to be found.
This fantastic mystery brings Dorothy, Jane and Alan (Dorothy's husband and ret. police Chief)back into London during WWII. A mystery that delves deep into the heart and soul of those involved in a past long believed to be kept secret.
The last several chapters of this book kept me so involved I could not stop reading as Dorothy investigated each and every character.
The story ends with as Christmas miracle that made this book all that more endearing.
Its winter in England and Christmas is approaching. Dorothy feels Christmas shopping is at hand and calls on Jane, her neighbor and close friend, to join her. Together they do some of the needed shopping for Christmas presents and decided to stop off at the Museum for a visit with Bill. Bill Fanshawe is the curator at the museum and long time friend and beau of Jane's. They enter the Museum and search high and low for bill but he's nowhere to be found.
This fantastic mystery brings Dorothy, Jane and Alan (Dorothy's husband and ret. police Chief)back into London during WWII. A mystery that delves deep into the heart and soul of those involved in a past long believed to be kept secret.
The last several chapters of this book kept me so involved I could not stop reading as Dorothy investigated each and every character.
The story ends with as Christmas miracle that made this book all that more endearing.
February 13, 2012
Love Dorothy Martin the American in a English village solving crime! A gentle or cozy mystery with a whiff of Miss Marple (An other great British mystery characters!). The whole series is great!!
September 26, 2021
This book isn't worth the price.
This book could have great but the author was lazy.
Most Americans are much more technologically savvy and would have used the Internet to check that the Typhoon was a single seat fighter aircraft to improve upon the Spitfire. So the American sleuth would have called out Stanley's war stories of being a tail gunner in Typhoon aircraft. The author should have had used the Handley Page HP-52 Hampden four crew member bomber that fly pamphlet, mine laying and bombing runs until 1942 out of RAF Scampton, near Great Yarmouth on the east UK coast. The four crew members were pilot, second pilot, observer-navigator-bomb aimed, and wireless operated-air gunner. This aircraft and the 49 and 83 Squadrons would have made lies more believable. I know authors typically create fictitious locations for critical parts of their narrative, but there is still a Luftwich, but on the west coast of UK. It is located halfway between and a little south of Liverpool and Manchester. The "coded letter" as a centerpiece of this mystery leaves much to be desired. Even though I could match little known Indiana small towns to nearby European or North Africa cities there are no dates and times to give accurate intelligence. I feel cheated to have paid three to four times as much money for such a lazy effort to include history and try to deliver a spy thriller.
This book could have great but the author was lazy.
Most Americans are much more technologically savvy and would have used the Internet to check that the Typhoon was a single seat fighter aircraft to improve upon the Spitfire. So the American sleuth would have called out Stanley's war stories of being a tail gunner in Typhoon aircraft. The author should have had used the Handley Page HP-52 Hampden four crew member bomber that fly pamphlet, mine laying and bombing runs until 1942 out of RAF Scampton, near Great Yarmouth on the east UK coast. The four crew members were pilot, second pilot, observer-navigator-bomb aimed, and wireless operated-air gunner. This aircraft and the 49 and 83 Squadrons would have made lies more believable. I know authors typically create fictitious locations for critical parts of their narrative, but there is still a Luftwich, but on the west coast of UK. It is located halfway between and a little south of Liverpool and Manchester. The "coded letter" as a centerpiece of this mystery leaves much to be desired. Even though I could match little known Indiana small towns to nearby European or North Africa cities there are no dates and times to give accurate intelligence. I feel cheated to have paid three to four times as much money for such a lazy effort to include history and try to deliver a spy thriller.
June 24, 2023
Dorothy Martin’s neighbour and best friend, Jane Langland, is upset when Bill, an old friend of hers, goes missing; not only is he not the type to disappear suddenly, but the two of them were old lovers, reunited after a lifetime away and planning to marry. Jane is not a demonstrative woman, so Dorothy knows that her friend is very worried indeed; when Bill is found dead in a tunnel below the local museum where he worked, Dorothy is loathe to believe it was due to natural causes, and when Bill’s assistant is assaulted in the same museum, she knows that it was not…. I’ve been reading the Dorothy Martin series for some time now, but it is only with this entry, the ninth in the series, that I finally started seeing Dorothy as a whole person rather than a collection of attributes and eccentricities. The writing is crisper in this book than previously, and the author has finally stopped (more or less) mentioning how Dorothy is an ex-pat American trying to get used to the strange language and habits of the English. The final reveal at the very end of the book was perhaps a coincidence too far, but it had no bearing on the main mystery and so can be forgiven. I think one might do best to start with this book and then work backwards (if the reader wishes) to the earlier, less believable novels in the series; recommended.
January 28, 2024
"SPOILS OF WAR
"When the body of Bill Fanshawe, curator of the museum in the quaint English town of Shrerebuty, is found dead in the Roman tunnels beneath the museum, Dorothy Martin's heart goes out to the octogenarian's close friend Jane Langland. But what at first looks like a death of natural causes becomes suspicious when Bill's assistant is found bludgeoned in his office, barely alive.
"The case seems to revolve around a new exhibit that Alan, Dorothy's husband, was creating on Sherebury's role in World War II. Dorothy, a retired American schoolteacher with her own perspective on the war, discovers several secrets among the aging and eccentric RAF characters. A saga of treachery, heartbreak, and decades of deceit soon shockingly unfolds. And while few can still remember the war personally, there's a killer who refuses to forget ... with a vengeance."
~~back flap
No no no! Alan wasn't creating the exhibit -- Bill was. Geesh! Don't these reviews get fact checked?
Once again, at the end if a convoluted hunt for clues, (almost) the least likely candidate proves to be the murderer. But it's a lovely jaunt among English eccentrics, and the reader will enjoy the trip.
"When the body of Bill Fanshawe, curator of the museum in the quaint English town of Shrerebuty, is found dead in the Roman tunnels beneath the museum, Dorothy Martin's heart goes out to the octogenarian's close friend Jane Langland. But what at first looks like a death of natural causes becomes suspicious when Bill's assistant is found bludgeoned in his office, barely alive.
"The case seems to revolve around a new exhibit that Alan, Dorothy's husband, was creating on Sherebury's role in World War II. Dorothy, a retired American schoolteacher with her own perspective on the war, discovers several secrets among the aging and eccentric RAF characters. A saga of treachery, heartbreak, and decades of deceit soon shockingly unfolds. And while few can still remember the war personally, there's a killer who refuses to forget ... with a vengeance."
~~back flap
No no no! Alan wasn't creating the exhibit -- Bill was. Geesh! Don't these reviews get fact checked?
Once again, at the end if a convoluted hunt for clues, (almost) the least likely candidate proves to be the murderer. But it's a lovely jaunt among English eccentrics, and the reader will enjoy the trip.
January 28, 2018
Torn on this mystery. Once again it is a selection of a mystery book club and it is the first book I have read by the author and we jump in on Book 5, of about 15 she has written. Ploddingly interesting. Things are happening in Sherebury, England. A friends companion has died, another person has been assaulted and it all appears to tie into some sort of WW2 situation. Interesting use of WW2 in the plot as it had to do with an airfield near this town and some secrets that may have been buried for over 60 years. Lots of possible criminals, all of whom had stories to tell about the airfield and WW2.
What did I not like: Dorothy Martin's neighbor and friend is a surly sort of person who speaks either in monosyllabic words or sentence fragments. Dorothy is also embarrassing for how little she know about WW2 as well as having moved to England and married and Englishman and still being clueless about the war. Also she is not an endearing character in my opinion. But the book is not bad and I give it a legit 3*** but will not read any others in this series.
What did I not like: Dorothy Martin's neighbor and friend is a surly sort of person who speaks either in monosyllabic words or sentence fragments. Dorothy is also embarrassing for how little she know about WW2 as well as having moved to England and married and Englishman and still being clueless about the war. Also she is not an endearing character in my opinion. But the book is not bad and I give it a legit 3*** but will not read any others in this series.
August 17, 2019
An intriguing mystery in a small English cathedral town. Dorothy Marlin, a woman in her sixties from the United States, has married a retired police detective and moved to England. She has learned to fit in to small-town British life and become close friends with her next door neighbor Jane Langland, about ten years older. Jane’s friendship with Bill Fanshawe is a companionable one and looks likely to lead to marriage—until he disappears. His disappearance and several subsequent deaths are connected to what went on at a nearby air field during WWII. We’re the fliers there less effective than elsewhere? Was the small town less bombed than other places near the coast? Dorothy and Jane interview some survivors of that time—not all of whom live to the end of the book.
April 16, 2023
3/5 ⭐️ I didn’t realize that this was a ninth installment in a series of cozy mystery standalones until after I had started it but I really didn’t mind it, and if anything, it spurred me to want to start this series. The mystery in this was very focused on world war 2 and sorting out the past by interviewing different people. It could be a bit dense or boring at times, and nothing had me on the edge of my seat, but it kept me intrigued throughout. It was such a short, relaxing (despite the murder) read that I did really enjoy! I liked the dynamic between the lead and her husband. The story wasn’t particularly realistic or with any real stakes but I didn’t mind because I liked the vibes and it kept me guessing in little ways. 🗣👤🫅🏼☀️
December 26, 2018
When an elderly museum curator disappears, the person most upset is Dorothy Martin's best friend and neighbor Jane, a woman noted for her calm demeanor. But she and Bill were long-time friends and planned to be married. Dorothy is sure that the disappearance has something to do with a World War II exhibit that Bill was planning, since he had traumatic war experiences of his own to contend with. There's sadly no happy ending for Jane and Bill, but Dorothy finds reason to suspect some of Bill's old friends from having questionable contacts during the war. An undeniable murder sends the police off in another direction, but can't get Dorothy off the trail.
December 31, 2018
Bill Fanshawe, a WWII veteran and small-town museum worker and historian, has gone missing and Dorothy Martin is particularly concerned because Bill is the partner of her best friend and next-door neighbour, Jane Langland. When Bill's body is found in a tunnel underneath the old town museum, Dorothy's mystery-solving radar is set off, and she starts exploring the man's past and the secrets he had.
This is not the book for an impatient reader---the story trots along at a sedate pace, with plenty of stops for tea and dinner. I found it interesting, though, and will read the next in the series.
This is not the book for an impatient reader---the story trots along at a sedate pace, with plenty of stops for tea and dinner. I found it interesting, though, and will read the next in the series.
January 17, 2025
I read the Worldwide Mystery edition with the green cover; the back cover blurb gave away the entire plot line!!! For example it says that Bill was found dead, but in the book he was just reported missing and there was a long search for him until they found his body on page 63, so the reader had to read 62 pages of buildup already knowing the result. Then through the rest of the book Dorothy investigates and tells us that she is unsure of motives, the meanings of certain clues, and whether events in WW II had any bearing. But the back cover blurb reveals everything!! It would have been a better reading experience without knowing the whole storyline beforehand.
May 10, 2023
When Bill is found dead in the tunnels under the museum, Dorothy worries about her friend Jane, who was very close to Bill. In addition, Bill's young assistant is attacked and badly injured. Dorothy is convinced that the clues lie somewhere in Bill's RAF service in the past war, and she and Jane talk to several people who knew him then, and discover deceit and treachery. Another interesting read, but fairly easy to put down occasionally. Dorothy Martin is an engaging sleuth (she calls it "snoop") and being married to a high-ranking policeman doesn't hurt her investigation, either.
April 30, 2024
This is the 9th book in the Dorothy Martin series. Dorothy’s neighbor and close friend, Jane Langland has reconnected with an old flame Bill Fanshawe who works at the Sherebury Town Museum.
Dorothy is eager to find out about Jane’s rumored romance. But Bill has disappeared and Dorothy finds his body in a tunnel under the museum. Who would want to harm the 80 year old historian?
Bill was discovered with a strange letter in his hand. Dorothy discovers the roots of this murder and further murders is connected to WW2. A good mystery with a surprise ending.
Dorothy is eager to find out about Jane’s rumored romance. But Bill has disappeared and Dorothy finds his body in a tunnel under the museum. Who would want to harm the 80 year old historian?
Bill was discovered with a strange letter in his hand. Dorothy discovers the roots of this murder and further murders is connected to WW2. A good mystery with a surprise ending.
March 12, 2022
Man, I have been in a reading slump lately. March is the month when I always struggle more emotionally too (thanks PTSD) so my concentration has been shot. But this was a fun little book in a series that I’d never heard of and it helped me get out of the slump just a little bit. I’m definitely going to look for more books by Jeanne Dams because I loved Dorothy as a protagonist!! Elderly sleuths are my jam. 💜
July 28, 2022
Well, this one explained an issue for me
I thought I had read the books in chronological order but I had no Idea how a grandson had turned up...now you have to read it! The mystery to be solved was as convoluted as any Dorothy has managed to untangle. Now I have to check what else I might have missed!
I thought I had read the books in chronological order but I had no Idea how a grandson had turned up...now you have to read it! The mystery to be solved was as convoluted as any Dorothy has managed to untangle. Now I have to check what else I might have missed!
February 22, 2018
There was nothing really wrong with this book, I just couldn't get into it. I couldn't relate to the elderly protagonist, which isn't always a deal killer, but it was too slow moving for my tastes as well.
August 26, 2018
There is a lot of interesting history of wartime England in this story. I did think the author dwelt a little too much on the problems of growing older, although it was a major theme of the mystery, she could have accomplished it without so much repetition.
March 29, 2021
Secrets, some terrible, one amazing
WWII provides the background for another tangled mystery Dorothy and Alan feel compelled to solve, exposing old lies and bitterness along the way to an unexpected but sweet ending. Merry Christmas.
WWII provides the background for another tangled mystery Dorothy and Alan feel compelled to solve, exposing old lies and bitterness along the way to an unexpected but sweet ending. Merry Christmas.
May 9, 2021
Marvelous
Oh, I still get rankled at some of the thought patterns and actions of Dorothy, but I put that consternation aside for this book. It was a superb, heartfelt story, well told.
Oh, I still get rankled at some of the thought patterns and actions of Dorothy, but I put that consternation aside for this book. It was a superb, heartfelt story, well told.
March 19, 2023
Great Heanne Dams Mystery
I found this mystery to be very enthralling with plenty of World War II intrigue. I did not figure out all the guilty parties, so I was surprised at its ending.
I found this mystery to be very enthralling with plenty of World War II intrigue. I did not figure out all the guilty parties, so I was surprised at its ending.
April 6, 2018
Great book that doesn't disappoint. This goes back in history to WW2 to see may have killed Bill. Nice ending.
December 30, 2019
This book reminded me a Agatha Christie's Miss Marple----very similar plot line with an older woman who lives in the village solving the mystery.
January 28, 2020
This one wasn’t as enjoyable, being about the Great War. I’m a pacifist.
May 1, 2020
Very good novel about life in England during WWII. I enjoyed all of the characters that Jeanne Dams created!
August 29, 2020
The story goes back to WWII and weaves it's way to the present day, with intrique, betrayal and happy surprises.
February 27, 2021
True to her characters and vivid
Once again I love the fact that her characters are so true and vivid as they progress. Real life jumps from the pages as I cry with Dorothy
Once again I love the fact that her characters are so true and vivid as they progress. Real life jumps from the pages as I cry with Dorothy
June 4, 2021
Loved it!
Love all of Dorothy Martin mysteries! Better than the last one. Enjoyed the history of England during the last War. Interesting motivate for the murder,
Love all of Dorothy Martin mysteries! Better than the last one. Enjoyed the history of England during the last War. Interesting motivate for the murder,
December 17, 2021
Not one of my favorites
I had a difficult crime reading this book. The subject matter was not of interest to me. Took a whole to finish. It ended nicely.
I had a difficult crime reading this book. The subject matter was not of interest to me. Took a whole to finish. It ended nicely.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews