BOOK 1: MURDER ON THE OXFORD CANAL DI Hillary Greene is a policewoman fighting to save her career. Not only has she lost her husband, but his actions have put her under investigation for corruption. Then a bashed and broken body is found floating in the Oxford Canal. It looks like the victim fell off a boat, but Hillary is not so sure. Her investigation exposes a dark background to the death. Can Hillary clear her name and get to the bottom of a fiendish conspiracy on the water?
BOOK 2: MURDER AT THE UNIVERSITY A pretty French student is found dead in her room at an exclusive Oxford college. Everyone thinks it is another tragic case of accidental drug overdose. But Detective Hillary Greene has a nose for the truth. She quickly discovers that the student was involved in some very unusual activities. With a shocking cause of death found, the case becomes a high-profile murder investigation.
BOOK 3: MURDER OF THE BRIDE DI Hillary Greene is called out to attend a suspicious death at Three Oaks Farm in the picturesque village of Steeple Barton. The large farmhouse is filled with music and revellers, but when she steps into the farm’s large cowshed, Hillary finds a dead bride. Dressed in a sumptuous white wedding gown, the young, beautiful redhead had clearly been strangled. But not everything is what it seems, and the victim turns out to be at the centre of a web of jealousy and intrigue in the close-knit village. Many of the villagers have a motive for murdering her but they’re not giving up their secrets easily.
Faith Martin is a pen name of English author Jacquie Walton, who is best known for her popular detective series, starring Detective Inspector Hillary Greene.
I'm SOOOO glad I stumbled onto this... Reading this was like being inside a TV serial. The answer to the murder mystery is not obvious. The red herrings are subtle and not annoyingly in-your-face (so that you know for sure it CAN'T be that one). The police work seems solid and the relationships come across as natural. At the same time, the murders themselves are not outlandish, or over the top. There are no outrageous serial killers. Overall, quite genuine and believable. Lovers of police procedurals will love this series.
Just finished Book 1 of the Detective Hillary Greene series and very much enjoyed it. The story was good but not great however it will not deter me from reading the 2nd book in this series. One thing in a first book of series is that you don't know the character and it takes awhile to see who and what she is. In the end you like here particularly where so many are doing what they can to undermine her.
Now if I compare this book to the Beatrice Stubbs series (jj marsh), I can say that I enjoy those books much more that Greene book (but then again I have only read one of Greene and four of the Stubbs series).
That being said if you've read or like the Stubbs series you will feel much the same with Hillary Greene.
One final difference and I think it's a big one, Beatrice Stubbs plots move around to different locations Europe while it seems that the Hillary Greene series stays in England. It might not sound like a big difference but it really is.