MURDER ON THE OXFORD CANAL a gripping crime mystery full of twists

Problem is the woman is being invesyigated by i.a. regarding her late hsbands corrupt ways, of which she is suspected of kmowing about. Talk about benefit of doubt. Totally one sided but DIGreene turns the tables on i.a. oother half of story was ok

I found this book interesting but slightly disappoint8ng as far a murder stories go. Slightly predictable at times and I’m not sure I’ll bother with the rest of the series though I might try another one sometime.

Wait. What? Police detectives in England are awakened by early morning phone calls at 8:15AM? That's on page one so I immediately don't like the book. It must have been written by someone who's never worked at a real job.

The first ten pages are the random thoughts of one person and they all go to setting up the back stories of every character in the book. Its as if James Joyce wrote War and Peace but for office politics consisting of divorces, deaths, romances, etc. Too much inner dialog ricocheting around an empty head for me.

“Hillary learned about Gascoigne doing a runner from Tommy, who’d just come in for his shift, and had been gossiping with one of the PCs who’d pulled the now infamous night duty in question. Not surprisingly, he was feeling a little woebegone and hard-done-by, and Tommy Lynch, for all his size, was known to be a bit of a soft touch.”

I re-read the above paragraph three times before I could work out who did what. Unfortunately there are many such paragraphs in the book which slows down the reading and detracts from the story. Furthermore, the narrative jumps from one character to another and I frequently found myself scrolling back half a page or so in order to work who is the current character in the narrative.

It has an acceptable plot but the book concentrates on the police personnel and their interactions and there is very little about police procedures. It is a lightweight read and the characters are mostly forgettable.

Faith Martin sure knows how to write a thriller which keeps me madly swiping until I get to the end. ‘Murder on the Oxford Canal’ is set in the Thames Valley near Oxford, its main character is DI Hillary Greene. This is not a fast paced 'thriller' but it is intriguing and one of the most compelling books I have read.

The opening chapter makes us wonder what exactly is going on – we are not sure where Hillary is and why she is not very happy about it?
To say she is having a difficult time would be an understatement.... going through an acrimonious divorce... forced to live on a narrowboat and being investigated by the Discipline and Complaints Department as her ex-husband Ronnie (now deceased but also a police officer) was crooked... DI Hillary Greene is a very unlikely heroine that takes a while to empathize with but it’s entirely understandable.

This is a very intricate plot with many strands which makes for a very intriguing read. Hillary is dragged out of bed to investigate what is thought to be an accidental drowning. It was supposed to be an open and shut case to save the senior investigators getting out of bed. It turns out to be anything but and Hillary is fighting to keep hold of the case but having leads stolen at every turn.

When the murdered person has links to drug smuggling, Vice are called in and things take a turn for the worse- especially as internal investigations think that Hillary has stashed her dead ex’s haul of money somewhere safe for her own use. This is a riveting read with a good plot. I highly recommend it along with anything else Faith Martin writes as must reads if you love detective thrillers.
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Hillary lives on a boat. Her ex- husband is being investigated for illegal smuggling- despite being dead. When a body is discovered in a lock she is sent as the SIO. When the murdered person has links to drug smuggling , Vice are called in and things take a turn for the worse- especially as internal investigations think that Hillary has stashed her dead ex’s haul of money somewhere safe for her own use. This is an enjoyable read and Hillary is a likeable character. A good plot and sound characters make this an easy read where you don’t have to think too much, just enough to enjoy. A main character that adds a little background as have some others, giving a well rounded likeable read.
I voluntarily chose to read this ARC and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased

This series is worth getting into, as this initial novel is promising and the series continues to improve.

A couple of things grate throughout. First of all, until I researched this author, I actually thought it was a man writing a woman. The novel is mentions the protagonist's breasts -- their size, their arrangement in her shirts, their straining of her blouse -- so consistently that it's actually weird.

Second of all, every single person in this novel whines about how they've no money. Including DI Hillary Green. Who lives on her uncle's houseboat, pays no rent, pays no mortgage, has no children, and works so often she barely seems to have time to spend money. As a DI she'd be on about £45K in the era this was written, so someone please explain to me why she can't afford the payments on a new car?

Murder on the Oxford Canal
Faith Martin

I read the last Hillary Green Murder never retires for Netgalley.

I liked so much I went to my Kindle Unlimited and got the series in order.

Now I am reading Murder on the Oxford canal. But I did sneak in Murder of the Bride. I have to wait until that #3 book is up in order to review it

Hillary Green is the star of this series.
Ronnie Green her cheating, criminal, cop, dead ex husband is the bloke that tried to ruin her life.

She is as good a cop as he was a good as a cheep. He hid his crimes and the money he made from her and his ex partner Frank Ross. The story starts off with a body found a few miles up from her Narrow Boat home, she lives in on the Oxford Canal.

Her team captain, Superintendent Marcus Donleavy puts her back on doing actual police work after she has been cleared of any changes in Ronnie's life of crime. Philip "Mel" Mallow is her direct officer above her. His nick name in Mellow because of his outlook on working.

‘David Pitman is ID'ed as the body in the canal. He worked for Luke Fletcher a local all around bad guy.

She managed to out think her bosses, and do things her own way, and prove them wrong.The ending was a surprise and worth the wait.

MURDER ON THE OXFORD CANAL by Faith Martin. Published by Joffe publishers. Hillary had been desk bound since husband's death, and then with hints of his allegations. She has a new case a body in the lock. Hoping it lasted long enough, for them to stop looking at what her ex had been doing. Wanting something to read she picks up her ex husband book by Dick Francis. Wonders of wonders, what was she looking at. She had vacation time, time off the boat, sun shine and beaches, sounded good. An interesting plot with twists to it. Wasn't all job related, when they were investigating her husband. Good plot and reading, readers will enjoy. Given ARC. for my voluntary review and my honest opinion.

This was a nice short British police procedural. I thought all the characters were well described, and they did represent what I would envision as a "standard" station team. The lead was developed a bit more than the others, but each had an interesting twist to their make-up. The team interactions were well done and added some humor in spots. Some of the language might be a bit challenging to US readers, but if you are a reader of this genre, you should be OK. The glossary at the end of the book was a nice addition if you need help.
The plot was mostly singular, though there was a small sub-plot involving the lead character . The pacing was good with very few dead spots . With the small cast of characters, it was not very hard to identify the culprit, but that did not take away from my interest in getting to the end of the story.
I enjoyed it enough to move on to the next in the series, and intend on reading them all.

DI Hillary Greene due to the illegal activities of her dead police officer husband Ronnie, is under investigation to determine if she had any involvement in his activities.
But when a suspicious death is reported - a body in the local canal - she is assigned this low key case. But what does it lead to.
Previously published as A Narrow Escape this is a good start for this well-written series, with its various characters. It will interesting to see how they develop over the series.
Received an Advanced Reader Copy

Faith Martin writes with clarity and common sense. Her characters are so real they could be family, friends, neighbors or the jerk living in the apartment above you. Settings are distinctive and visible in your mind's eye as your read. While real life emotions are made extremely evident, she doesn't use blatant graphic or shock factor to get across her point. There is a dry humor throughout her writing making me smile frequently. I want to tell her characters "You go girl!!!" on more than one occasion. To date I have read eleven of her series and fully intend to read everything she has written.

Solid police work and a meticulous eye for detail lead DI Hillary Greene from investigating a suspicious death to solving a murder with a side trip into a crime lord's drug business, all while being investigated for collusion with her ex-husband's police corruption. Greene and her various coworkers are well-fleshed characters---some likable and some not so much--involved in subplots that are sure to evolve further in future books. A very enjoyable read: well-written and nicely crafted. Highly recommended.
Note: I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review, and I honestly enjoyed this book and look forward to future offerings.

I love murder mysteries, especially those set in England. The slight differences in our languages and knowing cops everywhere have much the same attitudes makes this series a fun read. One suggestion to the author would be to sequentially number the books. The first one I read was the last one published. This one (Oxford) is supposed to be the first, followed by University, Bride, Village, Family, Home, Meadow, Mansion and Garden. Now it is time to begin Murder at the University.

There's just something about them, makes for enjoyable reading. 'Martin, or Ellis, are two of my favorites, among others..
Off to read Book two in Faith Martin's mystery series!
I like American mysteries as well, but too many seem to dwell more on the drawn out (be it the detectives or killers) overly explicit / graphic sex scenes, then on any of the actual detection, or police procedures.
I'm not against love/sex, there are other types of stories by excellent author's for love , romance, erotica and on into the down and dirty porn!

I have loved this series and this author. I actually have read the books out of order, accidentally. I'm glad I did. This is the first and not nearly as enjoyable as the others. I must say, if this is your intro you may not want to read on. DI Hillary Greene seems a little edgy, and spiteful. Not so later on. She developed into an intriguing character. Persevere.

The murder mystery stuff was decent enough that I'm going to try another one by this author. Hopefully the office interactions are going to progress beyond a high school "ooh, Johnny's got a crush on Mary", "Timmy's staring at Barb's boobs", "He's so hot". Really, really tiring. Some is understandable, but this is way too much. Grow up.

Not the best British police procedural I’ve read but it did get better as it went along. Hillary Greene is a poor copy of the archetypal female British cop, e.g. Jane Tennison, Anna Travers, Erika Foster. She doesn’t seem as self-destructive as the others have been, so maybe she will have a happier personal life than any of the others do.

This book is a reasonable start to a detective series. This was the second book I read in this series -- I started with MURDER IN THE MEADOW a gripping crime mystery full of twists. This may have lessen my enjoyment of the first book in the series.

In this book, one is very unlikely to out-think DI Greene as the clues are given out very slowly. Although when the murderer is revealed, one can see how all the clues fit together.

4 stars

DI Hillary Greene and DS Janine Tyler respond to a body in the water at a canal. Janine has a chip on her shoulder and while she likes Hillary okay, she doesn’t like working for a woman. (She’s a “man’s” woman you might say.)

DI Greene is under review for the misbehavior of her now-deceased husband who was also a police officer. She only has the case a little while before it is taken away from her and given to DCI Phillip “Mel” Mallow. DCI Mel is determined to keep Hillary in the case. He appreciates her mind and her support.

After they learn the name of the dead man David “The Pits” Pitman, they find that he is part of a large drugs smuggling criminal network. Two officers from vice are called in to assist.

After DI Hillary gets an inspiring idea about the narrowboats, the police are able to identify some boats owned by the leader of the criminal gang and they plan to raid one of the boats. What follows is an exciting raid. Things don’t go to plan, but DI Hillary saves the day. Hillary then decides against all common sense to go to speak with one of the major bad guys without telling DCI Mel. When that doesn’t go well, Hillary decides to speak to The Pits’ mother again. This gives her another idea.

The name of the murderer comes as no surprise, the delight was in getting there.

This book is well written and plotted. It started out a little slow, but the pace picked up quickly. DS Janine chasing after DCI Mel was off-putting, but at least it didn’t take up too much of the novel. The officers worked fairly well together, except for one DS Frank Ross, but again, he didn’t detract from the story. In fact, DS Ross added a little color. Sufficient background was given on the major characters, but not so much that it intruded in the story line.

I want to thank NetGalley and Joffe Books for forwarding to me a copy of this good book to read and enjoy.

Good story about an undetermined death in a canal lock that turns out to be murder. The protagonist, Hillary, is a bulldog who will not let go when she has her teeth in a case. Overcoming adversity, suspicions of collusion with her recently deceased husband who was a dirty cop, and ambitious superior officers who kept giving her the shaft, she not only manages to solve the murder but also uncovers a major drug smuggling ring. This book will keep you guessing until the end.

I really like DCI Hillary Green and her team. This is a new author and series for me. So far so good. I look forward to seeing where the cliff-hanger ending leads us. I am also very curious about the direction Ronnie and the Yorkie Bars will take.

I gave it 4 Stars, but not because I didn't like it. I wanted a little more on the mystery end. I really look forward to the second installment.

I have just discovered and fell instantly in love with Faith Martin's novels. The plots are so twisted that you cannot guess who the culprit is. Besides, it's also the life of each of the characters of the Big House and that adds something to the novel.
I'm trying not to read them one after the other because I'm sure I read faster than she writes!!!!

I can see this series on Masterpiece Mystery. If you enjoy Prime Suspect, The Commander, or any strong profiles women inspector stories then you will love this book. It has it all, mysterious characters, characters who want to see this woman go down, and a strong ending. Well written, thought out, fast paced, and would give Colin Dexter his best competitor.

So Hillary is really the best detective and she is good with her colleagues, so why are the dim men running the show and not keeping their pants on? Mixed loyalties do not an effective work group make.

A good police procedural with an interesting cast of characters. I love the Oxford setting and like the policewoman, Hillary Greene, and am quite looking forward to the 2nd in this series, which I'm reading next. Looks like a promising series!

Loved reading this book It kept my attention from the first chapter to the last paragraph Such a thrilling story to read Loved the different fronts of action taking place & especially the twist of who the killer was

Easy to read. The smallest of details are picked up by Greene and her colleagues, giving some real depth to the storytelling. Interesting enough bunch of characters to read another book in the series.

Pulled me in quickly. Most of the characters were three-dimensional and well-drawn. Hillary Greene is an interesting protagonist. The twist near the end surprised me. A good page-turning police procedural mystery. Quite a few word choices that are chiefly British, but the glossary will assist those unfamiliar.

Good plot but writing ranges from excellent to rough. Story doesn't always flow and I spent too much time back tracking to pick up the thread. I think Martin has the makings of a good writer. I'll try her again.

I always enjoy a good detective novel with lots of twists and turns. I also like smart women police officers, plus the location which adds a depth to the story. All of these elements make for a very entertaining and exciting plot. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

The story wasn't gripping but had interesting twists and sidebars. Did not like the amount of colloquial terms used as it made significance of events unclear. Enjoyed the story as told from a be knighted female policewoman's view.