Snapped In Cornwall could be mistaken for a cozy mystery. I admit it is, and no disrespect to those who like light mysteries with lots of wine, local scenery, and painting on the beach, but this is well written with characters that engage and I feel a step up from the usual cozy, where perhaps the cat solves the mystery.
I too thought this series would be a lightweight English seaside relaxation where perhaps someone dies, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Rose Trevelyan is a photographer and painter making a living in Cornwall. She sometimes feels she'll always be an outsider to her neighbours and friends simply by not growing up in the area, where everyone knows each other. Asked by new resident Gabrielle Milton to take some photos for Christmas cards, she finds she likes the woman and looks forward to becoming friends. Invited to the Milton's party, she brings the proofs along for them to see, and Rose meets the London-based husband, the greedy son and his fiancé, the husband's secret mistress, and various other locals, some who are working the event. The friendship is not to be when Rose discovers someone has pushed Gabrielle off a balcony onto her garden paving stones. Enter Detective Inspector Jack Pearce, tall with classic Cornish good looks, who interviews everyone present. Not only a slight outsider to the community, she's also outside the Milton family, which makes it easy for everyone to overly confide in Rose. Soon, she has figured out as much as Jack Pearce, who seems to find excuses to drop by her house for information and a coffee. Rose is a photographer and not a sleuth, more like an interested bystander who happens to reluctantly get caught up in the middle of it. During this she still finds time to fulfill her painting and photographic work, visit with her best friends Barry and Laura, and yes, have a little more wine. There are only a handful of suspects, mainly family, and the person you might think is the culprit - you're right.
There is something about this series beyond entertainment that intrigues. Janie Bolitho has a knack of capturing characters that are well drawn and I found it a pleasure to discover them - and at the end, cozy mystery or not, look forward to each of them returning again in the next book. Set in Cornwall, this is filled with local light and colour, a place where you'll understand the word chiaroscuro.
Bolitho was born in Cornwall and wrote seven of this series before she died in 2002.
1997 / Tradeback / 238 pages
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