Reviewed by Mystereity Reviews on
In The Bennett Case, elderly sisters Joan and Janet, recently the new proprietors of a B&B they've been working to open. Their first guest, an unexpected visitor, the charming 60-ish Edward Bennett, appears at their door. From the start, he appears to be hiding something, and the sisters, although charmed, are distrustful. Friendly Police Constable Robert Parsons shows up not long after to warn the sisters that a conman has escaped from prison. The conman is a master of disguise, so police do not have a good description of him, other than he's a man of about 60. Soon after, several neighbors suddenly have unexpected guests, all of about the same age as the escaped conman. But which of the visitors is the convict?
This was a good old-fashioned non-murder plot. I love how the author is able to move the story along with just enough detail to fill in the story without a lot of drama or fluff. The Markham sisters are just adorable, with Janet being just a bit Miss Marple-ish.
The only negative I can think of is that there's very little feeling of location. It's set in a small village in England, but as I'm not very familiar with the English countryside, I really can't place where it is. Still, it sounds like one of those quaint English villages you see on TV. But I'd like to see a little more of the countryside. The books in the series have so far just stayed at the B&B.
Overall, I love that these are such a delightful and sedate stories, and I really enjoy it.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 4 October, 2015: Finished reading
- 4 October, 2015: Reviewed