Review: OLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE, Margaret Mayhew

• 
  This edition the first of 4 e-books that came on Kindle (Amazon) as a set
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09YDK88MJ
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Joffe Books crime thrillers and cosy mystery (April 19, 2022)
• Book 1: OLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE, THE VILLAGE MYSTERIES 
  

Synopsis (Amazon)

If you enjoy Stella Cameron, Faith Martin, Agatha Christie, Simon Brett, Frances Evesham, Jeanne M. Dams, Betty Rowlands or M.C. Beaton, then prepare to be hooked from the first page of this bestselling series.

WELCOME TO FROG END, A BEAUTIFUL ENGLISH VILLAGE WITH SOME DARK SECRETS . . .

BOOK 1: OLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE, first published 1999

Meet the Colonel. He moves to a quiet country cottage in Dorset, which he visited with his late wife. He decides that the upcoming fete will be the start of his mission to fit into village life. But when Lady Swynford is found dead, it becomes clear that Frog End has a darker side. And as Inspector Squibb investigates the case, the Colonel finds himself more involved than he could possibly have imagined.

MEET YOUR NEW FAVOURITE AMATEUR SLEUTH.
At the grand old age of 55, the Colonel was put out to grass by the British Army. In the same year, his beloved wife, Laura, died. He found himself facing a bleak and lonely future. One summer, years before, he and Laura visited a village in Dorset called Frog End, which had a spit-and-sawdust pub called the Dog and Duck. Laura had fallen in love with a stone cottage across the village green. Years later, after her death, the Colonel had revisited the same village alone and seen Laura’s dream cottage. Against his better judgement, he bought it.

THE SETTING
The cottage was called Pond Cottage and the Colonel soon discovered that he had made a big mistake. The two-hundred-year-old building had deathwatch beetle, rising damp, a falling roof, rot and decay throughout. There was no heating and the wiring was a dangerous disgrace. There was no sign of any pond. But there were compensations: a view over the beautiful village green, clusters of other stone cottages, a Norman church built on Saxon foundations, a graveyard of ancient tombs leaning at perilous angles. And, of course, the Dog and Duck.

My Take

While there was a murder in this first novel, with an unlikely murderer, much space was given over to establishing the nature of the village, and setting up the central character, and his neighbours in the village. There are quite a few human interest strands and it really was a quick read.

My rating: 4.4

About the author
Margaret Mayhew was born in London and her earliest childhood memories were of the London Blitz. She began writing in her mid-thirties and had her first novel published in 1976. She is married to American aviation author, Philip Kaplan, and lives in Gloucestershire. 

I can see that she is quite a prolific author. There are 6 titles in the Village Mystery series and then a number of stand-alones, many of which are set in World War II