Murder Under the Sun – Book Review

Synopsis – Murder Under the Sun

Former Detective Hillary Greene and her cold case team are sweltering in their stuffy basement office on the hottest day of the year when they are handed an impossible case.

Fifteen years ago, Imelda Phelps was battered to death in the hallway of her home. The brutal crime shocked the residents of the pretty market town of Chipping Norton. The killer was never caught.

The motive for the murder remains a mystery. Could the happily married mother-of-two’s stunning good looks have played a part in her death?

Everyone will have to take a hard look in the mirror — and not everyone will like what they see. If Hillary is to crack the case, she must keep an open mind. But one thing is crystal-clear: this crime was personal. It’s up to Hillary and her team to work out which of Imelda’s family and friends is hiding a deadly secret.

A secret lover. A humiliated husband. A vengeful ex-business partner. A resentful daughter. The list of suspects grows . . .

Suddenly an unexpected lead throws the case wide open. And then a second body turns up.

This cold case is now red hot . . .

Author Bio

Faith Martin was born in Oxford, and has spent all her life within twenty miles of the university city, even working at Somerville College for six years before turning to writing full-time.

Faith has been writing for nearly 30 years under four different pen names and has had nearly 50 books published so far. She began writing romantic thrillers as Maxine Barry, which Joffe Books are in the process of re-releasing as brand new eBooks. Then she turned to crime, and as Joyce Cato wrote classic-style whodunits, since she’s always admired the golden-age crime novelists.  But it was when she created her fictional DI Hillary Greene, and began writing under the name of Faith Martin, that she finally began to become more widely known.  Her latest literary characters WPC Trudy Loveday, and city coroner, Dr Clement Ryder, take readers back to the 1960’s and the city of Oxford. Having lived within a few miles of the city of dreaming spires for all her life, both the city and the countryside/wildlife often feature in her novels. Although she has never lived on a narrow boat (unlike DI Hillary Greene!) the Oxford canal, the river Cherwell, and the flora and fauna of a farming landscape have always played a big part in her life – and often sneak their way onto the pages of her books.

Her hobbies include walking her now ageing dog, wildlife-watching, reading and (reluctantly) gardening.

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Faith’s Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FaithMartinAuthor/

Twitter: https://x.com/FaithMartin_Nov

My Review

Murder Under the Sun by Faith Martin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was my first time reading a book about Detective Green. Not having read other books in the series did not impact my enjoyment.

I don’t read many police procedural type novels anymore but I did enjoy this story. The former detective investigates cold cases to see if they can find resolution. The process seemed realistic and was very interesting.

My only concern was that I did think some of the themes were repetitive. I understand it was hot but the constant reference to the temperature was tiresome and was not really relevant to the story in the long run. Also, the mentions of the other team members lives seemed like an after thought. I do think some time could be spent making them richer characters.

Overall though the story is engaging and moves along at a pace that kept me reading. I definitely plan to read other books in this series.



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