She's stuck in the past, the killer wants to immortalise his future. When a local farmer announces on social media that he has discovered a bog body in Ardee, the world’s historians are keen to explore the secrets of the life and grisly death of the victim. Antique journalist January Quail is fighting to keep her newspaper job and uncovers far more than she bargained for.
The victim is actually a recent murder, and January uses her nose for the truth to investigate the County Louth town. From shopkeeper to the publican, everyone is a suspect, but when the Gardai can’t find the killer, can January?
Once she sets down the liqueur glass, January gains the confidence of the lead garda investigator. Within days, the case unravels into a much more dangerous situation with a killer on the loose.
Despite the risk, January is electrified that this newest discovery has come at the perfect time to inject some colour into her flailing career. January relinquishes her old ways to fight for survival, abandoning her antiques column and vintage corsets to solve a cryptic crime that has the experts puzzled. This woman who longs to lives in the past must now fight for her life in the present.
Title: Preserved
Author: Fiona Sherlock
Publisher: Poolbeg Press
Publication date: February 10, 2021
Purchase Links
UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Preserved-Fiona-Sherlock-ebook/dp/B08R7QNCSN/
US - https://www.amazon.com/Preserved-Fiona-Sherlock-ebook/dp/B08R7QNCSN/
Fiona Sherlock is a crime writer from Bective, in Ireland. Her murder mystery games are played across the world. She also writes poetry and prose but cannot stay away from a good murder. After spending a decade in Dublin working in public relations and journalism, she moved to the country for mid-day fires and elderflower champagne.
Social Media Links –
http://instagram.com/fionasherlock
https://twitter.com/fionasherlock
https://www.facebook.com/DionysisDiary/
REVIEW
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐💫
Preserved is the first installment in a new crime series by author Fiona Sherlock, starring January Quail, an antiques journalist turned amateur sleuth when her job in the paper is on the tightrope.
She's a pretty charming character. She's very old fashioned. She wears corsets, she prefers rotary dial phones to cells (her boss can attest to that) and her beverage of choice is crème de menthe (do I detect an homage to Hercule Poirot and his little grey cells?). She'd be more comfortable in the past than in the 21st century, so the contrast between she and her quirkiness and everyone around her made for some funny moments. I loved that she was quite a free spirit not accepting that anyone told her what to do.
The murder mystery leans heavily in Irish myths and history, involving bog bodies (which I didn't know much about). The killing method and everything it entailed was pretty gruesome, and just thinking about it gives me goosebumps.
The language was a bit wordy at times and that, along some Irish history references and the way some characters expressed themselves, got me lost sometimes (that might be just a personal issue as a non-english speaker).
The pace was a bit uneven at times due to surplus chapters and side plots that, although tied with the main plot at the end, only managed to slow down the rhythm.
Towards the last 20% the pace picked up quite a lot with a series of hectic chapters that led to a resolution I was not able to foreseen, and that's always a plus.
Although some things were a bit implausible (a journalist invited to sit in a police task force meeting?) they were all in the interest of the story, so I'll gladly accept them.
All in all, an interesting start to a brand new series with a quirky main character you won't easily forget.
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