A worthy addition to the Hillary Greene series. The Oxfordshire setting is well realised and Hillary herself is a believable, if at times somewhat infuriating character. Looking forward to seeing how the story continues.

Faith Martin is a prolific author of mysteries; she has written more than thirty books. This title is part of the DI Hillary Greene series. It was first published in 2006 and is the third in a series of about twenty books. It was originally published as Narrow is the Way. If a reader enjoys this title, they can follow DI Greene on many cases.

DI Greene is a woman in her 40s. She is an experienced detective who works in Oxfordshire and lives on the water. This time she has a case with many suspects and motives. The murder victim was dressed as a bride. What was her story?

There is a lot to detect here. As an added intrigue there may be a connection to a significant person from Hillary’s past.

I enjoyed spending time with Hillary. She opens the book in such a human way by being irritated by a bad driver. She feels like a real person all the way through.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

A young woman is found dead in a wedding dress,it happened at a fancy dress party and nobody heard or saw a thing. DI Hillary Greene is called out to investigate the case. As Hillary works the case, she learns the victim was known for speaking her mind. She didn't care who she upset. The author did a great job of keeping you engaged in the plot. Just when i thought i had figured it out, another curve ball was thrown. I look forward to reading more from this author.

When I was approached and asked if I would like to take part in the blog tour for ‘Murder Of The Bride’ by Faith Martin, I accepted the invitation as I knew that it was the ideal opportunity to acquaint myself with a new author. Shockingly this is the first book by Faith Martin that I have read. I know, I know where have I been? I can’t believe that I didn’t discover this author sooner because her books are fantastic but more about that in a bit.

I took to DI Hillary Greene from the start. She is one feisty female detective and then some. There are things from her past that she tries hard to bury and not let them affect her but some, like her slime ball, criminal ex-husband still get to her on a daily basis. DI Greene was unaware of her husband’s criminal behaviour but there are still some people within the police force that still think she must have known and that she had some part in some of his activities. DI Greene has to cope with the whispers and the suspicion every day of her life. Saying that she tries not to let it get to her. I wouldn’t say that she is a particularly ambitious police detective as I get the impression that all she is bothered about is solving crime, apprehending the villains and seeking justice for the victims of crime. Anything that would take her away from that is not high on her list of priorities. DI Greene has the support of most of those that she works with although I have to say that for me, there are question marks over a couple of her colleagues. DI Greene also has her admirers and I am not just talking about those that admire her work. In ‘Murder Of The Bride’, DI Greene realises that she has a tough case on her hands because nobody seems to be talking but like a dog after a bone, DI Greene always gets her man or woman. Hillary Greene is like a dog with a bone in that once she has her teeth into you, she doesn’t easily let go. She knows that people are keeping quiet or telling her porkie pies (lies) but she just keeps digging. There was one member of her team that I could quite cheerfully slapped across the face with a wet flip flop followed by a wet fish and that is DS Frank Ross, who I think is a relic left over from the Seventies. He is sexist, racist, homophobic, tactless, undiplomatic and that’s just for starters. He seems like a modern day DCI Gene Hunt from BBC’s ‘Life On Mars’. I just know that I couldn’t work with him without having to say something.

In my humble opinion, ‘Murder Of The Bride’ is superbly written. The author grabbed my attention from the very first word on the very first page and I wasn’t released from the book’s grip until the last word on the last page. It was almost as if I had been hypnotised because all I focussed on was the book and I managed to shut out all other noise entirely. Usually I have the concentration span of a gnat and I am easily distracted but not from ‘Murder Of The Bride’. The pages were turning that quickly that it was almost as if they were turning themselves and before I knew it I had finished the book, which I was so disappointed about. I was disappointed because I was enjoying the story and the writing style so much that I just wanted the book to continue. I soon cheered myself up with the thought that I have another couple of books in the series to read before any new ones are released. ‘Murder Of The Bride’ is the third book in a series but it can easily be read as a standalone. As I am slightly OCD I will be reading the series in order and from the beginning. Reading this book was much like being on a rollercoaster ride with lots of twists, turns and occasionally stomach churning moments. On more than one occasion I smugly thought that I had figured out who the murderer was, only to be proved wrong and sent down another road entirely.

In short, I totally, utterly adored reading ‘Murder Of The Bride’ and I can’t wait to read more books in this fantastic series. Whilst I wait for a new book, I will just catch up with the rest of the series so far. I would have no hesitation in recommending this book and indeed this series to anybody. Faith Martin is right up there on my list of ‘must read’ authors. I award this book an easy 5* out of 5* but I would have awarded it more stars if I could because I enjoyed it so much.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for a review copy of Murder of the Bride, the third novel in the DI Hillary Greene series.

To begin with the weakest point of the book: the cover. I would never buy this book based on the cover alone.

The good points of the book: there are many! I do not have to repeat the cover text here because other reviewers did so.
Hillary Greene's character is evolving more and more, and that of her colleagues too. What I liked about this story was that, contrary to Murder on the Oxford Canal, there were not too many people in it. I don't like books where you read names on every page, without knowing whether a person is to become important in the rest of the book or not.
Murder of the Bride has a good plot, with a very suprising twist, humor, interesting characters and it generally feels like the author is really in a flow writing this series.
I'm looking forward to the next book in this series because by now I'm really getting curious about some of the things that seem to happen in Hillary's life ;-)

Another great crime thriller starring DI Hilary Greene. A page turner, difficult to put down. A fascinating story line with an unexpected ending. Didn’t have a clue WHO DUN IT! Left guessing to the end. Love this author, very easy reading!

Yet again this is another brilliant book by Faith. I really like the way she has developed all the characters over the three books, but also made it possible for anyone new to the series to read them all as stand alone books.

This book follows Hilary as she investigates the murder of a woman, dressed in a bride’s costume hence the title of the book.

The book itself is a great read, which once I started it I didn’t want to put it down.

This story follows on nicely from the previous books with more of the back story involving the characters, and bringing in more people along the way.

There are lots of suspects in this book, and with all the twists and turns I couldn’t get anywhere near the correct suspect until the end of the book. Hilary also gets confused throughout the book for a while until she starts to piece everything together and her, along with the team, start to reduce the list and eventually narrow it down to the murderer.

Overall I would give this book 5 stars and I can’t wait for the next one, Murder in the Village, which I will be reviewing on the 19th November, and is released in the next week or so.

I'd never read any of the other books in this series, but it wasn't too difficult to follow along with. I wasn't quite sure what to make at first, and the main plotline took a while to get going, but the storytelling was great and I liked the characters and the case's solution.

4 and 1 / 2 stars

DI Hillary Greene is called to the Three Oaks Farm to the site of a body. The young woman is dressed in a beautiful wedding gown. But she is not a bride. It is a dress-up party to celebrate someone’s anniversary. She was found in a smelly barn surrounded by cows. So much for forensic evidence. After interviewing the local bobby, she interviews the two people who found her.

Hillary reviews the list of fifty or so guests and crosses out the women. That leaves them men to interview. This is a pretty big list of suspects. When Mandy Tuckers comes to the station, Hillary and PC Tommy Finch interview her. Although she wasn’t at the party, she calls herself Julia Reynolds’ best friend. They may learn something about the murdered woman’s background. She tells them quite a bit about Julia’s personality. She was volatile and more than a little spoiled. It seems that there are many people who had a reason to dislike Julia sufficiently enough to want to kill her.

There is a new superintendent in the unit. His name is Justin Raleigh. He came from the Met, and everyone is speculating as to why. The rumors run from his being gay to be advised to leave the Met.

Hillary and DS Janine interview Theo and Roger Greenwood. Theo owns the upscale hotel and facies himself (almost) nobility. He obviously couldn’t stand Julie and thought her lower class and not nearly good enough for his only son, Roger. Roger shows signs of grief at the loss of his almost-fiancée, but is holding something back. He knew that Julia was only after his money, or rather his father’s money, but loved her any way.

Meanwhile, Gregory Innes, a private investigator, is slinking around with the potential to cause trouble for the police and the suspects.

The identity of the murderer comes as a surprise.

This book is very well written and plotted. The suspense started immediately in the story and continued throughout the book until the explosive denouement. I like DI Hillary Greene very much. The way she gets on with her team is well illustrated. The team works well together – with the exception of Frank Ross, of course, and follows the investigation wherever it leads. It shows dedication and professionalism. I really enjoy Faith Martin’s novels and will continue to read her books.

I want to thank NetGalley and Joffe Books for forwarding to me a copy of this wonderful book to read and enjoy.

An enjoyable book with a good story, I liked the characters and the odd burst of humour helped.

​Murder of the Bride by Faith Martin is Book 3 in the DI Hillary Greene series.

This was a really good book, it is fast paced and full of twists. I just loved the style of writing and the storyline. It had me engaged right from the first page and didn’t let me go until I had finished the book.

DI Hillary Green is a fantastic police officer but her dead crooked cop husband has brought a band of suspicion over her and it follows her around. She doesn’t let this bother her as she is feisty and confident in her own abilities and just gets on with the job. She has a great team around her, they are a bunch of misfits but again when the chips are down they all pull together and get results.

I highly recommend this series of book, so far they have been a really good entertaining read with great endings that I didn’t see coming. To be honest I thought book one in the series was a little slow but was pleasantly surprised with books 2 and 3 I really enjoyed them as I had got to know the characters and their quirks.

I am giving this book a very well deserved 5 stars. I believe there are 17 books in this series so I am looking forward to reading the next one in the series.

Here is the publishers blurb on the book:

Looking for a brilliant best-selling murder mystery with a feisty female detective?

Then meet DI HILLARY GREENE, the police woman with a nose for the truth and a talent for trouble.

DI Hillary Greene is called out to attend a suspicious death at Three Oaks Farm in the picturesque village of Steeple Barton.

The large farmhouse is filled with music and revellers, but when she steps into the farm’s large cowshed, Hillary finds a dead bride. Dressed in a sumptuous white wedding gown, the young, beautiful redhead had clearly been strangled.

But not everything is what it seems, and the victim turns out to be at the centre of a web of jealousy and intrigue in the close-knit village. Many of the villagers have a motive for murdering her but they’re not giving up their secrets easily.

Can Hillary discover the real reason for this brutal crime and cope with the spiralling revelations about her dead ex-husband?

This is a crime mystery full of well-observed characters, which will have you gripped from start to finish.

MURDER OF THE BRIDE is the third in a series of page-turning crime thrillers set in Oxfordshire.

Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Colin Dexter, or Ruth Rendell.

Books in order are:

1. Murder on the Oxford Canal

2. Murder at the University

3. Murder of the Bride

I would like to thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for a review copy of Murder of the Bride, the third novel in the DI Hillary Greene series of police procedurals set in Oxford.

Hillary is called out late at night to a dead body. Local hairdresser, Julia Reynolds, has been found murdered in a cowshed. She is the eponymous bride having been dressed as one for a fancy dress party. As the investigation unfolds it soon becomes clear that Julia and those around her were keeping secrets, some more relevant than others.

I thoroughly enjoyed Murder of the Bride with its mixture of clever plotting, twists and turns, humour and likeable characters who are fast becoming old friends as the series progresses. The novel works well as a stand alone, being the story of one investigation but to get the best from the characters and their history I would recommend reading the series in order (Hillary's life is complicated through no fault of her own).

The plotting is excellent with several suspects, a dodgy victim and Hillary playing a canny hand, leaving her deputy, DS Janine Tyler, to jump to the obvious conclusions. The solution is really unexpected and a big surprise, making for a satisfying read. I wasn't overly impressed with the first novel in the series but feel Ms Martin has really hit her stride with this one. It is a straightforward whodunnit but it's the characters and their humour which make it such a compulsive read - I just wanted to know what they'd get up to next.

Hillary was separated from her husband, Ronnie, when he died but then her problems started as he was found guilty postmortem of trafficking in illegal animal parts. She was cleared of any collusion but has stumbled over the details of a potential offshore bank account and is dithering over what to do about it. At the same time a militant animal rights organisation is suing her for reparation on behalf of the animals and want her house. Not everything is resolved but Ms Martin moves things forward in a hugely amusing way. Not all the humour is reserved for this situation as Hillary's interactions with her fellow officers are at times tinged with irony and funny observations.

Murder of the Bride is an entertaining novel which I have no hesitation in recommending.

DI Hillary Greene and her team have been called to the scene of a suspicious death. The body of a young woman, dressed in a wedding gown, is found in a cow barn. The only witnesses .. the cows. She was obviously strangled .... but by who.. and why?

Upon questioning her friends, co-workers, lovers, Greene finds that the woman was not universally liked. She had her cap set for a man who would become quite rich upon the death of his father. She was one of those who spoke her mind and didn't particularly care who she upset.

Everyone who knew her has a motive for wanting her dead ......

This is 3rd in a series, and each book seems to get better than the last. The author is very true to her characters. They grow, they adjust, as time goes by. This is a fairly fast paced mystery with several story lines running along side.

Green is still reeling from the antics of her now deceased husband. Her attractive sergeant is having an affair with their supervisor. DC Tommy Lynch gets engaged to his longtime girlfriend and immediately starts having second thoughts. And her supervisor has a new boss, scheduled to make an appearance at any time.

The mystery portion is well thought out and the ending was a total surprise. There is plenty of suspense to keep one riveted from start to finish.

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A REVISED EDITION OF A BOOK FIRST PUBLISHED AS “NARROW IS THE WAY.

Many thanks to the author / Joffee Books / Jill Burkinshaw / Netgalley for the advance digital copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

4.5 Stars