Katherine Hall Page

I was worried it was going to be a mystery that took place entirely over a weekend in a manor house. I was happy this wasn't the case--only the last section took place in said manor house. With Page's mysteries, I like that they always include a plot related to her family, and to daily life in general, and this mystery had that. As in quite a few of her later books, Page does have minor plots carried by secondary characters, in this case, Pix's daughter Samantha. Rarely are these secondary characters as well-drawn as Faith Fairchild; such was the case this time as well. I still enjoyed the book, including the wonderful descriptions, of food, but also of clothing and furniture.… (more)

The Body in the Web by Katherine Hall Page is a recommended mystery for some readers and the 26th book in the Faith Fairchild Mysteries series.

In January 2021 Faith Fairchild's husband, Tom, is one of the earliest recipients of the vaccine. Since March 2020, Faith and her family have been in lockdown together in Aleford, Massachusetts. "As the pandemic spreads, Faith and her family readjust to life together Her husband, Tom, continues his sermons from Zoom; their children, Ben, who's in college, and Amy, a high school senior, are doing remote learning at home." Faith's business has turned into a delivery service. At a town Zoom meeting things go terribly wrong one evening when nude photos of a friend of Faith are shown on everyone's screens. After her friend is found dead, Faith is sure it is murder and begins investigating.

It is a good mystery and fans of the series will likely enjoy it, but it was a struggle for me. Thank goodness the page count is low and I could quickly read through it to follow the mystery and Faith's investigation. I thought I could do it, I thought the mystery would be the focus. It's a satisfying mystery, there are recipes, but, nah, it was a struggle for me. The problem is that this is a pandemic novel. One person's reality during the pandemic in a specific location during this time period was not everyone's reality. (I really must make sure novels are NOT pandemic stories rather than looking at an author's name.)
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins via Edelweiss.
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