By Ande Jacobson
Faith Martin is one of British author Jacquie Walton’s pen names. This prolific writer uses different pen names depending on the particular genre, and Faith Martin is the name she uses on her detective/cozy mysteries. She’s just started a new series with her August 2026 release of The Oxford Detective Society. So far this is advertised as a two-book series with the second book slated for an April 2027 release. These cozy murder mysteries emphasize the characters and the puzzles rather than the gore of any murders. In this first installment her protagonist, biographer Lyssa Moore, is commissioned by Elizabeth Grainger, a mysterious client who wants her to write a biography of a distant relative who died in the 1960s under mysterious circumstances. Amelia “Monty” Montrose is the subject of the project. Elizabeth says that she wants an honest biography because she feels that Monty got a raw deal in the press. Once Lyssa starts her research for the project, she uncovers far more than she expected including a murder mystery to be solved.
Monty was known as a spoiled, wild child of a wealthy family who fell in love with the leader of a minor 1960s rock band, and it was mutual. She and Glen were devoted to one another much to the rest of the band’s chagrin. While her beau was devoted to her, the rest of the band heavily resented her and her involvement in their business. She died young at her own birthday party a few months after Glen’s unexpected death from a drug overdose. She was found face down in the pond behind her home, and while there was a minimal investigation at the time that determined that her death was a tragic accident, the investigators didn’t dig deeply enough. The press had a field day painting Monty in a very bad light saying that her reckless lifestyle caused her death and blaming her for the band’s ultimate demise. As Lyssa digs into her background talking to a few elderly folks who knew Monty personally along with several descendants from those who were there, she finds out that all was not even close to how it had been portrayed. Far from being a detriment, Monty was responsible for much of the band’s success, but more than that, she also did some good outside of the music industry.
Martin captures the quaintness of the locale as the story takes place on her home turf in Oxford and the surrounding area. She lets readers get to know Lyssa who has survived some challenges in her own life. Lyssa is still fairly young, but she is also wise and curious, and since tragically losing her husband is devoted to her cat, Bibbie (short for Bibliophile), who is good company. She has some eccentric but loving friends close by, and she confides her concerns to them as she works her way through her research. Martin provides readers with a helpful cast of characters at the very beginning of the book, and it’s extensive. Readers may want to bookmark that section to refer back once they get into the story as there are a lot of people to track.
As Lyssa gets to know her subject through interviews and whatever records she can find, she feels some kinship with Monty. She understands her despair at losing Glen from her own experience, and she’s impressed by what this young woman was able to accomplish in her short life. It doesn’t take long for Lyssa to discover some contradictions between the stories various interviewees tell her that makes her start to question Elizabeth’s true motive for having her write the book. Although she really does want a true account of her relative, Elizabeth has an interest beyond just clearing Monty’s good name that doesn’t become clear until the end of the story. Along the way, Lyssa finds herself in some disconcerting and sometimes dangerous situations as she uncovers some truths that some powerful people would prefer stay hidden. Those situations only strengthen Lyssa’s determination to set the record straight on Monty’s legacy.
As for the title of the book, that’s stated outright by one of Lyssa’s eccentric friends in the course of uncovering the secrets of the past. Clearly Lyssa has more skills than just those of a writer. In researching her subjects, she along with her friends truly are detectives.
The book reads quickly, but comfortably. Martin gives readers time to absorb Lyssa’s discoveries while imagining the world that she travels. Lyssa’s conversations with her friends and acquaintances are often playful and familiar. The characters come alive and Martin hints at some possible future relationships that could return and deepen in the future. Once the puzzles are solved and Lyssa’s book is finished, readers come away wanting more, so it’s a good thing the next book will be coming soon.
Reference:
The Oxford Detective Society, by Faith Martin
