The Lifeline: 6 (The Village mysteries) Paperback – 31 Mar. 2021

Loved all 4 of the series by Margaret Mayhew, comfortable cosy story of a village, its people & their lives , a touch of everything including murder, Main characters particularly the Colonel & his neighbour.

If one has reached this sixth book in this cozy murder series you will know all the main characters and are comfortably in the village atmosphere. In this story all the clues are there, but perhaps the transient characters in this plot are not as deeply drawn to allow you to "know" them. A good read nonetheless.

If you like traditional murder-mystery novels which are on the cosy side (i.e. very little blood or bad language etc.), I thoroughly recommend every book in this outstanding series.Set in a quaint English village, with a host of likeable, well-developed, interesting characters, the books are very much in the style of the Golden Age of crime fiction, but obviously updated to reflect a present-day setting. They're easy to read, but quite short and therefore, sadly over all to quickly... I found it very difficult to put any of the books down once I'd picked them up and finished each of them within a day.Of course, some of the books are better than others, and this is one of the best in my opinion: it kept me guessing until near the end. The books can I suppose be read in any order, but I'd definitely suggest reading them in order (if you can find the other books that is.... for some reason they seem to be hard to get hold of and hence rather expensive).

Another excellent book from this author.

I have read all the series and really enjoyed them. Lovely to get to know the characters and almost feel you are there with them.I certainly hope there will be a book 7. Please.

A good and intricate mystery, keeping interest to the finish. The Colonel retains his charisma throughout, a good comparison with Agatha's Hercule !

I'm afraid I could not give The Lifeline any more than three stars as I found it so repetitive after reading the other books in this series. So much of the story in this and the last book has been the same information about the characters. I won't be buying any further of them.

I have found this series of Village Mysteries a pure delight . They remind me so much of the small Oxfordshire hamlet i was born and grew up in , where the community helped one another, the pretty stone cottages, the Manor house, the annual fetes, and where everything revolved around the beautiful centuries old church, plus the pub of course and a tiny shop. We even had a resident policeman living there with his family.I have wonderful happy memories of my childhood there, and thankfully, no murders occurred, as far as I know !Margaret Mayhew has an irrepressible talent for ' cosy murder mysteries' , and are a joy to read, long may this series continue.

All six books in this series are truly a delight to read. I have tears in my eyes as I have just finished the last one. The characters are so fleshed out and real. The author has done such a wonderful job in bringing these believable stories to life. I am fully able to understand why each person does what they do, and I do appreciate that. Thank you to the author for some great entertainment. Read the books in order to truly get the feel of Frog End village, and you will be glad you made the visit.

A very cosy murder mystery, a nice flow to the storyline with a murder in the mix. Poor old Thursday, great series nice finally.

This time, the story line was different, to me.Interesting to gather the hints of the end of the book, and along the way to get to know the villagers better.Enjoyed the story very much

Though this is another well written book by Margaret Mayhew, there is too much repetition from the earlier books in the series. It is quite unnecessary and detracts from the story. There are repetitive passages even within the book.

One of many writers of "cosy" thrillers/mysteries, Margaret Mayhew follows the usual pattern of a village setting, an amateur sleuth, a slightly eccentric neighbour, a range of stereotypical villagers, etc. etc; I enjoyed the first couple of books in the series but, with each, book, the plots get less interesting. Furthermore, the first 10% of the books are taken up with a recap of the main characters – the colonel, Naomi, Miss Butler, Ruth, the major, his wife, the doctor… and the author seems more interested in gardening than in constructing an interesting story line. It all gets too formulaic and bogged down in unnecessary verbiage. One soon tires of the incessant repetition.