Second in the Catherine Patterson Mystery series.
Set in rural south west France. Catherine, an expat, runs a successful chambres d’hôtes with her husband Karl. When a neighbour begins work on some garden landscaping, a skeleton is unearthed. This isn’t unusual given the area’s tumultuous past. But when evidence of another, more recent corpse is discovered, a local’s body is washed up on a nearby coast and she is forced to relive an earlier life threatening experience, Catherine begins to wonder if her guests are really what they seem.
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DANGER IN THE DEUX SEVRES book one (Catherine Patterson Mysteries)
Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers’ Favorite
A cast of characters, English, American and French, all living in Deux Sevres, in the Poitou-Charentes region of western France, suddenly starts to experience a series of bizarre, frightening and even life threatening events. Catherine, an Englishwoman who runs a hotel more like a country resort, along with her husband, is left alone as guests cancel or leave unexpectedly and her website is sabotaged so that no new reservations are made. And then a strange man appears to take a room, a Mr. Saleem, who claims he’s from Egypt. He appears pleasant enough, but there are times when his veneer vanishes and Catherine gets a glimpse of a more sinister person. Catherine has a large network of friends and acquaintances and she’s never lacking for excitement, so when things start happening, not only to her, but to those people close to her, alarm bells go off. Little does she know that her tiny bit of mystery and list of bizarre happenings are really all wrapped up in international espionage.
GM Haley’s mystery novel, Danger in the Deux Sevres, is a fascinating tale of adventure and espionage. The story starts off like a gentle tour of the French countryside around Deux Sevres, complete with the quiet life of its residents, the camaraderie, and the history. Elements of mystery are interspersed throughout narrator Catherine’s jaunts and meetings with friends and colleagues. The old and the new, the history of the region, and the influx of non-French residents, international spies, and advanced technology intertwine to weave a grand tale.
