Maureen Ellis is a keen reader in the crime genre. She regularly posts on Goodreads.com
The year is 1959, and in the laid back sleepy seaside village of Temple Regis in Devon, multiple events are about to shake the community out of its torpor.
Our protagonist Miss Dimont is a reporter with the local newspaper. This is a lady who bucks the trend regarding the way women were expected to behave during this period in history. During the Second World War, women took on the jobs of men, and kept the country running, however they were expected to return to the kitchen when the menfolk returned from fighting. Miss Dimont though is not one to be found in the kitchen, she is highly intelligent and single minded - and she likes nothing better than to investigate crime in the community, often to the chagrin of the local police.
In 'Resort to Murder' she gets the chance to put her journalistic brain to the test when the unidentified body of a young girl is found on the beach. When a further death occurs, Miss Dimont begins to suspect that there is a connection between the two. Her editor (a rather inefficient man) thinks otherwise, and is determined to play down these deaths; but he appears to have an ulterior motive, and our protagonist won't stop until she discovers exactly what's going on.
Miss Dimont may be an amateur sleuth, but this is a lady who held an important position in Naval Intelligence during the war, and is used to taking command in life threatening situations, so, not unnaturally, she manages to lock horns with Police Inspector Topham, who initially wants to write the deaths off as accidents.
Within the storyline we witness the beauty pageants of the era, and the backlash that surrounded them. We also see the advent of rock n roll, 'beat groups', and the adulation that accompanies their popularity - indeed it was a time of great change after post-war austerity.
The author has certainly captured life in 1950's Devon, and with a strong female protagonist and her eclectic group of friends, there's never a dull moment. If you're looking for a trip down memory lane with a little mystery thrown in, then you'll find this a very pleasant read.
