Gavin Adstone is new to the village and he'd like to see a new building instead of saving the old one. He's volunteered to be on the committee organizing events to raise the necessary money. Lois's husband, Derek, is the chair of the committee. He's not sure about Gavin and his motives for joining the committee but he needs all the help he can get. Finally, a soap box derby is decided on as a fundraiser.

While Gavin keeps the committee members under control, Lois is hiring a new cleaner. Paula Hickson is in need of job. Her husband abandoned her and her four children. Relief helps but won't support all of the family. Paula's 13-year old son, Jack Jr., is causing problems. He stays out all night and behaves mysteriously. Lois hires Paula despite her mother's objections.

The local Inspector is love with Lois and he uses her workers as informants during investigations. When a body turns up in the canal, Lois will need to use all her resources to get the information the Inspector needs to identify the body. She will also have to discover who is setting fires around The Shed. When Jack Jr. disappears, Lois will be called on to help solve that mystery as well.

If you like mysteries with a lot of unique and unusual characters set in a small village in the English countryside, this might be a book you will enjoy. Cozy English mysteries are one of my favorite type of book. This particular story didn't do much for me. There were so many secondary characters it was hard to keep them all straight. The plot was overly complicated with a number of subplots which detracted from the main story. While I enjoyed many of the characters, I was a little disappointed in the story.

Book Summary