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The Body in the Belfry: A Mystery (Faith Fairchild Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Katherine Hall Page (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 398 ratings
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The Body in the Belfry, the first volume in Katherine Hall Page's cozy mystery series featuring amateur sleuth Faith Fairchild
During her years spent in New York City, Faith Fairchild was convinced she had seen pretty much everything. But the transplanted caterer/minister's wife was unprepared for the surprises awaiting her in the sleepy Massachusetts village of Aleford. And she is especially taken aback by the dead body of a pretty young thing she discovers stashed in the church's belfry. The victim, Cindy Shepherd, was well-known locally for her acid tongue and her jilted beaux, which created a lot of bad blood and more than a few possible perpetrators — including her luckless fiancé, who had neither an alibi nor a better way to break off the engagement. Faith thinks it's terribly unfair that the police have zeroed in on the hapless boyfriend, and so she sets out to uncover the truth. But digging too deeply into the sordid secrets of a small New England village tends to make the natives nervous. And an overly curious big city lady can become just another small town death statistic in very short order.

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Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 26
    Faith Fairchild Mysteries
  2. Print length
    241 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    Minotaur Books
  6. Publication date
    January 15, 1990
  7. File size
    379 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A HUMOROUS AND ENTERTAINING ADDITION TO THE MURDER-IN-THE-VILLAGE GENRE".

Booklist

"A humorous and entertaining addition to the murder-in-the-village genre. Watch for a sequel'faith is a promising sleuth."--"Booklist""It sparkles like a yankee pond on a bright autumn day!"--"Washington Post Book World""Faith is a gem.""Toronto Globe & mail"

From the Back Cover

During her years spent in New York City, Faith Fairchild was convinced she had seen pretty much everything. But the transplanted caterer/minister's wife was unprepared for the surprises awaiting her in the sleepy Massachusetts village of Aleford. And she is especially taken aback by the dead body of a pretty young thing she discovers stashed in the church's belfry. The victim, Cindy Shepherd, was well-known locally for her acid tongue and her jilted beaux, which created a lot of bad blood and more than a few possible perpetrators -- including her luckless fiance, who had neither an alibi nor a better way to break off the engagement. Faith thinks it's terribly unfair that the police have zeroed in on the hapless boyfriend, and so she sets out to uncover the truth. But digging too deeply into the sordid secrets of a small New England village tends to make the natives nervous. And an overly curious big city lady can become just another small town death statistic in very short order.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B006MH04XS
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Minotaur Books (January 15, 1990)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 15, 1990
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 379 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 241 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 398 ratings

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Katherine Hall Page

Katherine Hall Page

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
398 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

R. Morrow
5.0 out of 5 stars Just Have Faith!
Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2024
Verified Purchase
What a wonderful start to a mystery series about a New York private chef transplanted to New England through marriage to a minister. Exceedingly well written and highly recommended.
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A. Beatty
4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, intelligent cozy.
Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2021
Verified Purchase
Faith Fairchild is a transplanted New Yorker in small town New England learning how to be a minister’s wife and fit in to her new hometown while caring for a baby and working to solve a murder!

The writing is a step above most cozies. Truly enjoy this series.
One person found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars So enjoyable.
Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2021
Verified Purchase
I guess the highest praise I've got is that I was reminded of Nick and Nora Charles, and I love Nick and Nora, having watched the box set of the Thin Man series approximately 50 times in the last 10 years. The writing was intelligent, smart and breezily funny, the characters were so well developed that I could picture them, and Faith and Tom were a so nicely human. Faith is the well to do daughter of a minister (but vowed to never marry one), not stupid but not a genius. In her "before married" life, she was a very good cook and became a well known, exclusive and very busy caterer. She gave it all up when she met and fell in love with Tom, a minister. But Tom wasn't just a minister. He was a wonderfully warm, caring (and not-holier-than-thou) man who became a minister. Now they live in small-town historic Alesford where everyone is somehow related to Paul Revere, et.al. and everyone knows everyone else's business. When an extremely nasty, blackmailing young woman (whom at least half the town hated) is murdered and Faith finds the body, it sets in motion a search for a killer and all the reasons why they killed, which leads to more murder. I was hoping I wouldn't enjoy this book because it's not a Kindle Unlimited series, which I subscribe to. That's the only bad part about really liking this book.
3 people found this helpful
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Jan D
3.0 out of 5 stars Abandon Book
Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2024
Verified Purchase
I very rarely abandon reading a book, but after the first chapter, I couldn’t continue this mystery. A new mother out for a stroll with her baby discovers a body in the belfry. It should be compelling but so much of the chapter was long descriptions of the character’s back story I was turned off. The most hated woman in town has tons of suspects but not enough I tribute to keep me reading.
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars First in series
Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2015
Verified Purchase
This is the first of a series by Katherine Hall Page. I had read a much later book # 18 and was anxious to read more by this author. So I went back to the beginning. I like the main characters in this book but they lack the depth of the ones in the later book. This is a great mystery and is easy to read and follow the storyline. But I'm glad I read # 18 first or I have wanted to continue reading Katherine Hall Page's WONDERFUL books as much as I do. I believe as she wrote more her style grew giving us more mature characters to whom we can more easily relate. This book has a surprising end to who done it.
12 people found this helpful
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A reader
5.0 out of 5 stars The beginning of a promising adventure
Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2008
Verified Purchase
The author was on a Boston TV station this week being interviewed for her 17th book in this series. I had never heard of her, but as a great fan of mysteries decided I'd start with the first one and go from there.

As a resident of a small town in Connecticut, I was tickled at her descriptions and comments about folks in a small New England town. It's all true. Faith, the main character, has a bit of a time adjusting to a slower pace of life, but I think she will fit in eventually. The author said during the interview that the town is fictional. She didn't want to have people correcting her on locations, roads, etc.

I think the idea of including recipes in the books is a nice touch. It gives the stories an added touch.
8 people found this helpful
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Just a Lutheran
4.0 out of 5 stars Not Just a Cozy
Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2019
Verified Purchase
I was initially drawn to this as a cozy starting a pastor's wife. It is considerably more than that, however. The characters are more realistic than in a typical cozy, and the writing itself is several levels above. While not of the same caliber as literary mysteries like those by Louise Penny and Elizabeth George, it's well worth the time to read.
13 people found this helpful
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Bonnie
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2021
Verified Purchase
I love Faith and these books are great fun. Always great food in this series and great mysteries. Please enjoy
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Top reviews from other countries

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Zalewski Valerie
4.0 out of 5 stars Une bonne surprise
Reviewed in France on June 6, 2014
Verified Purchase
J'avais déja lu ce livre il y a assez longtemps et ne l'avais pas trop aimé. Mais, dernièrement, une amie m'a donné un autre livre dans la série. Je l'ai aimé et donc me suis mise à lire toute la série. Cette fois-ci, j'ai beaucoup aimé ce livre (le premier de la série) pour l'humour, pour l'héroine qui est loin d'être parfaite, mais qui prend la vie vraiment du bon coté. Je suis très contente de retrouver ce livre et surtout de penser à tous les autres livres dans la série qui m'attendent.
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C. Hutchinson
2.0 out of 5 stars It was okay, not too cozy. I didn't care for the heroine too much, nor the plot, nor the villagers. The first murder victim was
Reviewed in Canada on November 20, 2016
Verified Purchase
It was okay, not as cozy as I would have liked. I didn't care for the Mary Sue heroine too much, nor the plot, nor the villagers. The first murder victim was too unbelievably evil. Worth an afternoon at home if you're into 80s-style gourmandise, ambivalence about motherhood, and disparaging spinsters.
2 people found this helpful
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