Killing Cassidy

Dorothy Martin #6

by Jeanne M. Dams

Killing Cassidy by Jeanne M. Dams released on Oct 25, 2001 is available now for purchase.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Cozy, British Literature

201 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2000

About the author

Jeanne M. Dams lives in South Bend, Indiana. The Body in the Transept, which introduced Dorothy Martin, won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. Dams is also the author of Green Grow the Victims and other Hilda Johansson mysteries published by Walker & Company.

Reviews

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Killing Cassidy by Jeanne M. Dams.

Dorothy Martin and husband Alan Nesbitt are on a vacation of sorts. They're visiting Dorothy's hometown Hillsburg, Indiana. It's not just another vacation in which they can put their feet up and take it easy. It seems Dorothy's old and dear friend Kevin Cassidy has died and left her in his will. that's not all he's left her.

Kevin Cassidy has also left a letter for Dorothy regarding his murder. He believed someone was trying to kill him and he wanted Dorothy to investigate.

This mystery had my interest from page one. the author brought me directly into a murder investigation and one that was more than intriguing. Highly enjoyable.

[Les Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book if a little abrupt ending

[Karen Levay · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this series is definitely in the cozy category. I’ve kept reading them because I like the character. The thing that bothers me mostly is that she often investigates illegally. This time there wasn’t as much of that activity and her husband was along and they were working together.

Dorothy is visiting her home town in Indiana. As a Hoosier native I loved getting all the references and nods to real locations and activities.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dorothy and Alan go to her hometown in Southern Indiana

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

An old friend of Dorothy's in America dies leaving her a small legacy but she needs to return to claim it within a few weeks. She and Alan decide to make a holiday of the visit so that she can show him where she came from. Along with some cash her friend leaves a letter in which he asks her to investigate his murder listing several people who could be behind it, but could he really have been murdered? He was over 90 years old so why bother to kill him. Everyone thought highly of him. He died of pneumonia. Where were the signs of murder and why had he thought he was going to be murdered? Needless to say after a lot of quiet probing they find all is not quite as it should be and to add to their suspicions his next door neighbour is killed.

[Eugene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not great (too “cozy” for my druthers), but def a good read. This series is chronological, but I believe the books can be read in any order. Here, Dorothy Martin and her recent husband return to the US (from England where she now lives) as part of an inheritance requirement. The writer makes many pointed (and accurate!) comparisons to the state of society and health care in America as compared to “socialist” countries like Britain. Her British husband Alan is gobsmacked at how terrible health care in this country is - and how expensive!
Oh, and there’s a murder to investigate too; the investigation is engaging enough, but the solution is a bit flat. If the cozy genre is one you enjoy, Dams’ books will do well for you.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5-3 stars

I truly enjoyed having husband Alan Nesbitt along for this mystery. He and Dorothy are very good together, and they play well off of one another. And I enjoyed that the story setting took place back in Dorothy's hometown -- she was able to put a few of the last ghosts of Frank to rest, including his lab at the University and the home Frank & Dorothy shared.

The premise is good: an old professor friend, Kevin Cassidy, dies of pneumonia. Along with notification of his death, Dorothy receives an interesting summons: return to her hometown in Indiana within 30 days of his death to receive the bequest her beloved friend has left for her - $5,000 + all-expenses paid for her trip. But when Dorothy and Alan arrive, they also find a note from Kevin insisting that if she's received the money and this note, that someone has killed Kevin. And Kevin Cassidy wants Dorothy to find his killer.

My disappointment was in the obvious red herrings and the manner in which the final scene plays itself out. The killer's motives seemed too slim to me... but maybe it's just me. And the way that the killer is "caught" is a bit too melodramatic, as is Dorothy's recovery from the final scene.

The author can't seem to make up her mind what age Dorothy and Alan are. In previous stories, they seemed to be late 50s. Dorothy constantly refers to herself as "middle-aged". (OK, 50s isn't middle-aged, but I can see one thinking of oneself as middle-aged at that age.) On previous covers, Dorothy's hair was dark, and she looked late 50s, early 60s. On this cover, Dorothy's hair is grey and she looks every bit late 60s, which - SURPRISE - Dorothy and Alan seem to be... And for being kind and gentle about mentions of their sex life, there seems to be a lot of sex between Alan and Dorothy in this book. Good for them, but again, it seems to be a change from previous patterns. Then the puzzle of the hotel room and a few other minor details that seem juxtaposed or simply not well explained.

Oh well... it's a gentle, cozy mystery with main characters I've come to appreciate. Guess I'll give the author a break!

[Rebecca Douglass · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: This is book 6 in the Dorothy Martin mystery series, and sees Dorothy returning to her old home in Hillsburg, Indiana, with her new husband (retired police chief Alan Nesbitt). The occasion is the death of an old friend, and Dorothy and Alan are shocked to find he has left a letter indicating that if he is dead, someone has murdered him. He doesn't know who, doesn't know why, but knows that someone has been trying to kill him, and would she please find out who. Naturally, they do.

Review: The Dorothy Martin series definitely falls into the "cozy" category of mystery, as well as the "older women who wear hats" category (I'm not sure what it says about me that I'm getting attracted to books about older women who wear hats, but I think I can guess). It's a pleasant, easy read with a convincing mystery (to even figure out who killed Kevin Cassidy, they have to solve the almost harder mystery why anyone would want to, not to mention how you commit murder by pneumonia), and enough suspects that I couldn't narrow it down.

The narrator (Dorothy) makes a number of references to Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey novels, especially Gaudy Night, which as a big fan of Sayers I found fun. I think she also had Busman's Honeymoon in mind during the development of the story, because this was a classic example of what Lord Peter declares in that book, that "when you know how, you know who." Indeed. When they know how, they know who, but it took me until well after they'd revealed who to figure out how they knew. The author does do us the credit of not explaining it in too much detail, leaving it to the reader to either puzzle it out or accept their brilliant leap of intuition.

I prefer the books set in England, in some ways (always fun to have an exotic setting, though I recognize that for English readers, Indiana may be an exotic setting), but this was a very well-constructed and well-written mystery.

[Addie Martinez]

Another adventuress book that kept me on the edge of my seat. Got some history there too. I just love the child in Dorothy and Alan. They are not ashamed to express their feelings on being a kid again. So young at heart those two are. So much love and respect between them. Looks like Dorothy has a new homeland.

[Nancy H · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy the Dorothy Martin books, and had missed this older one. In it, Dorothy and her relatively new husband go to her old hometown in Indiana to see if her old friend was murdered or if his death was accidental. Although the people who knew him think it was accidental, there are a few that think it was not. Dorothy investigates and as usual, solves the crime.

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Killing Cassidy: A Dorothy Martin Mystery (Jeanna M. Dams)

A perfect who-dun-it Agatha Christy Style. A great all night read.
Kept me guessing until the end. Great read for mystery lovers.

[Alison C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dorothy Martin and her husband, former Chief Constable Alan Nesbitt are traveling back to Dorothy’s hometown in Indiana, at the behest of an old friend of hers who has died and left her a bequest on the condition that she come back to Hillsburg to collect it. Once there, she is given a letter from her old friend suggesting that he has not died of pneumonia as believed, but rather has been murdered, and the dead man requests that she try to prove the same. Dorothy springs into action, with Alan rather reluctantly beside her, and soon she finds that her old hometown is both familiar and not, and that her old friends may or may not still be the same as well….As someone who moved between four countries as a small child and more recently moved to a fifth (from the US to Canada), I can relate to Dorothy’s feeling of not really having a hometown to call her own - not Hillsburg and not (yet) Sherebury, the village in England where she now lives; that sense of dislocation is nicely depicted in this, the sixth book in the Dorothy Martin series. Other than that, the town and landscape are well drawn, but the characters are a bit stereotypical and the solution to the mystery lies in a very obscure and misunderstood governmental regulation, which I think is a bit of a cheat, really. But I still like Dorothy and Alan, so I will continue to read the series as I happen upon it; mildly recommended.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

"MURDER IN A SMALL TOWN
"Though adopted Anglophile Dorothy Martin is quite content with her new life in a cozy English village, she looks forward to an unexpected trip back to her Indiana hometown. Sadly, it is the sudden death of a longtime friend and a small inheritance that offer Dorothy and her husband, Alan Nesbitt, this brief holiday in the States.

"Along with her inheritance, Dorothy gets a cryptic note from her deceased friend, a renowned biologist at the local university, claiming he was murdered. Now, back among the friends and acquaintances of her past, she must find out if one among them is a killer -- and why. A second murder puts Dorothy on the trail of a deception as strange as it is tragic, and leads her to a solution that will challenge the formidable skills of her retired constable husband -- as well as her own nimble mind -- to find the solution before tragedy strikes again."
~~back cover

A very clever plot indeed: a message from beyond the grave, complete with strict instructions that no one must know that she's been charged with finding her dear friend's murderer. Dorothy, of course, is u for the challenge, as is her husband, and asleuthing they go, in spite of the danger.

[elizabeth mcguire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dorothy and Alan return to Dorothy's roots to claim a gift left in a will. On meeting the solicitor (lawyer) she gives them an envelope with a letter left with the cheque.
It starts a very difficult new adventure. Her friend states he has been murdered and wants her to find the culprit. They are hampered by not being able to trust anyone.
Dorothy gets very depressed during this story and Alan is needed to keep her on track as well as do the 'police things' as this is a tricky affair from the getgo.
I didn't enjoy this one as much as the previous ones. A combination of Dorothy falling to bits on a regular basis and the storyline didn't flow. At the end the murderer just pops into her head with no reasons given.

[Claudia Cheyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Professor Kevin Cassidy was a close friend of Dorothy and Frank Martin's. But Dorothy was quite surprised when a letter arrived at her home in Sherebury, England telling her that Kevin had remembered her in his will with a stipulation - she would have to travel to her old hometown in Indiana to personally collect her inheritance. Dorothy and her new husband Alan made the trip together. She then received a letter from Kevin saying that if he was dead, he was probably the victim of a murder which he wanted her to solve. So, for the first time, Dorothy and Alan join forces in what often seems to be an impossible case. They learn from one another and see how differently each of them goes about searching for clues. Also, Dorothy sadly realizes she really is not "at home" in the U.S. anymore.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where is Home?

Main character and sleuth Dorothy returns, on a visit, to America with new English husband, former Chief Constable. Together they solve the murder of one of Dorothy's oldest and dearest friends....who appeared to die quite naturally of pneumonia. Except he left her a note that said if he died he had been murdered.
Twists and turns and very little cooperation or solid "evidence" leads the intrepid couple to solve it by "hook and crook" with nothing but their wits. And they do!! Give this book a try and see if you can figure it out before they do. Regardless, the journey to the end is well worth the quick and entertaining read.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dorothy back on ‘home’ turf - a wonderful change of setting

Dorothy’s return to Indiana gives the reader a wonderful experience of autumn foliage and American-style hospitality. In this further adventure, both Dorothy and Alan find themselves deeply involved in uncovering, and proving, what they believe is a murder. As a non-American reader, I thoroughly enjoyed the exploration of what used to be Dorothy’s home turf. I also really enjoyed, as always, the slow unveiling of the plot and of Dorothy’s own awakening of the change that her years spent in England had wrought, both in her hometown and in her. A wonderful addition to this great series!

[Sandra Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

you take every step with Dorothy and her husband, Alan Nesbit

One of my favorites of Jeanne Dams’ series of Dorothy Martin. Her writing is very much like Dorothy Sayer. Reading on Kindle, I was able to look up definitions. The plot of this one was that an old friend had died and left a letter saying that if he was dead, he’d been murdered. Dorothy and Alan try to find evidence by interviewing people who had been in his life. For the bulk of the book, they aren’t sure if they believe Kevin was murdered or not. Everyone is a suspect. Through all of the twists and turns, the plot hurtles to a surprising conclusion. This is one of the best series I’ve found in years.

[Elizabeth Ducie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dorothy Martin, of a certain age and newly-widowed, leaves America for England, hoping to find peace and the chance to grieve. Instead, over the course of these eight books, he finds friendship, a place in a community, and unexpectedly, a new love. But she also finds more dead bodies than any one person might expect in a lifetime. A legacy from an old friend takes Dorothy and Alan over to America, where she finds her home town has changed quite a bit in the time she's been away. Full of all the familiar tropes of this genre, this is strangely old-fashioned, despite being set more or less in the present day. Highly enjoyable and will be loved by readers of cozy crime.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dorothy receives notice of a bequest from an old friend Kevin Cassidy, who has died. Included is a letter in which he says someone is trying to kill him, and asks her to find his murderer. With the help of her retired policeman husband Alan, they narrow down a fairly large pool of suspects and eventually solve two murders. I tended to lose track of all the characters, and by the end couldn't even remember how Cassidy had died. But I stuck with it and it was quite enjoyable, primarily because I like Dorothy and Alan!

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dorothy Martin and her husband Alan Nesbitt are headed to Indiana after Dorothy received a strange letter and a small inheritance from a dear friend who recently died. Kevin Cassidy has left a note predicting his own murder although he seemingly died from pneumonia at age 96. Dorothy is intrigued and heartbroken and decides to investigate what she is convinced was murder. Soon after arriving in Indiana, a strange man who was living in the woods and looking after Kevin’s property is found murdered. A good mystery, with twists and turns and an abrupt ending.

[Joy Kieffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable

I've loved this series and this is one I especially enjoyed. This is one mystery writer who knows the meaning of red herring. Being from Bloomington Ind., and an "ex-patriot" now residing in Philadelphia, I found the descriptions of the place settings and emotional experience Dorothy felt with her return " Away Back Home in Indiana" to be dead-on accurate.

[Sharon A. Steuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Killing Cassidy by Jeanne M.Dams

This is the fourth book I've read by MS. Dams and one of my favorites. The by play between the main characters is sometimes funny, but mostly loving and Mrs. Martin is so very much a "normal" woman, not a super detective that I can identify with her. I would highly recommend this mystery!

[Anne Thaxter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series and author. Dorothy returns to America at the request of an old friend and is almost instantly involved in a murder mystery. Wondering around the college town in Indiana with Dorothy and her husband Alan coming up with clues and eliminating suspects makes for a delightful cozy mystery.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story

This series grows on me the more I read. Sometimes I think that Dorothy is too hopelessly silly do continue reading about but then she redeems herself and I keep reading. I enjoyed this book more, I think, because Alan played a larger role. The dynamic between them is really well done and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

[Joyce Burk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Dorothy Martin. Mystery Book

I have never read such a mystery plot before but this one was quite interesting. Dorothy returns to her hometown after receiving a pleading letter from a former friend. The part of the mystery that was unbelievable is his giving away so much of his money

[ann pac · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish there had been a more lengthy discussion on how Dorothy and Alan determined who the killer.was. I enjoyed the whole concept of the book, but I'm impatient and wanted to get to who actually killed Kevin and Jerry.

[Scott Kalas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay

Basic whodunnit. One of the UGHs for me is having to write a minimal number of words to post. Difficult when there isn’t much to say that it was above average. Below average is easier but not worth rehashing.

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

After hearing of the death of a friend, Dorothy makes a trip back to her home State in USA, taking Alan along too. Whilst there, she gets a shock at hearing what her old friend wants her to do, and not one for turning down a challenge, they try to find out why one of her oldest friends is dead!

Enjoyable cozy mystery series, books best read in order (thanks to Kindle unlimited) to preserve character development.

[Barb McMahon · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can ever go home again!

Dorothy and Alan go back to Dorothy’s hometown in Ohio to try and find the murderer of he Orlando college professor/friend. It proves to be a very difficult task.