Fiction Review: A Serpent's Tooth

I don't read many series completely, but I absolutely love the Ann Kinnear series by Matty Dalyrmple. I always enjoy her mysteries about a woman who can sense spirits and communicate with the dead and have previously reviewed The Sense of Death, The Sense of Reckoning, The Falcon and the Owl (which my husband is reading now), and A Furnace for Your Foe. I just finished book five in the series, A Serpent's Tooth; I loved every minute of it and was sorry when it ended.

Ann is living with her brother and brother-in-law in southeastern Pennsylvania (coincidentally, just a short drive from my home!), and they enjoy visiting a local winery, Lynch and Son. Her brother, Mike, is friends with the winemaker there, a man named Del who is married to the owner's daughter, Rowan. Rowan also works at the family winery, as the vineyard manager, and loves the family business. Rowan's older brother, Harkin, lives in Hawaii and has never had any interest in the winery. Their father, Niall, is dying, and in spite of Harkin's clear dislike of the family business, Niall is still torn over which of his children should inherit the winery. He's pretty old-school, and the winery is, after all, named Lynch and Son because his own father started it and passed it down to him. His greatest wish is to pass it on to his own son, in spite of Harkin's animosity toward both his father and the business. Soon, Niall dies and leaves behind two wills, one leaving the winery to each child, though neither will can be found. He was hoping in his last weeks to convince Harkin, who is visiting, to take over. Ann has recently moved into the guest house at the winery, and Rowan and Del hire her to try to find and communicate with Niall, to find out what happened to the two wills he told them about and what his wishes were when he died. Without either of those two recent wills, the entire business and property would go to Harkin, who plans to sell immediately.

As always with these mysteries, the situation starts out seeming fairly simple, but the more Ann learns, the more complicated things become. In addition to the mystery of the wills, there is soon another death on site (possibly murder?), a mysterious location in downtown Philadelphia, and two potential ghosts for Ann to talk to. As always, the suspense builds to an action-packed climax. Besides Dalrymple's talent for suspenseful mystery/thrillers, my husband and I both agree she's an excellent writer. When I'm in the middle of one of her novels, I can barely stand to set it aside at night to go to sleep! I also love her richly-drawn characters, both the recurring characters like Ann and Mike, and the new characters introduced in each novel. Dalrymple also has a talent for making the location of each novel come alive, including lots of great local details and lush descriptions. Both my husband and I enjoy this engrossing series of supernatural mysteries. And book 6, Be with the Dead, was just released, so I have another book to look forward to!

370 pages, William Kingsfield Publishers

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Alphabet Soup Challenge - S

Diversity Challenge

Literary Escapes Challenge - Pennsylvania

 

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Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

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Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

You can buy all the books in the series through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local! Book one:

   

 

Or you can order A Serpent's Tooth from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.