Read in 2014 - 18: Invisible

Sometime last year, while I was on one of my frequent hunts for free ebooks on Amazon's kindle shop, I came across this book and downloaded it, getting around to reading it only now.

"Invisible" is listed as "A Christian Mystery" - something I was not aware of when I downloaded it -, but it is not too much "in your face" about religion as to put you off the whole thing. Instead, her faith is simply part of the heroine's life, and it is very credible how her going to church and having the occasional religious discussion with a friend are woven into the story.

Ivy Malone is an elderly widow who finds she has to do something about the vandalism at a nearby country cemetery, since nobody else seems to be able - or willing - to. She has recently discovered that, to most shop assistants, people on the street etc., she has become as good as invisible; nobody notices a little old lady in unassuming clothes. While this bothers her at first, she soon learns to use this "invisibility" to her advantage.

What starts out as her only trying to find out who the vandals are and handing their license plate numbers over to the police for further action, develops into a full-blown murder inquiry, during which several people lose their lives, and Ivy herself gets into mortal danger, too.

I enjoyed this mystery a lot - you can, if you are so inclined, read it without taking much note of the religious elements in it - because the characters are so well described, and the way they talk and act is rather realistic most of the time. 

Ivy herself is great, and the way she feels about getting older, her friendship with her closest neighbour, and the other people that are part of the cast for this story, is so well written. She is quirky enough (she sees faces in the oddly shaped vegetables she tries to grow in her garden) without being over the top. She is not "too good to be true", but not completely dysfunctional like so many modern detectives, either.

Less than half way through the book, I guessed at the true culprit behind the vandalism and how it was connected with the murder of a young woman, but the full extent of what had been going on is only uncovered as Ivy herself finds it all out.

There are tnree more Ivy Malone mysteries, according to the author's website, and I'll look for them on Amazon.