As the Hughes family celebrate bonfire night, a terrible accident leaves the garden shed in flames – and father and grandfather Thomas trapped inside. Tragic though it is, Thomas’s death passes without suspicion – until a local journalist makes accusations of a police cover-up in the press. WPC Trudy Loveday is sent to investigate, and asks coroner Clement Ryder to help.
All Trudy and Clement know for sure is that everyone is lying – and that they must find the truth.
This is the fifth book in the series & is another well written entertaining book. The characters are well portrayed & have depth. I loved how Trudy grew in confidence throughout the novel, I also love how Ryder treats her like an equal unlike the rest of her colleagues. There were twists & turns & I especially loved that I didn’t work out the culprit. A thoroughly enjoyable read & I look forward to more in the series
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

An outstanding book that was fantastic loved it amazing characters and the mystery was fantastic loved it highly recommended this is definitely a brilliant book ⭐⭐⭐

I love WPC Trudy Loveday, and her mentor, coroner Dr. Ryder, who is intelligent, kind, compassionate, fatherly towards the bright young police constable. A grumpy, tight fisted, miserly father died in a shed fire during a celebration, all of his children are suspects! Yet, this gruesome death will be turned into a liberal view on murder most foul as Miss Marple would say! No one has the right to take a life, murder is a crime, regardless of how brutal the dead person was! I am obviously displeased with the outcome of this story! Justification is not justice!
I can't recommend! Thank you Netgalley!
carolintallahassee.com

A Fatal Truth by Faith Martin is a marvellous historical murder mystery. It is the fifth book in the Ryder And Loveday Mystery series which I am loving.
This series has a wonderful retro feel to it, combined with a cosy murder mystery. It would make a perfect prime time television series. This book is set in 1961. It feels very much like Inspector Morse meets Endeavour meets Inspector George Gently. I can easily picture Martin Shaw as the erasable Dr Ryder.
Once more the reader is treated to the crime busting duo of aging coroner Dr Ryder and young WPC Loveday who is a breath of fresh air. Together they aim to solve crimes and keep the streets of Oxford safe.
Faith Martin has created well thought out storylines that have the reader intrigued and guessing. I am familiar with the Oxford streets and landscapes (having visited and also watched all episodes of Morse, Endeavour and Lewis), so it was easy to picture the action.
We all need escapism and this series provides just that. I can exercise my powers of deduction whilst not being offended by anything.
A Fatal Truth is a wonderful way to while away an afternoon. I cannot wait for more in this fabulous series.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

After the events at the end of "A fatal secret" WPC Trudy Loveday is going through a selfconfidence crisis at work but, after a businessman dies in an apparent accidental fire and some newspaper articles imply that it was murder, she is asked to investigate and soon enlists the help of Dr. Ryder once again.

They are such an appealing pair of investigators and that's in part because Dr. Ryder treats Trudy as an equal, and that's more than any other men in her life do. I still can't understand why, after solving several cases, she's still treated so condescendingly by her work colleagues as she's proved again and again her value as a policewoman.

This time the mystery centers around the Hughes family, hence having a very small pool of suspects. As we follow Loveday and Ryder questioning suspects we learn everything they do thus we can also try to deduce the culprit (I didn't). I can sympathize with their final decision as probably I would have done the same.

Quick and cozy murder mystery with a superb pair of main characters. If you haven't started this series yet do it right now!

Slow-moving plot and uninteresting characters made this a book that I wouldn't stay up late to finish. I haven't read any of the author's other series.

On Guy Faulks day, the family of Mr. Thomas Hughes (a rich retired businessman) has their annual bonfire and fireworks at his large home in Headlington, a suburg of Oxford. Mr. Hughes is always the one to set off the fireworks which have been stored in the shed. The night was very windy. After the bonfire was burning, Mr. Hughes goes to the shed to get the fireworks. Suddenly the family realizes the shed in on fire and call the fire brigade. When the fire is extinguished, they find the burned body of Mr. Hughes inside the shed.

Clement Ryder presides over the Coroner's Court, where the jury returns a verdict of death by misadventure (the fact he had a head injury was attributed to bumping into a shelf). However, two days later, DI Jennings reads an article in the Oxford Tribune which suggests foul play in the death of Thomas Hughes mentioning his enterprises which lost money for many of the investors, but not for Hughes. Also, with so many of the family there, why didn't anyone see how and when the fire started? DI Jennings asks WPC Trudy Loveday to to look into the case. She goes to Ryder to work with her. It turns out the news reporter had a reason he wanted the police to look into the Hughes family, and it didn't really have anything to the death of Thomas Hughes. However, Ryder and Loveday do a very thorough job of interviewing all the family, and they actually find out what happened!

The first thing I had to do when I got this book, was to buy the previous four in the series. I couldn't believe that I'd missed a series of Faith Martin books. I read one a day and have just finished this one.

It's a cracking series. The characters are strong, and the time setting - when women were first being accepted into the police force- works really well. Having the Coroner as part of the team gives them a different type of information.

Loved the whole series so far.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I read an advance review copy of the book. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.

A Fatal Truth is the fifth book in the Ryder and Loveday mystery series.
PC Trudy Loveday has finally been given a case of her own to investigate.
In a fluke accident on Guy Fawkes, whilst the Hughes family were holding a bonfire party, their garden shed caught alight. Thomas Hughes, the patriarch, was burnt to death in the fire.
It appeared an open and shut case and the coroners court presided over by Dr Clement Ryder ruled it an accidental death.
Only days later the local paper leads with an article alleging Mr Hughes death was not an accident, foul play and police cover up being suggested.
Trudy is given the task of investigating .
She really wants to deal with her first case alone but on contacting Dr Ryder for information he assumes she needs his help.
As their enquiries progress it seems Mr Hughes wasnt exactly loved by his family he seems to have quarrelled with and been unkind to most of them.
Then there is the journalist, Duncan Gillingham, who seems to have an agenda of his own.
As Trudy and Dr Ryder work together again to gather all the evidence what they uncover faces them with a moral dilemma.
Will they follow their conciences or the letter of the law?
Many thanks to Netgalley and HQ Digital for the chance to read this as an ARC.
I really enjoy this mystery series set in the 60`s, the relationship between the main characters is developing and changing.
I`m looking forward to reading the next in the series to see how things progress.

Having read most of Faith Martin's books I was excited to read my first in the Loveday and Ryder series.
I wasn't disappointed, the story was gripping and the characterisation made you invest in the characters.
As usual there were many twists along the way.
Thoroughly enjoyed the book and will be catching up with the others in the series.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for thus copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I have thought about downloading some of her books onto my Kindle in the past but hadn’t done so yet. So thank you to Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read the advance copy of this one.

Unfortunately, I didn’t really enjoy the book. It was an easy read, so finished it in a couple of sittings, but I didn’t think there was any depth to the story. I didn’t think it plausible that any police force would put a 20 year old in charge of a possible murder inquiry. And was it normal police procedure to team her up with someone other than another policemanr? Perhaps that’s what they did in the 1950’s! Trudy Loveday was likeable enough, and she certainly thought and acted like a 20 year old. Her partner, Clement Ryder, was more interesting, and presumably had more experience, but was secondary to the investigation in this book.

The story itself about the death of an elderly man, who no one seemed to like - including his own family – was ok. But because he was so objectionable, it didn’t really matter in the end if he was murdered or not, and this was confirmed by Trudy’s superiors when she eventually told them what she thought had happened to him. The side issue about the young reporter didn’t really add anything to the story.

I’ve read reviews of other books by this author, most of which are positive, so wouldn’t rule out reading some of them. It may be that it was the main characters that didn’t appeal to me, rather than the style of writing.

Thank you Net Galley. An interesting installment in the Loveday and Ryder series. The dynamics between the two has started to shift and I look forward to the changes it will bring.

Loveday is back! I'm really enjoying this series and getting to know more about that period in time, I think the author does it so well.

I say it in every book but it is starting to be annoying about the dr's mysterious illness and I wonder how much longer we can repeatedly be told about it. I feel it really distracts from the plot and overall story.

I think I must have missed one or 2 books in the series but it didn't matter when reading as they are alluded to but a totally separate storyline.

Thank you for providing me with an arc.

A Fatal Truth is well written with a good plot. I really had trouble connecting with the characters which partially may be because this is book 5 in the series and I haven’t read any of the previous books. Also when I requested this I did t realize this was set in the 60’s so I think k this is more a preference to me than saying anything bad about the book. I received an arc from the publisher and this is my unbiased review.

I haven’t been a great Faith Martin reader but this book has changed my ways. Realistic characters and a gripping plot have resulted in a gem of a read. I want more!!

Book 5 in the series, and it is still fresh and different, with a newly off probationary woman officer working what appears to be already solved cases with the coroner. It's part British procedural and part Matlock! but it's an interesting look at a time when women weren't expected to much in the police force, and everyone, citizens and her coworkers, have to adjust to her being in charge of the investigation. It's similar to a closed room mystery, except there are way too many suspects, and no apparent way to have done the murder outside in full sight of each other! It's a fun and quick stand alone read, that will get you hooked on the series!

Yet again Faith Martin delivers, you can always rely on Faith to produce a proper who dun it mystery story written as it should be, plenty of clues, no surprise culprit that appears from nowhere and all written in a gentle period tone. Set in the 1950s this story isn’t dated but does evoke the period a gentle story with twists and turns but holding the right clues for you to solve the mystery. A very good book and as always I’m looking forward to the next Faith Martin mystery

I would like to thank Netgalley and HQ Digital for an advance copy of A Fatal Truth, the fifth novel to feature WPC Trudy Loveday and Coroner Clement Ryder, set in Oxford in 1961.

When Thomas Hughes dies in his shed in a fire caused by a stray firework Dr Ryder has no hesitation in declaring it a tragic accident until a local reporter starts suggesting foul play and a police cover-up. Trudy is assigned to investigate and asks Dr Ryder to help but although they know the family is hiding something they don’t know what as every one of them had quarrelled with Thomas.

I thoroughly enjoyed A Fatal Truth, which is a quietly compelling novel with a small set of suspects. It is told mostly from Trudy’s point of view with an occasional switch to the reporter, Duncan Gillingham, and Dr Ryder. It means that the reader can guess along with Trudy as she carries out her interviews and narrows in on a prime suspect. Of course, the fire destroyed all the forensics so interviews are they have. Is this an old fashioned psychological novel à la Poirot if resolution relies on reading the suspects and between the lines of what they are saying? If so I failed miserably as I didn’t have the least idea of perpetrator or motive.

I thought the plot was clever and suitable to its era, limited suspects and a reliance on verbal cues, although the introduction of Duncan Gillingham and his personal agenda as a subplot errs from the formula. I liked his resolution and I thought the resolution of the main plot was unusual but fitting in the circumstances.

This is the novel where no longer probationary WPC Loveday comes into her own. She starts the novel with a lack of confidence but is soon running the investigation, taking decisions and making deductions. Before, she always relied on Dr Ryder for guidance but now she’s her own woman. It’s good to see and I loved her rout of the cocky Duncan Gillingham.

A Fatal Truth is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

I loved this latest outing for our intrepid sleuths! I think this was best one to date as our young constable Loveday grows in confidence ably assisted and encouraged by the old vulture ! The plotline was more intricate in this book with several suspects in the frame for the murder-if murder it was!- of an unlovely patriarch who meets his end in a burning shed, on bonfire night. More than ever, this was reminiscent of Agatha Christie's gentle style and incisive detection . For all that it involves death and unsavoury crimes , it is also evocative of a gentler era and more innocent times. I just love the partnership between the innocent young constable and the worldly wise coroner . I look forward to more in this series!

A Fatal Truth is well written with a good plot. I really had trouble connecting with the characters. I received an arc from the publisher and this is my unbiased review.