A BODY AT THE ROMAN BATHS by Kate Hardy

3.75* Why does Georgina think Colin is worth hanging onto? Like she herself says, he's boring. 

This is a decent tale with Georgina and her cast of friends that I feel I already like and know for their loyalty and acceptance, after only reading one previous book in the series. This series doesn't really need to be read in order, but if you're in it for Georgina's relationship with Colin - I'm not - you may want to read all/in order.

There's another good cozy mystery here, and I liked how Doris played her part but didn't fully reveal what'd happened, as it seemed that the hundreds-of-years old body she'd sensed didn't know themselves; all they knew is that they felt a pain and then nothing. It was sad in parts, as as the mystery got revealed, more deaths, lies and betrayals came to light, but at the end, I felt as of wrongs had been righted, however many years too late. That's the good parts of the tale. 

The not-so-good parts - there's a lot of repetition from the author, a lot of same phrasing in too short succession, which a decent editor or proof reader could easily fix. I was surprised at no one picking this up, as it really stood out. And sadly, it aided and abetted Colin's boringness. I mean, the name itself screams fuddy duddy, and his attitudes need bringing into 2025. Georgina herself called him boring, and she wasn't wrong. I didn't like how he refused to open his mind to the possibility of ghosts, even though this was his 5th outing with Georgina and Doris. I also didn't like that Georgina at times came across as if she had to justify what she'd done in order not to contaminate the crime scene - we know she's a cop's GF, we know this is her 5th outing, so it didn't feel that she needed to justify the use of dog poop bags. It made her come across as a bit...subservient. It made Colin seem more patronising and older-guy towards her. 

I'd still read more, as there are a lot of nice characters here and the premise of a lady who needs hearing aids being able to hear a ghost via them - there's also a good connection between them - is pretty unique. I just don't think there's much of a romantic relationship, if any, to save.

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Storm Publishing for my reading pleasure.

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