Along the way there are bad guys plotting to do the lovely little group of Anglican nuns out of their home. Caroline is the paid companion of a rather cranky elderly woman who finds it hard to keep anyone around her.

Inspector Hemingway has a sense of the ridiculous and a great deal of insight, and gets considerably more information from everyone - including the household staff - by his friendliness and sympathetic attitude.I’m not sure if it’s spelled out exactly where it is supposed to be; it probably doesn’t much matter. Next time I do a complete re-read, I plan to keep a list of the people as so many recur in later books.

I’ll give nothing away except to say that generations interact, couples misunderstand each other, old resentments and annoyances intrude - but the overall feeling is mellow and accepting. I’m participating in the Christmas Reading Challenge hosted by Blogger That Happy Reader ,so I went looking for Christmas books (although the books do not have to be Christmas themed). So although this book very much stands alone, it’s better - in my view - for being read as part of the series.The church, too often, has introduced rules and regulations that turn people away, or - at the other extreme - has tried much too hard to use evangelistic methods and techniques, which are often more harmful than helpful. They’re comfortable and well-fed, and Missee Lee is quite friendly - if insistent on hard work - but they are her prisoners, unable to escape or even move from her island.

This book has been on my shelf since 2007, which means it has moved three times with me (apartment in Dallas to house in Dallas to rental in New Jersey to current home). Since that first novel Marcia wrote 30 more under her own name as well as a number of short stories. She only started her career as a novelist aged 50, having previously worked as a ballet dancer and teacher.

With a delicious seaside setting and mostly likeable characters (with the exception of the deviously manipulative Catriona and the odious Annabelle), this fun women’s f The book is set in a girls’ school, and is obviously intended for girls, but any keen reader could benefit from the books which are appropriate for anyone of about eight or nine and upwards. I was pleased to see that, as so often happens with this author, some characters from previous books appear as well as the new ones who are the primary focus. Although sailing takes less of a role in this book than in many of the others in the series, there’s still a fair amount of nautical terminology that went right over my head - however it didn’t matter at all. I loved that someone wanting to be an Episcopal [Anglican or Church of England] priest (they can marry) is presented as a sane, kind, reasonable person.

So now our GP has prescribed a slightly higher dose, but not quite as high as having two of the pills each day, and we’ll see how husband gets on. I love all Marcia Willett books and have just been re reading The Christmas Angel for about the fourth time.I like it with lemon curd on top (without butter, just the lemon curd is made with butter and I don’t want to add butter twice).