JANET MARKHAM BENNETT

Janet Markham Bennett is an agent with British Intelligence.

I would love to tell you what exactly the agency she works for is but we are never told that little morsel of information. We just know what it exists, Janet's husband, Edward, has been with it for quite a long time, long before he meets and later marries her. And that is it run by an objectionable man we know only as Mr. Jones. That man is always showing up at the worst times and expecting Edward, and then soon Janet, to drop everything to head to who knows where to hands Lord knows what on behalf of the British government.

We first meet Bennett when she is still Janet Markham and is living with her older sister Joan.  The two were visiting the Isle of Man which is when they meet and became good friends with an amateur sleuth affectionately known to all as Aunt Bessie. We are told that "Bessie would have put her [Janet] somewhere in her mid-sixties. She had grey hair and bright blue eyes, and was tending towards plump. About Bessie's height [which is not that tall], she was dressed in casual and comfortable clothing, and her bright smile made the drizzly morning suddenly feel warmer". Janet tells Bessie that neither Joan nor she had ever married, both having lived and taught in their local village school in Derbyshire until their retirement. The two enjoyed traveling though neither had any interest in getting on a plane so they very roamed too far from home. 

It was Joan who had the idea of using their savings to buy a bed-and-breakfast and Janet, less sanguine about the idea, went along and that is how the two became owners of Doveby Hall in the village of Doveby Dale in Derbyshire. And that is how Janet would come to meet Edward Bennett when he shows up for long standing reservation at the Hall, not knowing his old friend and previous owner had passed nearly a year before.

Edward Bennett is "somewhere in his sixties, with short grey hair and light grey eyes. He was taller than Janet, but most people were. This man was maybe five feet seven or eight. His dark grey suit looked to have been tailor-made to fit his still athletic build". He alludes to being mostly retired but still doing the odd job here and there for his previous employer. Said employer being, as mentioned above, for Mr. Jones though we do not learn that right away. What Janet is told is that it was for the government but as he was considerably vague on what that entailed, little by little Janet realizes his work is covert in nature.

Over time Bennett will return for stays at the B&B and the relationship with Janet will begin and grow and so will her occasional foray into Edward's work. And when Edward and Janet decide to wed, that is when Janet finds two interesting facts. The first is that being the wife of Edward and being a proven sharp and intuitive and, surprisingly, gutsy woman, she is very much in demand for the occasional mission by Mr.  Jones. The second is she really enjoys it.

This is a cozy murder spy series, as in the more traditional cozy murder mystery where often little old ladies come upon a corpse and then decide to out-detective the police to solve the crime. Of course sometimes it is an old man. And sometimes it is a younger person from a very non-standard - for a detective - profession like seamstress or baker or such.

With Janet Markham, it is teacher turned B&B owner along with her sister Joan. Toss in semi-regular guest Edward Bennett and have the two get married and have Edward turn out to be a government spy-hunter. Then have the bodies start littering the places where the two go. And then have Janet, aided by Edward, solve whodunnit and thus who the spy that needs catching in.

And all done in a nice, cozy manner so as to not upset the neighborhood.

Oh, and let the reader have fun along the way. I know I did.