Acquired Book By: Uniquely, I discovered this book series via The Coffee Pot Book Club’s blog tour featuring the third novel in the South Shores Mysteries (“Murder on West Lake”). Ever the curious Cosy Historical Mystery reader – I decided to grab a copy of the first novel “Murder on Oak Street” whilst purchasing two other books of Chinese Fantasy (“The Earthly Blaze” by Alice Poon and “A Hero Born” by Jin Yong). It has been quite a few years since I’ve actively read and reviewed Cosy Historical Mysteries, and I was dearly intrigued by the premise of this one! Especially as I love Medical Examiner storylines and I like tucking into non-Contemporary centuries of thought about Forensic Science, too.
Thereby, this is a self-purchase of mine and I was not obligated to post a review. I am sharing my ruminative thoughts for my own edification and for continuing to share my readerly life on Jorie Loves A Story. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
What I found so dearly intriguing about the South Shores Mysteries:
The second novel focuses on Kathleen’s brother Colin, of whom was a protective bloke in the first novel Murder on Oak Street – as he took his duties as a brother quite seriously. Even though they were at odds most of the time, you knew beneath that tug-of-war relationship they cared for each other as siblings oft do. I wasn’t surprised the second novel would focus on Colin as he was ever present in the first and I had a feeling his story might need to be focused on next. I am reading the series in order and so, I only had the synopsis to go on in respect to what the sequel involves.
The third installment, Murder on West Lake is interesting as it pivots from Kathleen taking a more distanced interest in sleuthing and turning into a bit of an investigative sleuth herself! I was quite charmed to read that in the synopsis as I had a feeling, she might have a natural knack for it! She has such a strong mind and heart – she isn’t easily offended nor swayed, and I had a feeling the harder bits to the realities of investigating wouldn’t phase her either. She was her own women in that respect, and she could handle anything she put her mind too as well.
I am also appreciating that Foster is keeping Daniel and Kathleen’s relationship a long-drawn out romance and not having them tie the knot too quickly. I would imagine it would have to do with a lot of the circumstances that were going on in the background of the story – originating in the first novel Murder on Oak Street and continuing forward from there, too. As much as I think for their sake – a longer courtship might be just what they each needed.
I can definitely say, Foster is writing convicting historically dramatic Cosy Crime stories with her South Shores Mysteries. She grips your heart as you read the installments and there are many times where you are either properly shocked by what is revealled or altogether gutted. This is also a family drama with lots of layers to unpack too. She takes you up close and personal to the crimes, but she does so with a deft hand for knowing where to lay the boundaries of what is seen on the page. I appreciate her choices and am enjoying becoming enraptured with the journey of reading her series.
Murder on Oak Street
Subtitle: A South Shores Mystery
by I.M. Foster
Illustrator/Cover Designer: Jenny Quinlan (JennyQ)
Source: Purchased | Personal Library
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-1733337571
Also by this author: Murder on West Lake
Published by Self Published
on 31st October, 2022
Format: Paperback Edition
Pages: 503
The South Shores Mysteries:
Murder on Oak Street (Book One)
Murder on West Main (Book Two)
Murder on West Lake (Book Three)
Available Formats: Paperback and Ebook
Converse via: #CoffeePotBookClub, #SouthShoresMysteries, #CosyHistoricalMysteries,
#CosyMystery, #HistoricalMystery
About I.M. Foster
I. M. Foster is the pen name author Inez Foster uses to write her South Shore Mystery series, set on Edwardian Long Island. Inez also writes Historical Romances under the pseudonym Andrea Matthews and has so far published two series in that genre: the Thunder on the Moor series, a time-travel romance set on the 16th century Anglo-Scottish Borders, and the Cross of Ciaran series, which follows the adventures of a fifth century Celt who finds himself in love with a twentieth-century archaeologist.
Inez is a historian and librarian, who loves to read and write and search around for her roots, genealogically speaking. She has a BA in History and an MLS in Library Science and enjoys doing the research almost as much as she does the actual writing of the story. In fact, many of her ideas come to her while doing casual research or digging into her family history. Inez is a member of the Long Island Romance Writers, the Historical Novel Society, and Sisters in Crime.
My review of Murder on Oak Street:
I was curiously delighted to find a rather extensive Prologue ahead of the first Chapter as most authors are limiting their introductory sections in novels these days. A trend I am not an appreciator of as I have a fond affection for Prologues and other bits of story ahead of diving into the heart of a novel. In this particular vein of interest, Foster introduces us to Daniel. A man of morals and conscience working in an industry which is rooted in a cut and dry manner of executing one’s job. He’s working for the coroners’ office and with that heavy weight of purpose – he also carries the toll of realising not all the cases he works on will come to the light of the law. Such as the first case we saw him working on alongside his Uncle. For Daniel, seeing the evidence in front of him encouraged him to know more of the truth behind the crime and yet, in his position he wasn’t privy to investigating anything beyond an autopsy.
The tone of the narrative is cosy and comforting and has a police procedural vibe about it in the beginning throughout the Prologue through the eyes of Daniel. The only bit of a surprise for me was finding stronger language inclusive of the text and it seemed it wasn’t going to have any strong language at all until one word* appeared out of the blue to exert Daniel’s disdain for being late to a dinner with his fiancée. Prudence didn’t seem properly suited for Daniel, but I had a feeling that truth would let out eventually. Especially as I knew the name of the woman, he was meant to be with ahead of starting the series! Laughs.
Daniel has a thirst for sleuthing and for medical investigative forensics and I was happily pleased he was given a second chance in life to merge his passions into a work environment. I suspect the love of his life would emerge once his everyday life calmed down a bit and allowed him to find ways to pursue a romance once the hurts of the past were dispelled of course.
Kathleen is a breath of fresh air – she has a very independent streak in her and yet, she knows the confines of the society she lives in as well. I especially was keen on how she found a way to encourage Daniel to re-open the case which haunted him as a city coroner through her contact with his new boss – the good doctor who moonlights as a medical examiner. Hers is an interesting life and just how she has a collection of half-siblings might affect some, but I could tell Kathleen was a strong woman and very well-adjusted to her unique situation in life.
There are enough secrets brewing underneath the foreground of the story to keep you glued to the pages, too! Especially if you have a sharp and keen mind for details and the particular ways in which Foster reveals certain clues along the route of her characters’ lives. It leaves you quite engrossed in the moment of the story but also, allows you to remain pensive about the larger picture that is starting to form in your own mind about what truly is ‘going on’ with everyone in the story, too. That also leads you into a bit of a rabbit hole – as without knowing the motive and the intentions of the guilty, it is hard to speculate why the villain did what they did and how they did it. I had a feeling this might be a drawn-out mystery in that regard – as if the person responsible had been playing the long game (ie. long con) and that it would take time to untangle all the truths which were kept out of sight (of both the reader and the other characters involved).
I admit, as I kept turning the pages, I was in a bit more shock over the revelations that were alighting on the page. Especially as it is quite hard when you find a wolf so close to the hen house so to speak. It is awful knowing about the wolf and yet, you can’t warn those near the wolf of the dangers they’re about to be in within its presence. In that respect, Foster wrote incredible perseverance in the character of Patrick – Kathleen’s stepbrother. Patrick had a life many would not be able to rise through and his afflictions were not easily known to others who were looking at his life from the outside. His demons were closer than people knew and the pain he was being caused as soul-wrenching.
Even before Kathleen and Daniel became a couple – as it was foreshadowed quite well, they would eventually become one as much as I have read the synopsis for future installments of the series – they were well suited to each other early-on. They each had their own struggles in romance and more than that – they each had personal obstacles they needed to overcome too. They were two persons who were fortunate to cross paths and see what could develop between them personally. I felt it was lovely Foster curated a slow-burn romance between them as it just felt so dearly natural and it was even a bit fitting of the era, too.
Whilst what hugged me to the pages of course was the looming questions – the big questions especially about what was truly going on and who was the culprit causing all the havoc, too! We knew the main villain of course, as that was revealled so early in the storyline but what befelled said villain? Now that is what was wicked good fodder to see how Foster would address not only that question but the larger picture of who was truly in control of everything else!
Daniel was definitely a man of his generation – he took his job seriously as an investigative medical examiner and part of me felt he was a forensic detective who just happened to be an ME! He had a natural curiosity about crime and the processes of how to root out truth from lies and how to work round the psychological games people might play in front of him whilst he was interviewing them. From that standpoint, Daniel had a keen sense about psychology and understanding the pathologies of the mind.
Kathleen on the other hand was caught betwixt and between the loyalty she had for her family and wanting to know the absolute truth of what was being secreted from her purview. She had a strong sense of maternal instincts when it came to her younger siblings and a firm sensibility when it came to searching for answers even when the shadows of doubt and suspicion were aflame in her mind. She was an intriguing character and one I was enjoying seeing come more into her own as the story progressed. I had a feeling she had much more to give than she was given freedom to explore previously by the ruling hand of her family.
I was truly not as prepared for the final revelations as I thought I might have been! I had a few guesses as to who was behind the crime and yet, in the end Foster hoodwinked the truth and brilliantly so! It was a clever ending by all accounts and one that tied together the entire back-history of her characters to the very start of how they all began to interact with each other. It was such a long circle of intrigue and strife and tragedy. As you peel the layers back behind Foster’s revelation, you see the hardening realities of how one man influenced so much tragic loss and how that affected so many lives which in the end ruined his chance to live.
All whilst we were left ruminating over the smaller details and sorting out the patterns of behaviour which Daniel himself had been piercing together. Within those details was an undercurrent of familial drama – wherein Kathleen’s family was shifting and changing not only by definition but by financial stability. I found it especially curious how Foster knitted out a family which by all means was less than traditional and yet, they were family nonetheless. And, it was the family who had to find the final resolution in the end for each other and for all involved.
On the Cosy Historical Mystery styling of I.M. Foster:
Foster has a way of charming you into the life of Daniel – as despite the brutality of the first string of murders in her storyline – there was a softness to her approach to writing the series, too. I appreciated this Cosier style within the Historical Mystery realms as I personally prefer Cosies over Hard-boiled Crime Fiction. When it comes to Cosy Historical Mysteries I can attest that sometimes the ones I gravitate to read are a bit grittier than most Cosies on the Contemporary side of the ledger would be themselves as per the Historical nature of the stories I read sometimes there are a bit more details on the crimes themselves and/or more attention to certain details from a Forensic standpoint too. It has become my own barometer really of what I deem Cosy Historical verse Historical Suspense or Thriller which would elevate stories out of the realms of Cosy completely. For me, the texture and feel of Foster’s writing keeps it comfortably Cosy. I would even consider this a Cosy Crime series – as she balances the crime scenes with the investigative and dramatic bits of narrative quite brilliantly. Nothing pushes the envelope for becoming grisly or gruesome and that means everything to me as a reader.
I appreciated how she drew the connective lines between Daniel and Kathleen as well – how, the unresolved case Daniel had from the city (two years on since we first met him) was actually the unknown murder of Kathleen’s step-brother’s father! And, that of course lead to a web of interesting interconnections and set the story afire. It gave pause to you as your reading the story – to see how the two lives were connecting – as Daniel still wanted to leave a mark on his professional life whilst Kathleen was earnestly hopeful to help her step-brother Patrick come to terms with incredible loss; both his mother and his father. What I was not quite prepared for though was the shock of truth that came out of this entire passage in the story and what the truth meant for everyone involved. In this way, Foster was also writing a riveting family drama set against the backdrop of a Cosy Crime narrative.
I noted how Foster was keenly apt at writing in the dialogue and dialect of the Irish characters at the centre of her evolving drama, too. As there were changes to how words were seen on the pages in order for the reader to denote the inflections of how her characters were speaking, too. Most of them were of Irish descent and so, the words were cheekily with an Irish lint! I loved how she kept this dearly authentic and within the era of the Edwardians too.
I was dearly invested in reading the story due to the Historical backdrop of the setting – caught in the tides of the Edwardian era where reputation and recommendations were everything. Where you could be ruined just by rumour and where women were not entirely free to live on their own accord. Foster knits this era well to life as she gives you the foundation of where we are in time as much as where we were geographically on the outskirts of New York City on Long Island. The City had its own way of showcasing the tenacles of its reach onto the Island, too.
I loved the moments of when the downstairs staff was being interviewed by Daniel – as it gave me happy memories of my years of watching Downton Abbey and reading stories which featured those kinds of class specific situations in Historical Fiction. There is a whole world behind the scenes in these kinds of families and estates. The downstairs staff tend to know a heap about what is happening in their houses and of course, they have a fair share of secrets of their own, too!
The beauty of how this novel reads is a moving drama set round an estate and household wherein all the persons in that household (upstairs and down) each play their own role in giving us information that is necessary to understand how everything happened. The entanglements are interesting as much as they are intriguing! Foster peels back the layers of her characters’ lives as you would an onion and each new layer you uncover, there are even more questions towards what is truly going on! I loved that about her style of crafting this suspenseful mystery!
*Content Notes: In respect to the strong language, it appears to only be one particular word that seems to be fancied by Daniel and as it was used so often in one particular chapter it became a bit of a comical addition for me to see it. Laughs. Think of high-end mushrooms. Also, it was more of an expression of his exasperation and anger than anything else! Not usual to find it inclusive of Cosies – Cotemporary or Historical but I overlooked it as Daniel had already won me over as the kind of lad you were rooting to find his wings to fly!
This held true for most of the novel – until in the latter half of the story, a stronger word was introduced and remained rather awkwardly in appearance a few times until the end. I say ‘awkward’ as it didn’t add to the heightening climax for me in respect to the goings on of the story – but rather was just present. I prefer stories to have less vulgarity and strong language, and this one holds true to being less inclusive than others and for that I was grateful.
In case there are readers who might be sensitive to stories which involve manipulation, physical trauma as well as psychological abuse there are scenes which involve these to a certain level of inclusion. View Spoiler » There is a LOT going on in the background of the story – in some respects, it read like an evolving soap opera which left me so dearly engaged by the plot and what was happening to the characters, it gave me a firm respite from the stresses of work! I do admit, some of this did shock me a bit – as I just wasn’t prepared for how and when it arrived in the plot. Yet, Foster has a deft hand at handling these situations and for bringing out the darker side of humanity in a way you can read those passages and know you can handle them.
Having said that – as I am a sensitive reader myself – what kept me glued to the pages and through the rougher bits of the storyline which dealt with these intensive moments was the incredible writing by Foster. Bad things might happen, but Foster etches out enough Light in the Darkness to keep you full of Hope for a better tomorrow and I applauded her on how she was able to strike that kind of balance in a story which must have been difficult to find the right tone to write and carry the reader forward into the future with her characters.
I stand by saying this is a Cosy Historical Mystery – as Foster has a keen sense about how to leverage the good and the bad and to keep things this side of Cosy rather than lead us into a much darker plot and timeline.
A few final takeaways & thoughts:
For a girl who averages two days off per week and has a high volume of work hours – it is quite difficult to dive into a novel of this length and not expect it to take a bit to read! I eagerly tried to *devour!* it in one day – in almost ONE sitting even – but my eyes and heart were not aligned. My heart was willing, but my eyes gave out – exhaustion from the week’s load was too great and it took me a bit longer to re-open the pages as a new week had begun. I ached to know what was going to happen too, as I had unfortunately left the scene so to speak after the discovery of, erm, yes, wells, let’s just say I left at a very difficult passage of the book!
Sinking back into the plot was a bit of heaven for me as I longed to know how Foster was going to tie it all together for me! I had my own thoughts about who was responsible and who might be the best bet in regard to being ‘the one’ we needed to sleuth out together with Daniel and Kathleen! However, following in Foster’s footsteps was the best remedy for me as a reader, as this was such a lovely respite from my usual readings that it truly gave me the benefit of ‘being elsewhere’ and letting time slip past me.
To say I was pondering this whilst at work would be putting it mildly! If any of my coworkers read Cosy Crime I would have talked extensively about my theories about the plot, too! Laughs. To be fair, they aren’t readers at all but gamers, so we don’t really have the same interests at all overall. I’m a gamer too but I play different games and even that we don’t have common ground. Oy. Oh, and they listen to True Crime pods. We couldn’t be more different if we were from different planets. Hmm, perhaps we are! Laughs heartedly. The closest I ever came to a True Crime ‘anything’ is enjoying Alison Sweeney’s series “The Chronicles Mysteries” wherein she hosts a pod about them and investigates cold cases. Now that is up my alley!
This became the captivating read for me for February – as it took two weeks to complete my readings of the novel rather than one! I had such a small amount of chapters leftover that it felt silly I couldn’t finish it during the work week and alas, of course, fatigue and exhaustion left me on the hook for the ending I finally found to be truly hard to swallow. It was a fitting ending by the way in which Foster wrote it and how she foreshadowed a lot of how the ending concludes – but evenso, part of me just wasn’t quite prepared for the truth of it either. Good on Foster for keeping me so engrossed in her saga that I felt so blindsided by how the first installment ended!
The best news of course is that the weekend I finished the novel, the sequel was due to arrive on Monday! I felt I wouldn’t be able to pause my readings of this series and had thought ahead to order the second novel even before the first was read halfway! Which is why by the time this review goes LIVE on my blog – I’ve already begun the sequel! Eek.
As foresaid, reading this novel wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t first discovered the series whilst participating on the Saint Valentine’s Day blog tour featuring the third novel “Murder on West Lake”:
See what I am hosting next on my Bookish Events page!
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2025.
I know what you mean, it can be jarring to have strong language in a cozy series. Sometimes it works for the character or situation, but it seems to me that the author has to be careful to balance the strong language and cozy vibes. (I don’t generally mind language use in my fiction, for the record, but it does need to fit the book’s tone.)
The three covers look absolutely stunning next to each other!