Margaret Hoggett, a charwoman in a small country village, is dead through either accident, murder, or possibly a combination of the two (was she drugged by accident in an attempt to murder somebody else?). Her employer is under suspicion for certain dealings around the recently concluded war, so Leo Page, intelligence agent, is sent to investigate her death. There, his path crosses again with Dr. James Sommers, who stitched up a wound for him during the war. Suffering from what then would have been called battle fatigue, Sommers has returned to the peaceful village where he spent holidays during school. He's not prepared to be dealing with violent deaths again, but confronted with the fact that his village is no longer as peaceful as he thought, he's prepared to do what is necessary to help Page put things right.
I am famously not much for cozy mysteries, in the sense that the term is usually used currently. I'm not sure this IS a cozy mystery in the sense the term is usually used currently, as there are multiple deaths and a professional detective. (Most of my issues around cozy mysteries involve sustained series combined with an amateur detective; I can accept dragons, but I have problems with believing that the same donut shop owner has to solve every crime that happens in town.) But it does have a charming cast of country village characters, with plenty of secrets to go around. There's little to no tension around Page and Sommers romance; that's really just a matter of time for them to get together, and particularly Page getting used to the idea that he could have a home and somebody who loves him. It would probably be appealing to many fans of cozy mysteries, provided that they're good with some violence and on page sex.
I enjoyed everybody in this book and I hope that the promise of "Page and Sommers: Book One" leading to more is fulfilled.
Overall: A