Jane Darrowfield and the Madwoman Next Door by Barbara Ross

Reviewed by Jeanne

Armed with her new business cards that read “Jane Darrowfield, Professional Busybody,” Jane is ready for her next case.  She just doesn’t expect it to come from next door.  Megan, the young lawyer who moved in a few months ago wants to know if she is losing her mind.

Jane is understandably taken aback at first.  She’s not a mental health professional and not qualified to offer an opinion, but Megan is persistent. She’s up for partner in her law firm and can’t risk any rumors of mental instability.  Jane agrees on the condition that if she finds no evidence of outside agency that Megan will consult a doctor.

Jane soon has cause to believe that the odd occurrences aren’t all in Megan’s head. Before she can investigate further, there’s a complication:  Megan vanishes.  But is this the act of an unstable young woman who let the pressure get to her and fled, or has someone taken her?

This is the second in the Jane Darrowfield series.  I thoroughly enjoyed the first one, and this second did not let me down. While Jane’s description of “professional busybody” sounds frivolous, she is in fact a good researcher who examines the facts. Having retired from one job, she found that she wants to use her abilities. She’s knowledgeable, composed, but not perfect. She’s looking for cases that don’t exactly fit the usual private detective profile, problems that need to be solved but which may not require legal intervention.

For me, this series ticks most of my favorite boxes: a well-developed sleuth who is analytic and competent; good supporting characters, including a love interest with mutual respect; intriguing, inventive, and thoughtful plot; and clues interspersed throughout.  I was especially impressed by Jane’s depth of character; she has real issues to deal with, and there are no easy answers to some of them.  I also like that Jane is retirement age. I have become partial to senior sleuths.  I’m sure it has nothing at all to do with my own age.

And yes, there was a cat—actually two—but neither are Jane’s. 

Alas, I don’t see a release date for a third book in the series, but I’ll be snapping it up when it does arrive.

Titles in the series are:

Jane Darrowfield, Professional Busybody
Jane Darrowfiled and the Mad Woman Next Door