I first read the original version of this compelling book "Always Karen" nearly twenty years ago. Whether or not you believe in life after death, it contains profound wisdom. Jeanne Walker's account of the events following her daughter's death are told rationally and clearly. There is nothing sensationalistic about it, which makes me believe the author's motives were greater than making money. Look at it as an extraordinary glimpse into the unknown or a guide to living a more postive life, but read this book!

I just finished reading "More Alive Than Ever ...Always, Karen" for the first time and I feel it was just what I needed! I lost my boyfriend to Leukemia two weeks ago after a two year battle and have been searching for some form of consolation. This book explains in detail what Karen felt right before dying, during death, and during the crossover to a different plane of existence. She communicates through her Mom that she still exists and that we all eventually return to our spiritual existence when our human life has ended. This book is similar to "Embraced by the Light;" however, Karen's was not a near-death-experience but a life after death experience here on earth. I believe now with all my heart that those we have lost are still near us watching over and guiding us. This book has given me the motivation to not only continue my previous goals but to do more on this earth so that I may grow spiritually before my time here is gone.

The British cozy mystery is practically an institution so it's fun when a book comes along that respects that tradition while giving it a different twist. In this case, an American protagonist, Dorothy Martin, guides us through British village life, high church nuances and murder.

This book has all of the things I want in a four star rated book. The writing is always competent and sometimes quite witty. The plot moved along with only one or two annoying digressions into tourist information. And, most important, I like Dorothy. Maybe it because I've recently helped my own mother cope with widowhood but Dams has created a character who ran both true and likeable. Of course, the hint of an upcoming romance with the widowed chief constable will have me back for more soon.

The mystery itself is solid. There are plenty of suspects with reason to kill the victim. Was it church politics? Was it a matter of musical taste? Was it an agrieved employee? Was it a jealous scholar?

I've held back a fifth star for a couple of reasons. While I throughly enjoyed the book it isn't so outstanding that I'll be recommending to friends (yet). Also, as a non-Christian, I felt Dams was a bit heavy handed with the religious angle (even if the victim was a Canon).

It's Christmas Eve in the small town of Sherebury. Dorothy Martin, a recently widowed American, is looking forward to her first Christmas as a resident of England. But when leaving the cathedral's midnight mass, she literally stumbles over a body. Soon the questions are flying. Who killed Canon Billings? Since the list of suspects includes most of the town, more importantly why? Dorothy has her hands full trying to figure this one out.

I was drawn in by the charm of this book. It starts out rather quickly and the pace never lags until the gripping conclusion. Dorothy is an interesting main character. I felt her interest in the murder was a little under explained, but I was willing to let that go. I really enjoyed the writing style. The first person narration felt like a letter to a friend and the scenes where Dorothy argued with her self were funny because they were so true.

Having already discovered this author's other series, I now look forward to reading more in this one as well. She is a truly talented mystery author.

Dorothy Martin and her husband had planned to move to England when they retired. When he died she decided to go ahead with their plan. She moves to Sherebury England where she starts to put the pieces of her life back together. Because this is a murder mystery she promptly stumbles over the body of Jonathan Billings. To the dismay of her new friend, Chief Constable Alan Nesbitt, she starts to investigate and as she gets closer to the solution the danger increases. A charming cozy with a main character whose affinity for hats rivals Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Pollifax.

Dorothy Martin, an American widow with arthritic knees and a penchant for hats, travels with the reader into this cozy mystery set on a dramatic island off the coast of Scotland. Bright flowers, glorious hiking, historic landmarks, mislaid keys, heavenly meals, a canny cat, travel to the dark and mysterious island of Staffa, even a cure for seasickness, factor into a fun and clever whodunit. When one of the members of an acrimonious church group is lost and presumed drowned in Fingal's cave, Dorothy senses more than knows that it is murder. Back at the beautiful island, she puzzles out the numerous motives, as a major storm blows an ill wind across the island. Better batten down the hatches, this one is exciting.

This is the third in Jeanne M. Dams' delightful English cozy series featuring Dorothy Martin, a retired American schoolteacher living in Sherebury, England. In this adventure, our heroine, en route to a vacation on the Scottish island of Iona, finds herself on a bus with an ill-assorted, bickering American church tour group headed for the same idyllic destination. Dorothy's holiday turns out to be anything but peaceful: An obnoxious American is killed in a fall from a cliff in Fingal's Cave, and Dorothy suspects murder. As if that weren't enough, the island is hit by an extremely violent storm. This is a wonderful series, with a charming sleuth and many likable characters. I recommend beginning with the first novel, "The Body in the Transept," and reading the books in order, so you can become acquainted with Dorothy and her friends.

This is not a review...I had written a review but do not see it listed with the others do you only take so many for each book or is there certain criteria that I am not meeting....I thought it was a good review. Lawscotch@aol.com (Margie R.)

The author of this book has "Karen" give the SAME EXACT PHILOSOPHY that you would find in "Our Unseen Guest", written over 50 years before this book was published!

I read this book many years ago, as it was a selection available in a monthly book club I belonged to at the time. I had recently lost 2 beloved pets (my poodles named Moxie, and Gigi soon after). I was so moved by Jeanne's experiences with her daughter Karen's communication through automatic writing! When I read that it was Karen's job (at that time, I don't know if it still is) to care for the animals as they came to her world, it gave me great peace! My dogs were wonderful members of our family, but nobody that they would have known had passed before them. So there would have been no one there for them, to welcome them home. Knowing some one as caring and loving as Karen was was taking care of our 'babies' was absolutely pure comfort! This book was a great experience. Jeanne and Karen write with such love, you really can feel it as you read. What a loving thing for Karen to do for her mother! You will enjoy this book, it is extraodinary

I'm a fan of Jeanne Dams and her Dorothy Martin mysteries. I've read all those and looked forward to starting on another of her series featuring Swedish servant Hilda Johansen. The story takes place around the turn of the century and I was execting a lot of period detail. Well, there was but unfortunately not much else. The plot is rather contrived, the characters rather wooden and unappealing and the setting of South Bend, Indiana pretty dull (no offense to South Bend intended but it's not New York or Chicago)The character of Hilda is also a big problem. She's rather stilted and uninteresting,not a good thing when the plot develops around her. This book did not even begin to compare with Dams'work in her other mystery series. I really was disappointed in this book.

I loved Jeanne Dams' Dorothy Martin series and looked forward to reading about her new heroine Hilda Johansson. Unfortunately, I found Hilda an unsympathetic and unbelievable protagonist. The plot has Hilda, a Swedish servant in a well-to-do household, investigating the death of a relative of the prominent family next door. Hilda, with sixteen years of a Swedish upbringing and only three years in America (which according to my calculations makes her all of nineteen) is found entering into such wildly diverse activities as rescuing another immigrant wrongly accused of the murder, planting stories in the press, and of course outwitting the police, all while cleaning house. The book is well-researched in terms of the lives of the servant class in the year 1900 but I think Ms. Dams seems more in control of her material when writing about the middle years of her widowed and remarried expatriate Dorothy Martin.

This is the first of a series of mysteries involving Hilda Johannson, a young Swedish immigrant who works in the largest mansion in South Bend, Indiana. Her two sisters and a brother also work in the town and she is courted, somewhat reluctantly, by Patrick, a charming Irish fireman. Her employers are kind, though the butler Mr. Williams is a bit of a tyrant, and things are generally good until Hilda and Patrick discover a murdered woman near the mansion.

There were a lot of things I liked about this book. Hilda is an intelligent young woman who manages to work successfully in an oppressive environment, but she also has character flaws, like a stubborn streak and a bad temper, and that makes her believable. Her friends and family are interesting, and Patrick is an admirable partner.

The mystery, however, was neither interesting nor explained well, though I trust other reviewers who like the author's work, and would give this series another try.