Clara Benning is the local veterinarian. So when a plague of snakes descends upon the small town where she lives, the locals naturally turn to her for help. And help she can, having studied reptiles and snakes in the past.
I did not know this, but apparently the British Isles do have a venomous snake species, the adder. So people understandably get upset when adders start showing up in their homes, among other less dangerous snakes.
In the past, a local man of limited intellect was known for his obsession with snakes. But supposedly this man was in a medical facility and not in the area. People begin to suspect that maybe this man has returned to the village and is the one behind the sudden influx of snakes. Why he would be doing it may be tied to a fire at a church decades ago.
At first it is mostly just an annoying if a bit of a frightening nuisance. Then a deadly snake native from Papua New Guinea is found in the bed of a little baby. The whole village is looking to Clare for help not only to deal with the snakes but to track down whoever is sending dangerous snakes into the village.
*SPOILER* I liked this story a lot until the end when the killer turns out to be someone who was thought to be dead and buried for decades. I mean, how is the reader supposed to solve the mystery on their own when the author resurrects a corpse? But up to that point, I enjoyed it. Clare has personal problems that make her an interesting detective mainly due to a childhood accident that left her with a nasty scar on her face. Which, for the most part, she is failing to deal with in a healthy manner. But she is smart, stubborn, daring and knowledgeable. And quite likeable.
Here is a review by Kirkus Reviews.
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