Tag Archives: Cornwall

#BookReview ‘Murder on the Cornish Cliffs’ by Verity Bright @BrightVerity #cosymystery #crime

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A lost garden, smugglers, a lighthouse and a squabbling family. Murder on the Cornish Cliffs by Verity Bright starts as intrepid amateur detective Lady Eleanor Swift receives a plea for help from Mr Godfrey Cunliffe, an old friend of her beloved Uncle Byron, who thinks someone is trying to kill him. Verity BrightSo the week before Christmas Ellie and butler Clifford drive to Cornwall to see if they can help. They plan to stay a few days then rush back to Henley Hall in time for a delightful Christmas surrounded by home comforts and with Ellie reunited with her fiance, Chief Inspector Hugh Seldon. But everything goes wrong from the beginning. Nothing at Gwel an Mor is as expected. The clifftop house is more a mausoleum, the garden overgrown. And when Ellie and Clifford pull into the drive they find the police. Mr Cunliffe’s gardener is dead. Did he commit suicide or, as Mr Cunliffe fears, was St Clair killed by mistake for his employer. The two men are physically similar.
Local policeman, Inspector Trevilick, has put in a call to Sergeant Brice in Chipstone’s police station so is well aware of Lady Swift’s detecting history. Cautiously, he allows her to investigate as long as she shares her findings with him. So Ellie and Clifford ask their questions and come to the conclusion that everyone, in the house, family and staff, and in the nearby village have secrets. Add in the peculiarities of the local dialect, Cornish Christmas traditions, folk songs, history of smuggling and unexpected food, the detecting pair flounder. And Mr Cunliffe is still scared for his life. Then bulldog Gladstone makes a discovery which sends the investigation off in a new direction.
There are many setbacks, twists and odddities. Every member of family and staff are peculiar in some way, the dotty aunts who quote random poetry, the sullen nephew, the downtrodden housekeeper and her bullying husband, the conspiring under-gardeners. But there are hints of the truth from local people in the village, such as Addled Aida who says ‘Let what’s buried in the past, stay in the past.’ Much to Ellie’s delight, Hugh arrives in disguise.
The mystery-solving is interspersed with humour; the banter between Ellie and Clifford, the flirting of the newly engaged couple, and the mischief of oddball pairing Gladstone and Tomkins the cat. As always, all is not as it seems. There are misunderstandings and prejudices, people who are overlooked or misunderstood, villains unrecognised, people wrongly accused and quiet unassuming heroes.
Fun and charming, with an edginess lacking in some cosy mysteries. Read it for the Cornish setting, for the eccentric aunts, the overgrown lost garden and Ellie and Clifford’s adventure at sea. Murder on the Cornish Cliffs by Verity Bright is sixteenth in the series, next is A Death in Venice.

Read my review of other books in the Lady Eleanor Swift series:-
A VERY ENGLISH MURDER #1LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH AT THE DANCE #2LADYELEANORSWIFT
A WITNESS TO MURDER #3LADYELEANORSWIFT
MURDER IN THE SNOW #4LADYELEANORSWIFT
MYSTERY BY THE SEA #5LADYELEANORSWIFT
MURDER AT THE FAIR #6LADYELEANORSWIFT
A LESSON IN MURDER #7LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH ON A WINTER’S DAY #8LADYELEANORSWIFT
A ROYAL MURDER #9LADYELEANORSWIFT
THE FRENCH FOR MURDER #10LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH DOWN THE AISLE #11LADYELEANORSWIFT
MURDER IN AN IRISH CASTLE #12LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH ON DECK #13LADYELEANORSWIFT 
MURDER IN MANHATTAN #14LADYELEANORSWIFT 
MURDER BY INVITATION #15LADYELEANORSWIFT 

If you like this, try:-
‘Death comes to Marlow’ by Robert Thorogood #2MARLOWMURDERCLUB 
‘A Fatal Crossing’ by Tom Hindle
‘The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle’ by Stuart Turton

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview MURDER ON THE CORNISH CLIFFS by Verity Bright @BrightVerity https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8Iw via SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Andrey Kurkov

#BookReview ‘The Housekeeper’ by Rose Tremain #historical

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1936 Cornwall. Lilianne Danowski is housekeeper at the coastal mansion Manderville Hall. The Housekeeper by Rose Tremain is the re-imagined story of Mrs Danvers in Daphne du Maurier’s classic Rebecca exploring a passionate forbidden relationship between housekeeper ‘Danni’ and local author. Rose TremainWhen Daphne meets Danni, the sexual tension is clear from the beginning. But this is socially-repressed 1930s England where anything other than traditional marriage is unforgiveable. Danni is a Jew who left Poland as a child with her father. Now she is alone in England, misses her homeland and is a lost soul who lives for her job. When the two women meet Danni is quickly seduced and falls deeply in love though they are only together briefly in the boathouse and at a friend’s house in London. The parallels with Rebecca are clear from the beginning – the location, the names, the infidelity – but the author/housekeeper relationship founders as propriety and expectations rule the day. du Maurier has committments to her husband and daughters and Danni is rejected. From the ruins of the love affair comes du Maurier’s masterful novel, but by the time it is published Danni has been sacked and is making a living as a seamstress. When the book is published, she is distraught to find she features as the fictional Mrs Danvers. This spiteful portrait written by the lover who spurned her is vicious and unforgiveable. This is a novel about class, wealth, power, social mores and forbidden love when Europe stood at the precipice of disaster.
According to the Author’s Note, The Housekeeper is based on a short story written some time ago by Tremain which is now in development as a film. This makes sense. This is a visual, sensual story of a love affair that goes wrong.
I hesitated about reading this novel as Rebecca is a long-time favourite of mine and I was wary of sullying that attachment. In the first few chapters I found myself continually referring back to Rebecca, looking for echoes. Two days after finishing it, I wondered if I would enjoy it more without having read Rebecca or watched the films. The description is luscious, some of the characters are wonderfully drawn [I’m thinking particularly of Lord Grenville-Withers] and scenes at Manderville Hall will be familiar to Rebecca lovers, particularly the Big Bash fancy dress ball. But accompanying my reading were the faces of Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier, Diana Rigg and Judith Anderson.
Definitely a novel that merits re-reading.

Read my reviews of these other novels by Rose Tremain:-
ABSOLUTELY & FOREVER
ISLANDS OF MERCY
LILY
THE GUSTAV SONATA

If you like this, try:-
‘The Vanishing of Audrey Wilde’ by Eve Chase
‘Little Deaths’ by Emma Flint
‘The Animals at Lockwood Manor’ by Jane Healey

And if you’d like to share this post:
#BookReview THE HOUSEKEEPER by Rose Tremain https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-aed via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Alys Clare

#BookReview ‘A Cornish Seaside Murder’ by Fiona Leitch #crime #cosycrime

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I charged through A Cornish Seaside Murder by Fiona Leitch, finishing it in two afternoons. After reading some difficult emotional novels, this was like drinking a long glass of water on a hot day. Familiarity helps. This is the sixth in the Nosey Parker cosy mystery series. Fiona LeitchThe story starts and ends during events at Penstowan’s Merrymaid Week celebrating the legend of the Penstowan Siren, the seaside village’s very own mermaid. Part-time caterer Jodie Parker is now an auxiliary detective sergeant reporting to her partner DCI Nathan Withers. When a fisherman is found dead, and the church’s mermaid statue disappears, the police are at a loss to explain what is happening. The mystery is somehow connected with the village’s fishing businesses, the boats are now spending more time taking tourists on sightseeing trips than fishing. As always Jodie either directly knows the people involved, went to school with their sister or knows someone who knows them. Nathan, as the Liverpudlian outsider, is alternately a humorous or serious foil for Jodie’s quick wit. Awkward questions are asked as always by Jodie’s mother Shirley and daughter Daisy, making Jodie stop rushing around and reconsider her assumptions.
The first theory is that one fisherman is invading the territory of another or illegally fishing in protected waters. Then smuggling is considered, for centuries isolated Cornish beaches have been the secret locations for smugglers and wreckers. Or perhaps it is drugs. The plot moves quickly and there are a lot of theories and suspects. Meanwhile Jodie and Nathan are getting more serious, Daisy is growing up and becoming more independent, and Shirley has an admirer.
A quick, light-hearted read, well-written with good character progression from book to book. Jodie is a heart-warming character, straight-talking, sometimes impulsive, who is juggling life as a single mother while holding down two jobs. Perhaps something will have to give?

Here are my reviews of the other books in the Nosey Parker series:-
THE CORNISH WEDDING MURDER #1NOSEYPARKER
THE CORNISH VILLAGE MURDER #2NOSEYPARKER
THE PERFECT CORNISH MURDER #3NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH CHRISTMAS MURDER #4NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH RECIPE FOR MURDER #5NOSEYPARKER
THE CORNISH CAMPSITE MURDER #7NOSEYPARKER
THE CORNISH CASTLE MURDER #8NOSEYPARKER

If you like this, try:-
‘The Marlow Murder Club’ by Robert Thorogood #1MARLOWMURDERCLUB
‘Murder in the Belltower’ by Helena Dixon #5MISSUNDERHAY
‘A Death in the Dales’ by Frances Brody #7KATESHACKLETON

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview A CORNISH SEASIDE MURDER by Fiona Leitch https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8eF via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Conn Iggulden

#BookReview ‘A Cornish Christmas Murder’ by Fiona Leitch #crime #cosycrime

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Christmas was long gone when I started to read A Cornish Christmas Murder by Fiona Leitch but it didn’t matter. Although this is a murder tale starting three days before Christmas, the festive season is a background theme rather than being key to the story. Fiona LeitchFourth in the Nosey Parker cosy crime series featuring ex-Metropolitan Police caterer Jodie, this is a closed room mystery in a snowbound country hotel high on Bodmin Moor. Jodie, mum Shirley, daughter Daisy and friend Debbie have got a last-minute catering job at Kingseat Abbey, a country mansion being renovated into a hotel. A charitable foundation, run by a millionaire with a notorious bad boy reputation, has hired the hotel as venue for a Christmas party for local children. The party is a success but after the departure of the children, the weather turns nasty. Jodie and friends are snowbound with the hotel’s owner and staff plus the millionaire, his son and charity manager. They are soon joined by people lost in the snow; four Japanese girls whose car is in a ditch, and a mysterious couple who are rather vague about who they are. While Jodie rustles up food for the group, hotel manager Lily – who grew up in Penstowan with Jodie – attempts to find beds for the unexpected guests in the partially-redecorated hotel. Next morning, one of the group is found dead in a locked bedroom.
The police are informed but, because of the snow, are unable to get to the remote hotel. Jodie’s boyfriend DCI Nathan Withers, stuck in Penstowan, reminds her that the murderer is most likely still in the house and urges her not to start investigating. Of course she ignores his advice. While Daisy proves herself to have inherited her grandfather’s sharp eye for clues, Jodie tries to keep all the guests in the house without frightening them. But the hours pass without the police arriving.
This is a great locked room mystery in a house with a sinister history, a hidden priest hole and secret passages, and the brooding silence of the snow-covered moors around them.
Despite there being too many toilet jokes – I don’t remember noticing them in the earlier books –  this is an easy read with enough laughs and unpredictable elements to keep me guessing until near the end. Oh, and there are some tempting Christmas recipes at the end.
The baking theme continues in book five, A Cornish Recipe for Murder, to be reviewed here soon.

Here are my reviews of other books in the Nosey Parker series:-
THE CORNISH WEDDING MURDER #1NOSEYPARKER
THE CORNISH VILLAGE MURDER #2NOSEYPARKER
THE PERFECT CORNISH MURDER #3NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH RECIPE FOR MURDER #5NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH SEASIDE MURDER #6NOSEYPARKER
THE CORNISH CAMPSITE MURDER #7NOSEYPARKER
THE CORNISH CASTLE MURDER #8NOSEYPARKER

If you like this, try:-
‘The Secrets of Gaslight Lane’ by MRC Kasasian #4GOWERDETECTIVE
‘Murder at the Country Club’ by Helena Dixon #9MissUnderhay
‘A Death in Valencia’ by Jason Webster #2MAXCAMARA

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview A CORNISH CHRISTMAS MURDER by Fiona Leitch https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7Yf via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Helena Dixon

#BookReview ‘The Hidden Years’ by Rachel Hore @Rachelhore #WW2 #Sixties

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The Hidden Years by Rachel Hore is a dual-timeline story set in and around a Cornish country mansion, Silverwood, during World War Two and twenty years later. Events that occur in the Forties have long tentacles and, although the Sixties feels a free and liberated time, the after-effects of the war are very real. Rachel HoreWhen nineteen-year old Belle falls for a musician, she leaves university without sitting her last exam and travels with him to Cornwall to an artistic commune near Falmouth and the Helford Estuary. Despite feeling the odd one out at Silverwood, Belle cannot contemplate leaving because she has fallen in love with Gray. And then she stumbles on a number of coincidences which trigger questions about her own background. An unexplained conversation overheard, a photo of a strange woman holding a baby, a shabby box containing the belongings of a nurse.
In the wartime strand we meet Imogen Lockhart, on her way to Cornwall by train. Her role is as a responsible adult accompanying two young brothers travelling to their school which has been evacuated to a country house, Silverwood. Though intending to return home, Imogen finds herself remaining at St Mary’s School where the matron has been taken ill. In fact she stays in Cornwall, completes her nursing training and works in a hospital. The Hidden Years is about Belle and Imogen and the connection between them.
This is a story of mystery, romance and relationships, rather than a story of war. Despite the threat of bombing, I found it slow and repetitive in places and skipped paragraphs which summarised things I’d already read. I was underwhelmed rather than disappointed. At times I was exasperated with Belle and the 1966 strand and would have been happier if the novel concentrated on Imogen’s story. Much of the important action at the end of the book is reported, not shown happening in real time, and so I felt distant from the secret when it was finally revealed. Cornwall is the hero of this book, it really steps off the pages and becomes true. The descriptions of Silverwood, during the war and in the Sixties, make it seem a real house.
Rachel Hore is a favourite author for me and, despite thinking The Hidden Years could be so much better, there are still plenty of her books for me to read. So far, my favourite is A Beautiful Spy.

Click the title to read my reviews of other books by Rachel Hore:-
A BEAUTIFUL SPY
A WEEK IN PARIS
ONE MOONLIT NIGHT
THE LOVE CHILD

If you like this, try:-
‘The Secret Shore’ by Liz Fenwick
‘Another You’ by Jane Cable
‘After the Bombing’ by Clare Morrall

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE HIDDEN YEARS by Rachel Hore @Rachelhore https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7BP via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Tim Pears

#BookReview ‘The Perfect Cornish Murder’ by Fiona Leitch #crime #cosycrime

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After reading a series of dense historical novels, I turned to Fiona Leitch for some Cornish escapism. The Perfect Cornish Murder is third in her Nosey Parker series about Jodie Parker, ex-policewoman in London now caterer, living again in her hometown, Penstowan. Fiona Leitch
When a film crew rolls up, complete with famous soap star and sexy leading man, the whole village lines up to be cast as extras. Jodie, initially reluctant, accompanies mum Shirley and daughter Daisy. If the fictional actors remind you of real ones its because they are ‘of a type,’ not just the soap star but an ageing roué, young high maintenance American star with miniature dog, the handsome romantic lead. But as the story progresses, Jodie discovers the truth behind the actors’ masks.
The love triangle from the previous book continues, with Jodie torn between Cornish best friend Tony and incomer detective chief inspector Nathan. But briefly torn between Tony’s Mr Darcy impression in a wet shirt, and Nathan’s gorgeous smile, Jodie suddenly finds herself spending more time on the film set when the owner of the catering van has an accident. Taking over the cooking gives her opportunities to people watch. But Gino’s mishap is not the first, a series of unexplained accidents are waved away as a curse until one of the star actors dies. Which means Nathan visits the film set every day.
There are plenty of chuckle moments, my favourite is Shirley’s definition of the different types of love according to shoes.
This maturing series does what it says on the tin. The Perfect Cornish Murder is a cosy mystery that combines humour, romance and murder without violence. It’s heartwarming, funny and moreish.

Here are my reviews of other books in the Nosey Parker series:-
THE CORNISH WEDDING MURDER #1NOSEYPARKER
THE CORNISH VILLAGE MURDER #2NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH CHRISTMAS MURDER #4NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH RECIPE FOR MURDER #5NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH SEASIDE MURDER #6NOSEYPARKER
THE CORNISH CAMPSITE MURDER #7NOSEYPARKER
THE CORNISH CASTLE MURDER #8NOSEYPARKER

If you like this, try:-
‘Or The Bull Kills You’ by Jason Webster #1MAXCAMARA
‘The Killing of Polly Carter’ by Robert Thorogood #2DEATHINPARADISE
‘A Snapshot of Murder’ by Frances Brody #10KATESHACKLETON

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview THE PERFECT CORNISH MURDER by Fiona Leitch https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7hE via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-  John Boyne

#BookReview ‘The Cornish Wedding Murder’ by Fiona Leitch #crime #cosycrime

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Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker, former Metropolitan Police officer, has moved home to Cornwall with daughter Daisy. When she agrees to do the catering for an ex-boyfriend’s wedding, she doesn’t expect to find herself involved a murder investigation. The Cornish Wedding Murder is first in the Nosey Parker cosy crime series by Fiona Leitch. A while ago I stumbled on the second book in this series and enjoyed it so much I decided to start at the beginning. Fiona LeitchDoes Jodie find murder and mayhem, or does trouble find her? When Tony Penhaligon’s fiancé disappears on the eve of their wedding, and his ex-wife is found dead in the grounds, he is arrested. Jodie, who has taken an instant dislike to the flashy bride-to-be Cheryl, becomes peacemaker as Mel, Tony’s ex, publicly accuses her successor of marrying him for his money. Never one to stand on the sidelines, Jodie steps in to calm the situation.
This is an enjoyable, easy read. Perfect for when you want something to sink into and forget the world outside. Yes, it’s a murder story. But it’s also funny, full of twists, turns and a main character who is impossible not to like. Jodie is the sort of friend everyone wants. Meddling, well-meaning, gung-ho and giggly, she has a sensitive nose for wrongdoing and a clear idea of what’s right and wrong. Aided by an adopted fluffy white dog and loaded down with leftover wedding food that must be eaten, Jodie is determined to uphold the concept of ‘innocent until proven guilty.’
A well-written mystery that introduces the setting and characters of the future books. Jodie is likeable. Flawed, but in a nice way that makes her seem a real person. Ably supported by her Mum and daughter Daisy, everywhere Jodie turns in the village someone remembers her as the daughter of respected and much-missed Chief Inspector Eddie Parker. That’s quite a reputation to live up to. Looking for a peaceful life, a new start with her daughter away from London, she manages to find trouble around every corner. She pursues every clue she finds, instead of telling local detective DCI Withers who despairs [or pretends to] at her interference.
Close to the end, I was still guessing the identity of the murderer. The conclusion of the romantic sub-plot is also unsure. A nice mixture of amateur sleuthing and romance. You’ll finish it wanting to read more.

Here are my reviews of other books in the Nosey Parker series:-
THE CORNISH VILLAGE MURDER #2NOSEYPARKER
THE PERFECT CORNISH MURDER #3NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH CHRISTMAS MURDER #4NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH RECIPE FOR MURDER #5NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH SEASIDE MURDER #6NOSEYPARKER
THE CORNISH CAMPSITE MURDER #7NOSEYPARKER
THE CORNISH CASTLE MURDER #8NOSEYPARKER

If you like this, try:-
‘Murder at Catmmando Mountain’ by Anna Celeste Burke
‘The Art of the Imperfect’ by Kate Evans #1SCARBOROUGHMYSTERIES
‘Magpie Murders’ by Anthony Horowitz #1SUSANRYELAND

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview THE CORNISH WEDDING MURDER by Fiona Leitch https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-64h via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Natalie Haynes

#BookReview ‘Tea for Two at the Little Cornish Kitchen’ by Jane Linfoot @janelinfoot #romance

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I’m not a great reader of novels described as ‘heartwarming’, particularly with cheerful pastel-coloured covers. But as an impulse read for a winter day when I was feeling under the weather and in need of comfort, Tea for Two at the Little Cornish Kitchen by Jane Linfoot proved to be a bit of a surprise. Jane LinfootSecond in the Little Cornish Kitchen series, I hesitate to call this a ‘cosy romance’ but it is fun, flirty and funny. Novels set in Cornwall are almost a genre of their own and the fictional seaside village of St Aidan with its pastel-coloured houses set on steep windy streets leading to the beach is ideal for a ‘community’ novel with a strong list of characters.
There are lots of alliterations, hashtags and cute names starting with Cressida Cupcake, the social media name for hit online baker Cressy Hobson. Dog and apartment-sitting for her brother Charlie [owner of the Little Cornish Kitchen Cafe and star of the first book in Linfoot’s series, one of a collection set in St Aidan] Cressy will be at Seaspray Cottage for six weeks. She’s glad to escape London and the embarrassing fallout after an online baking disaster. She’s trending on social media as #CrappyCupcake, her book deal has fallen through, her blog sponsors have disappeared and she is short of cash. But when confronted with her sister-in-law’s circle of best friends, she hides the truth and is determined to work things out on her own.
Inevitably she is soon pulled into the community and joins the fundraising plans for the financially-struggling Kittiwake Court community care home. Cressy’s private baking parties take off, as do her sales of bake boxes via the local Facebook group. Add in a meeting with her handsome teenage crush, assorted sheep to be fed and eggs to be collected, a collection of adorable cats and dogs, various cute children and babies, and the scene is set for Cressy to lurch from disaster to triumph to embarrassment and disaster again and again. There are serious themes too – miscarriage and infertility being the main two – but in general there’s a light hand when it comes to the reality of seaside living, seasonal unemployment, online hate, poverty and the struggles of an ageing population. This is romantic comedy, a getaway from the real world. In this pastel-coloured village, reality is pushed firmly to one side.
Not my normal reading but great for the time when a Bakewell tart blondie is preferable to a single digestive. Oh, and if you enjoy baking there are some great recipes at the end.

If you like this, try:-
‘Girl in Trouble’ by Rhoda Baxter #3SMARTGIRLS
‘Butterfly Barn’ by Karen Power
’59 Memory Lane’ by Celia Anderson

And if you’d like to share a link, try:
#BookReview TEA FOR TWO AT THE LITTLE CORNISH KITCHEN by Jane Linfoot @janelinfoot https://wp.me/p5gEM4-5wE via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The Cornish Village Murder’ by Fiona Leitch #crime #cosycrime

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The Cornish Village Murder by Fiona Leitch is the second Nosey Parker cosy mystery and the first I’ve read, in fact I read it when it was originally called A Brush with Death. Jodie Parker, ex-Metropolitan police officer, and newly single mum has returned home to Cornwall. It’s the week of Penstowan’s inaugural arts festival and Jodie, no longer working for the police, is doing the catering. The festival’s main attraction is painter Duncan Stovall, famous for his Penstowan series of sea paintings. Fiona Leitch This is a story with instant fizz. Written in the first person, Jodie’s, I loved the sly sometimes saucy asides that pull you straight into the jokes, the personalities and the action. If it were an item of food on a menu catered by Jodie, this book would be a mash-up of a Cornish saffron bun slathered with butter and clotted cream, a mug of steaming tea and a glass of scrumpy. Cornwall is a part of the book’s DNA, not just the dialect of the Penstowan residents or the food but the wonderful descriptions of coastal scenery that make you want to get into the car and head south on the M5.
When a visiting author is found dead at the bottom of the cliffs Jodie can’t resist sticking her nose in and asking questions, much to the annoyance of DCI Nathan Withers and the irritation of Jodie’s daughter Daisy and mum Shirley.
This is a silky read, one of the best of its genre I’ve read. A brilliant community of family, friends and townspeople, a beautiful seaside setting, with a witty detective, plotted on two levels. The foundation is Jodie’s life settling into the town of her childhood, a triangular-shaped romantic entanglement, and her burgeoning new catering business. Overlaying this is the case in which she becomes entangled; the art world, not just the creation of art but the finance, promotion, sales and investment.
I particularly enjoyed the joshing with childhood friends Debbie and Tony, including lots of cultural references from the Eighties that are lightly handled without huge signposts saying ‘laugh here’.
Read it and chuckle.

Here are my reviews of other books in the Nosey Parker series:-
THE CORNISH WEDDING MURDER #1NOSEYPARKER
THE PERFECT CORNISH MURDER #3NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH CHRISTMAS MURDER #4NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH RECIPE FOR MURDER #5NOSEYPARKER
A CORNISH SEASIDE MURDER #6NOSEYPARKER
THE CORNISH CAMPSITE MURDER #7NOSEYPARKER
THE CORNISH CASTLE MURDER #8NOSEYPARKER

If you like this, try:-
‘Magpie Murders’ by Anthony Horowitz #1SUSANRYELAND
‘A Deadly Discovery’ by JC Kenney #4ALLIE COBB
‘Tea for Two at the Little Cornish Kitchen’ by Jane Linfoot #2LITTLECORNISHKITCHEN

And if you’d like to share a link:
#BookReview THE CORNISH VILLAGE MURDER by Fiona Leitch https://wp.me/p5gEM4-5lq via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘59 Memory Lane’ by Celia Anderson @CeliaAnderson1 #romance #contemporary

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59 Memory Lane by Celia Anderson has a cozy tone reminding me immediately of MC Beaton’s Agatha Raisin series, but without the crime. Anderson has created the sort of feelgood destination you long to live in, to get away from it all. Pengelly is an isolated seaside village in Cornwall with an infrequent bus service. Celia AndersonWhen a local do-gooder starts an Adopt-a-Granny scheme pairing people together, 110-year old May Rosevere is paired with her eighty year old neighbour Julia. Except unbeknown to everyone else, these two women harbour a long held grudge against each other.
The central premise of the novel is that May’s long life – and she is free of the medical complaints experienced by other older characters in the book – is thanks to her magical ability to collect other people’s memories and extract energy from them; this is described as a kind of frission, naughtiness, a buzz. May, determined to reach her 111th birthday, steps up her ‘thought harvesting’ and so is delighted to learn that Julia has discovered a large collection of family letters going back decades.
This book has two major storylines spliced together – the feelgood seaside life in Pengelly and the adventures of the community, the romances, the illnesses, the community spirit; and the flip side, the unexplored darkness of May’s theft of other people’s memories. I found the latter quite difficult. It feels as if May is basically stealing other people’s lives; when she takes Julia’s letters, Julia becomes forgetful, vague and weak. May’s ‘thought harvesting’ is not clearly defined, described variously as a power, skill, ability, talent. May’s father tells her, as a child, about her ‘power’ but we see her doing nothing positive with it. It is not a force for good, she simply uses it for a feeling of well-being. In the beginning she gets her buzz from handling secondhand possessions at fairs and sales and by picking up rubbish and forgotten objects. But when did the stealing start?
The community at Pengelly is large and so the first half of the novel includes lots of scene setting and explanation of who is who. For this reason, this feels like the first novel in a series. The story really took off for me in the second half when May’s ‘talent’ comes back to bite her and she starts to feel guilty at taking people’s memories from them when it clearly causes damage. Anderson does an excellent job in creating the world of Pengelly, the community spirit for a village often cut-off, its residents have become supportive and innovative. There is romance for young and old, and support and friendship for everyone when illness strikes.
At the end I would have liked more explanations; to the mystery of Julia’s letters, the death of May’s husband, the mysterious Will who went off to be a priest, or the meaning of the missing ring. I can’t help but think this is a missed opportunity to turn this novel into something more than a Cornish village romance. Pengelly is definitely an escapist village with its beach walks, barbecues, cake, biscuits and mugs of hot chocolate, and it was good to see a cast of characters across the age spectrum, from six-year old Tamsin to 110 year-old May and lots of 50-80+, all getting along together. But I was left feeling I had been led, by the cover design, to expect one novel but got another.

If you like this, try:-
‘The Lost Letters of William Woolf’ by Helen Cullen
‘On a Night Like This’ by Barbara Freethy
‘Butterfly Barn’ by Karen Power

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview 59 MEMORY LANE by Celia Anderson @CeliaAnderson1 https://wp.me/p5gEM4-46l via @SandraDanby