Tag Archives: cosy mystery

#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

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 tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#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 ‘The Marlow Murder Club’ by Robert Thorogood #cosycrime

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I’m very late coming to The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood, spurred on by wanting to read the books before watching the television series. I’ve loved Agatha Christie books since I was young and this is full of the same spirit; the puzzle of the unravelling a mystery, set within a small community with a limited geographical area, with death but not violence. Curiosity, nosiness, imagination, determination and knowing when to break the rules.Robert ThorogoodThree women are brought together accidentally, randomly, by murder. Three murders in quiet, respectable, boring Marlow where nothing ever happens. The three victims seem unconnected. Suitably, seventy-seven year old Judith Potts who asks the awkward questions is a crossword setter, a professional puzzler who invents exactly the kind of cryptic clues I don’t understand.
Until the first murder happens at a house on the opposite side of the river from Judith’s waterside home, she has been living a quiet, almost hermit-like, minding her own business. She has earned a reputation as an eccentric. It all starts one summer night when Judith strips naked and steps into the Thames for a nighttime swim. She hears a gunshot and finds her friend Stefan Dunwoody shot dead. Detective Sergeant Tanika Malik, Judith quickly decides, is asking the wrong questions and too slowly. Judith’s first suspect is local auctioneer Elliot Howard but he has an alibi; he was at choir practice when Stefan died. Not believing anything she is told, Judith goes to the church to make enquiries where she finds a woman hiding in a cupboard. It is Becks Starling, the shy wife of the vicar, professional housewife and mother, incredibly tidy and drinks only tea. It’s difficult to think of two people more dissimilar in nature than Becks and whisky-drinking, naked-swimming, Judith.
When there’s a second murder in a bungalow on a suburban street in Marlow, Judith meets her third co-investigator. Iqbal Kassam was a taxi driver who worked the night shift and slept during the day. His dream was to own a boat on the river. So why has he been shot in the head? Judith, suspecting the two murders are linked, packs a flask of tea and a packet of beetroot sandwiches and sets out to be nosy. She meets dog-walker Suzie Harris who is walking Iqbal’s Dobermann, Emma.
And so the investigative trio is formed and the story is mainly told by these three women and Tanika Malik. This is a funny, clever novel which pays tribute to the type of small town community which exists across the country. It also shines a light on the roles of women in modern society, the misconceptions about their abilities, assumptions made based on personal appearance, and the bullying and crime that goes on in even the most idyllic-looking streets.
I’m hooked. Next is Death comes to Marlow.

Here are my reviews of other books in this series:-
DEATH COMES TO MARLOW #2MARLOWMURDERCLUB
THE QUEEN OF POISONS #3MARLOWMURDERCLUB

… and my review of THE KILLING OF POLLY CARTER #2DEATHINPARADISE by the same author

If you like this, try:-
‘Death at the Dance’ by Verity Bright #2Lady Eleanor Swift
‘The Mystery of Three Quarters’ by Sophie Hannah #3Poirot
‘Magpie Murders’ by Anthony Horowitz #1SusanRyeland

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE MARLOW MURDER CLUB by Robert Thorogood https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-8b0 via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Frank Gardner

#BookReview ‘Murder in the Snow’ by Verity Bright @BrightVerity #cosymystery #crime

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Christmas is coming to Henley Hall and Lady Eleanor Swift is hosting a party for the entire village. Gifts, food and drink, games and a cross-country fun run around the grounds of the Hall. When one runner fails to finish the course, Eleanor’s Christmas turns into another detective adventure. Murder in the Snow by Verity Bright is fourth in this fun atmospheric series. Verity BrightWhen Conrad Canning, coalman to the Hall, dies at the snowy finish line, Eleanor suspects foul play but Detective Chief Inspector Seldon believes it was a heart attack. Until traces of digitalis are discovered. This has uncomfortable connotations for Eleanor and her loyal butler Clifford as it mirrors the unexplained death of Eleanor’s Uncle Byron. Each book features the core characters with the addition of new faces for each murder mystery, but which will be suspects, witnesses, victim and villain. Some resentments are not forgotten with the passage of time, but burn brighter.
The food is sumptuous, as are the homemade alcohol beverages. But this time, both are examined for evidence of cause of death. As Christmas approaches New Year, the beautiful house is covered in snow and the village is cut off from the outside. Clifford deems it dangerous to drive the Rolls along the country lanes having previously ended up in a ditch, and Seldon is stranded in a pub. In pursuit of more evidence, Eleanor and Clifford set off across country wearing snow shoes.
The continuation of Eleanor’s romantic entanglements continues slowly in this story, one step at a time, glances are exchanged and there is some gentle teasing. Like the truth about Uncle Byron, Eleanor’s pursuit of love is a subject developed a little further in each book. I also love the asides about Eleanor’s previous life, exploring routes for travel companies in exotic countries, travelling alone and having all sorts of adventures. Such as her wonderful reply to a retired seaman who caustically refers to what he assumes is Eleanor’s sheltered and privileged life, ‘Ever been halfway over a mountain range with the snow and night closing in, with no prospect of food or shelter and not another human being within a hundred square miles?’
I whizz through these books. They’re such a relaxing read, a great escape from the world outside and a glimpse into the glamorous country house life in the 1920s. With murder thrown in.

Read my reviews of other books in the Lady Eleanor Swift series:-
A VERY ENGLISH MURDER #1LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH AT THE DANCE #2LADYELEANORSWIFT
A WITNESS TO MURDER #3LADYELEANORSWIFT
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

If you like this, try:-
‘Murder Under her Skin’ by Stephen Spotswood #2PENTECOST&PARKER
‘Or The Bull Kills You’ by Jason Webster #1MAXCAMARA
‘The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle’ by Stuart Turton

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview MURDER IN THE SNOW by Verity Bright @BrightVerity https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-701 via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Tracy Chevalier

#BookReview ‘Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet’ by @mc_beaton #cosycrime

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Re-bound dates are never a good idea, and Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet by MC Beaton starts with retired PR supremo and now amateur sleuth Agatha feeling spurned by sexy neighbour James Lacey. MC BeatonOn the re-bound, she goes out for dinner with the village’s new flirtatious vet, Paul Bladen. It soon turns out that he dislikes cats, although he does seem to have a penchance for middle-aged ladies.
When he drops dead, seemingly of an unfortunate accident, Agatha refuses to accept it is not murder. And so the second novel in the prolific Agatha Raisin series sets off at a pace, as Agatha tries to spend time with James Lacey without drooling.
They ignore police warnings not to ask questions where it is inappropriate, and after breaking into the bank, and snooping around the dead man’s house, they think they find evidence of wrongdoing. Except it is not quite the wrongdoing that they expected.
Another easy-to-read detective romp by MC Beaton, charming to read with your feet up on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Formulaic, yes. But very funny.

Read my review of other books in this series:-
AGATHA RAISIN AND THE QUICHE OF DEATH #1AGATHARAISIN
AGATHA RAISIN AND THE POTTED GARDENER #3AGATHARAISIN
AGATHA RAISIN AND THE WALKERS OF DEMBLEY #4AGATHARAISIN
AGATHA RAISIN AND THE MURDEROUS MARRIAGE #5AGATHARAISIN

If you like this, try:-
‘Etta and Otto and Russell and James’ by Emma Hooper
‘Cover Her Face’ by PD James
‘The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman’ by Julietta Henderson

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview AGATHA RAISIN AND THE VICIOUS VET by @mc_beaton http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1K6 via @SandraDanby