Julia Bird adores a walk on a winter’s day. The crunch of fresh show under your feet and the promise of hot cocoa by a roaring fire afterwards… But she’s not expecting to find a body in the woods!
It’s Christmas in Berrywick, the busiest time of year for dashing taxi driver Lewis. But when he’s killed in a road accident, the entire village is shaken. Julia Bird, recently appointed to the Road Safety Committee, visits the site so that no other villager suffers the same fate. But when she spies a pendant left in the bushes, she feels certain Lewis’s death was no accident…
As the festive lights twinkle in the village square, Julia vows to uncover the truth. She soon learns not everyone found Lewis’s charm appealing. Sweetshop owner Dora says he had an eye for the ladies, much to his wife’s frustration. Lewis recently gave his life savings to a mysterious businessman who proves difficult to track down. But could these be reasons enough to want him dead?
Then, local beekeeper Matthew is struck by a car near the Christmas market. Julia believes the two deaths must be linked, but contrary to Lewis, Matthew was as sweet as the honey he sold. Who could possibly want to hurt Berrywick’s kindest man?
With no obvious leads, Julia stumbles upon an old picture that finally links Lewis and Matthew. Many years ago they were in a band poised for stardom, but when the bubble burst, their chance at fame vanished quicker than a glass of festive eggnog. Could someone be targeting the band members one by one? And can Julia track them down before the killer strikes again?
An utterly gripping and totally charming cozy mystery set in the English countryside. Fans of M.C. Beaton, Faith Martin and Betty Rowlands will love the Julia Bird Mysteries!
Katie Gayle is the writing partnership of best-selling South African writers, Kate Sidley and Gail Schimmel. Kate and Gail have, between them, written over ten books of various genres, but with Katie Gayle, they both made their debut in the cozy mystery genre. Both Gail and Kate live in Johannesburg, with husbands, children, dogs and cats.
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My thoughts: I love this series, Julia has really grown on me, this time she finds a body in the woods during a winter walk. It’s local taxi driver Lewis, victim of a hit and run.
It looks to have been a terrible accident, until someone also hits local beekeeper Matthew in the market place car park. There’s a connection between the two men – they both used to be in a band many years ago and someone has had a grudge against them.
While the police follow their leads, Julia does some investigating of her own. She’s friendly with the widows of both men and thinks she can get some more information informally than Hayley can as an official.
Julia’s also getting ready for Christmas with Sean, buying dog sweaters (lucky Jake) and putting up the decorations. Hopefully, they can solve the case before it’s time to open presents.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 