Author: ramblingmads

Welcome to the beautiful English village of Inkbury. Tucked deep in the North Wessex Downs, its only claim to fame is the picturesque riverside that once appeared in a Richard Curtis movie. That is, until the murder…

Former stand-up comic Juno Mulligan has been suffering a serious sense-of-humour failure. Not only has she lost the love of her life, but she’s having to relocate to the (admittedly idyllic) village of Inkbury to watch out for her elderly mother, who she’s genuinely worried might be marrying a wife-killer.

She hopes that her old friend, disgraced-journalist-turned-novelist Phoebe Fredericks can help her crack the case of whether her mother’s perma-tanned, iceberg-smiled, three-times-a-widower fiancé is hiding a murderous past.

But before they have a chance, the local art dealer washes up distinctly dead in the village’s famous river. His lover is in the frame, but Juno and Phoebe suspect that there is a deeper secret… One that relates to Phoebe’s own past and Juno’s present.

Will the unofficial Village Detective Agency solve the mystery before the killer strikes again? In sleepy Inkbury, as they soon discover, living one’s best midlife can be murder.

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Fiona Walker is the million copy bestselling author of joyously funny romantic comedies. Most recently published by Head of Zeus, she will be turning to cosy crime for Boldwood. The first in her new Village Detectives series, The Art of Murder, will be published in May 2024.

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My thoughts: this was a really fun read, I loved Phoebe and Juno, and obviously Mil the waiter with his motorbike and crazy fake deaths.

When local art dealer Si drops dead and falls into the river outside Mil’s pub, Juno decides the friends should investigate his death, having the local insight and being the ones who found the body.

Is it his partner in business and life, Oliver? His mother, as suggested by one of his sisters, a professional rival or is it someone from his past?

As they investigate, asking questions and looking into who Si was, Phoebe is trying  to finish her next book, and Juno is convinced her mother’s boyfriend is a serial killer – all three of his previous wives died in strange circumstances and he might be after her mum’s money as she’s suddenly selling the family home and moving into a retirement community.

They’re all a little eccentric and I just really enjoyed reading the book, which hopefully bodes well for the rest of this series – murder in an English village is a subgenre I particularly like reading (although I can’t stand the phrase “cosy crime”) and with these characters, it will be lots of fun.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

Every family has a secret.

The mega-rich Pallanders are used to luxury – a castle in the Scottish Highlands, a villa in Tuscany, a billion-dollar fortune and an island in the Caribbean – but their perfect life is about to be shattered.

Every father has a favourite.

Sebastian Pallander dies, leaving a pitiful amount of money to his wife and children. His family fight over the scraps as old rivalries and bitter jealousies come to the surface. And when Pallander’s son is killed in mysterious circumstances, everyone suspects foul play.

Every killer has a motive.

After a desperate race for survival, the relatives gather at their estate to weather the storm. They all begin to wonder: who will be next? Where has all their money gone? And will any of them get what they truly deserve?

Denzil Meyrick is from Campbeltown on the Kintyre Peninsula in Argyll. After studying politics, he enjoyed a varied career as a police officer, distillery manager, and director of several companies. He is the No.1 bestselling author of the DCI Daley series and is now an executive producer of a major TV adaptation of his books.

 
Denzil lives on Loch Lomondside in Scotland with his wife Fiona and cats. You can find him on Twitter @Lochlomonden, Facebook @DenzilMeyrickAuthor, or on his website: www.denzilmeyrick.com

My thoughts:  ‘The family – that dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor, in our inmost hearts, ever quite wish to.’ (Dodie Smith)

That quote ran through my brain as I read about the quite frankly spoilt and pretty awful Pallander family. After the patriarch drops dead live on TV, his family gather to hear his will. Which definitely isn’t what they expected.

Police Scotland’s Secession, Inheritance and Executory Department (SIE), which specialises in crimes relating to inheritance, led by DI Cara Salt, is on hand when things take a nasty turn – one Pallander killed, another missing and a third almost kidnapped. Someone is targeting the family, and as they unite in the family home, they and the police are determined to find out what’s really going on.

Clever, full of twists and turns, with a whole houseful of untrustworthy protagonists with motives, corruption and links to dubious oligarchs, there’s a lot to unpack but it’s so well done and the rot goes all the way to the top. Great stuff.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.