Category: reviews

With Shakespeare on the stage, there’s danger waiting in the wings for super-sleuth Libby Sarjeant
. . .
Libby Sarjeant is proudly hosting an original production of Much Ado About Nothing at the Oast Theatre, which features a daring twist on the classic play. But an old acquaintance of Libby’s –
irascible director Constance Matthews – is outraged by the show, stirring strong feelings throughout Steeple Martin.
When a body is subsequently found in the woodlands of a grand estate, the community is shocked by the prospect of murder. But the case is far from straightforward, with dark secrets lurking beneath the surface.
With the help of friends and family, can amateur detective Libby – and her friend Fran – unravel a truly perplexing puzzle?
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Lesley Cookman is a former actor, model and journalist. She lives on the Kent coast in south east England with her two cats and the occasional returning offspring. In her past, she has been Editor of such diverse publications as The Call Boy – official magazine of the British Music Hall
Society – and Poultry Farmer’s Weekly. She has written for the stage, and her pantomimes were at one time performed all over the country – she even wrote a book on how to do it. She writes the
Libby Sarjeant Mystery series, of which there are currently 24 and three novellas and The Alexandrians, an Edwardian mystery series about a seaside concert party. She has four children, all musicians (one also a writer) and two grandchilden.

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My thoughts: I haven’t been to the theatre since before the pandemic and my little theatre kid heart is sad, so a book set during the run of a play will go a long way, throw in the fact that it’s a murder mystery and a Shakespeare production – was this written just for me?

It’s really good too, with lots of twists and turns and plenty of potential suspects, as the victim is a horrible person, who bought up people’s homes and evicted the tenants, or tried to, they also tried to buy more properties with threats and coercion. I don’t like greedy landlords at the best of times, but this person really does sound awful. Maybe I did it?

They’re also a bully, and totally mean-spirited. The production of Much Ado has an incredible actor, and a wonderful twist on the old performance, which I won’t spoil, even though this misery guts does. There’s a point where even Libby wonders why she’s bothering to investigate.

But a lot of people wanting someone dead doesn’t mean they deserve a horrid death, and so Libby and Fran, and their pals, dig into the victim’s life and try to work out who could have bumped them off, and why. All while running the theatre and also campaigning against holiday lets taking over the town and forcing locals out. A busy life indeed.

Tremendous fun, looking at social issues, the arts and of course, a murder in a picturesque setting. Thoroughly enjoyable stuff.

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

Lambing season always brings the unexpected… But no one expected murder
Jude Gray never thought she’d find herself widowed and running a working farm full-time, but here she is, living in the small Malvern village her husband Adam spent most of his life in.
After a particularly gruelling lambing season, she is looking forward to some time off, but there’s no rest for the wicked, especially when she finds the body of one of Adam’s oldest friends on her farm.
Jude refuses to believe the official line, that Sarah’s death was a suicide, and starts an investigation of her own. But as the body count rises, danger creeps ever closer to Malvern Farm.
A killer is on the prowl. And all that stands in their way is one woman – and her dog.
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Kate Wells is the author of a number of well-reviewed books for children, and is now writing a new cosy crime series set in the Malvern hills, inspired by the farm where she grew up.

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My thoughts: this was a really enjoyable and interesting start to a new crime series, set in the Malvern Hills, where Jude has taken on her late husband’s farm, delivering lambs and harvesting potatoes, among other hard and unforgiving jobs. Aided by Noah, and the farm dogs, till her sister and nephew come to stay, after her friend Sarah’s body is found on the farm.

Sarah is still dressed for the wedding they attended the day before, and while she had some issues, she hadn’t seemed suicidal. Jude disagrees with the police decision – and she’s not the only one. She wants to get justice for Sarah, and find the truth.

This puts her into danger, there’s some dodgy people involved and it’s a lot bigger than one death, as the body count grows, has Jude dug herself into trouble?

I liked Jude, and her little family, I liked the detective Binnie too. I can’t wait to see what they investigate next. I was really glad Noah was one of the good guys too. Plus there’s a lamb called Pancake and lovely sheepdogs.

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

WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T MAKE A SOUND . . .

The stunning new crime thriller from one of British crime writing’s brightest talents, and one of the twistiest, most gripping and emotional reads of the year.
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A father is murdered in the dead of night in his London home, his head wrapped tightly in tape, a crude sad face penned over his facial features. But the victim’s only child is left alive and unharmed at the scene.

Met Police detectives Grace Archer and Harry Quinn have more immediate concerns. Notorious gangster Frankie White has placed a target on Archer’s back, and there’s no one he won’t harm to get to her.

Then a second family is murdered, leaving young Uma Whitmore as the only survivor.

With a serial killer at large, DI Archer and DS Quinn must stay alive long enough to find the connection between these seemingly random victims. Can they do it before another child is orphaned?

My thoughts: David Fennell’s books always seem to explore the darkest parts of the psyche, and here is no different. When a father is murdered, home alone with his young son, and his head wrapped in tape, a sad face drawn on it, the police are scratching their heads. What is the killer trying to say?

Archer and Quinn are a little distracted by the threat of gangster Frankie White, who has promised to kill Archer and her Grandad, as part of his retaliation for the death of his grandson in police custody.

Archer’s Grandad, Jake, then has a stroke, possibly from all the stress and worry, so now she’s back and forth to the hospital, living under fear of being murdered and trying to solve the riddles of this strange new killer. As more parents are found by their children dead in bed, fear mounts.

Can they get out from under White’s threats and solve the case or will a bullet stop Archer for good?

Another dark, twisted thriller from Fennell with a brilliant unveiling of the murderer, a tragic and grim back story and the resolution of the Archer/White story arc too. Highly enjoyable and just creepy enough.

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

In the village of Cronchie, a wealthy family are found brutally murdered. The Devil Stone, an heirloom rumoured to bring death if removed from their home, is the only thing stolen. The key suspects are known satanists. But when the investigating officer disappears, DCI Christine Caplan is pulled in to investigate.

Caplan knows she is being punished for a minor misdemeanour when she is seconded to the Highlands, but she’s confident she can quickly solve the murders and return home to her fractious family. But as she closes in on the truth, it is suddenly her life, not her career, that is in danger.

Caro Ramsay is the Glaswegian author of the critically acclaimed Anderson and Costello series, the first of which, Absolution, was shortlisted for the CWA’s New Blood Dagger for best debut of the year. The ninth book in the series, The Suffering of Strangers, was longlisted for the McIlvanney Prize 2018. 

@CaroRamsayBooks | caroramsay.com

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this macabre thriller about death and devil worship in the Scottish Highland Town of Cronchie. It’s remote enough that despite it being teenagers who claim to be worshipping Satan in the woods, it actually gets believed by some of the locals, instead of the eye roll you might get in a bigger place.

But there’s a lot more going on than the horrific murders of an entire family. Someone is determined to stop DI Christine Caplan from solving the murders or looking too closely at the death of the local DCI, driving home from the crime scene. Who at the local police station can she trust? Are members of her own team involved in the conspiracy she uncovers?

Clever, gripping and with enough twists to make you dizzy, this was highly enjoyable and totally ingenious in many ways. I don’t think I’ve read any of the other titles in this series, something I need to rectify immediately.

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