The Cream Tea Killer - Judy Leigh

 

Description

Preorder the BRAND NEW instalment in the Morwenna Mutton Mystery series from USA Today bestseller Judy Leigh perfect for all fans of Richard Osman.

Morwenna Mutton should be living the quiet life of a librarian and grandmother in Cornwall’s beautiful Seal Bay – if only dead bodies would stop turning up…

After the excitement of her last investigation, amateur sleuth Morwenna is looking forward to things getting back to normal. When local DJ Irina asks to meet however, desperate to share information she has discovered regarding nefarious goings-on, Morwenna can’t resist.

But Irina never arrives for their drink – instead her body is washed up on the beach, an apparent victim of an accidental drowning. At once keen wild bather Morwenna knows something is amiss as Irina was a strong swimmer who knew the local conditions well. What had Irina uncovered and who would want her dead?

When the local news dubs Irina’s murderer The Cream Tea Killer in honour of Cornwall’s famous delicacy, the clock starts ticking. Now the murderer knows Morwenna is on their trail, no one in her family is safe. She must get to the truth before the killer gets to her…

Review

I decided to review this book based on the other books by the author I had read and enjoyed. I didn't realise that this was a cosy mystery or that it is book #3 in a series.

I started off reading on the back foot, as it felt like there was something I should have known before I began. It wasn't until a few pages in that reference to the earlier mysteries was made. I read on and really it didn't make any difference to me. Other than I had no back story in my mind.

It was nice to read a mystery where the main character (Morwenna) is a mature lady and I think that works to her advantage in the investigations she undertakes. In this case a DJ she is friendly with, asks her to meet up later to discuss some goings on she thinks could be explosive if uncovered. The DJ never makes the meeting as her body is found washed up on the beach despite her being a very strong and experienced swimmer.

Morwenna is a librarian and also helps run her daughter's tea shop so she is a very busy lady. However, she still finds time to meddle in police investigations and do some investigating of her own. The police do their best to discourage her maverick detection but to no avail.

I enjoyed the book and the characters. It was a nice cosy read and going along at a nice pace until the last third of the book. Then it became very fast  with action and not at all cosy really, but a page turner for me. 

I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.
This book will be published on 4 January 2025.

My year on Goodreads

 

and why I haven't reviewed as many books this year

The Fellowship of Puzzle Makers - Samuel Burr

 

Description

An extraordinary, gloriously uplifting novel about the power of friendship and the puzzling ties that bind us

Clayton Stumper might be twenty-six years old, but he dresses like your grandpa and drinks sherry like your aunt. Abandoned at birth on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, he was raised by a group of eccentric enigmatologists and now finds himself among the last survivors of a fading institution.

When the esteemed crossword compiler and main maternal presence in Clayton's life, Pippa Allsbrook, passes away, she bestows her final puzzle on him: a promise to reveal the mystery of his parentage and prepare him for life beyond the walls of the commune. As Clay begins to unpick the clues, he uncovers something even the Fellowship have never been able to solve—and it's a secret that has the potential to change everything.

Review

I researched this book before buying it in case it was going to be too hard to solve the puzzles. I got my copy on kindle and looked the preview pages. It seemed that you didn't need to be able to solve the puzzles to read the story, so I made my purchase.

I do love puzzles and at first I actually learnt a couple of things, so that was cool. The story was really rather charming to begin with but then I felt it began to be very drawn out. The dialogue also became cutesy and I found I wasn't rushing to pick it back up to read.

Set over two timelines that didn't work for me. I think it would have been better written in two parts. Some very nice characters and nothing too awful happens, so it's a cosy read.

Well I made it to the end of the book and have to say overall I was a little bit disappointed with the story. I think that the book was probably a little bit overhyped. So if you are really a puzzler maybe give it a miss.

I'm giving it 3 out of 5 stars.

Eat Slay Love - Julie Mae Cohen

 

Description

A friend will help you move on. A best friend will help you move his body.

Opal, Marina and Lilah are three strangers and have nothing in common. Well, except for the man who's been lying to all of them. And who they are now holding hostage in a basement.

From the author of Bad Men, Eat, Slay, Love is a book about making friends, finding joy, and discovering the woman you really are . . . though, sometimes, becoming your best self involves committing abduction and murder.

Review

This is the second book by the author I have read and this time rather than a professional killer it has an unimagined killer. 

Three woman are all involved with the same man, unbeknown to two of them. When the third one reaches out to alert the other two, they get together with a plan in mind to teach him a lesson. In teaching him a lesson they also form a sisterhood, and end up teaching each other a few life lessons too.

With some dark humour it also covers some serious topics including violence against women and coercion. It doesn't take itself too seriously though, and at times this led to the characters being perhaps too one dimensional for me.

At first I thought this read was going to be a little slapstick for my liking. But combined with a librarian and a down to earth Mother the book began well for me. It took me a minute to get who was who straight in my head, but once I did it was straightforward to read from the different points of view.

I went through a phase with the story where I wondered wasn't this all mapped out with not much left to discover. Then the story took a different turn and I couldn't put it down. Best of all though, OMG - the ending! No spoilers here!

I'm giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review. The book is published on 24 October 2024.

The Blue Hour - Paula Hawkins

 

Description

AS FEATURED ON BBC RADIO 4 FRONT ROW

‘Utterly compelling. Could not put it down.’ LIZ NUGENT

‘Really, really, REALLY good. Highly recommended!’ MARIAN KEYES

'I LOVED this art-world-set thriller with its stately-home Saltburn vibe.' DAILY MAIL

THE CHILLING AND ADDICTIVE NEW THRILLER FROM THE MULTI-MILLION-COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR.

**************
WELCOME TO ERIS - A SCOTTISH TIDAL ISLAND WITH ONLY ONE HOUSE, ONE INHABITANT,
ONE WAY OUT. . .

A place that is unreachable from the Scottish mainland for twelve hours each day. Once the hideaway of Vanessa, a famous artist whose notoriously unfaithful husband disappeared twenty years ago.

Now home to Grace. A solitary creature of the tides, content in her own isolation.

But when a shocking discovery is made in an art gallery far away in London, Grace receives an unexpected visitor.

And the secrets of Eris threaten to emerge . . .

Review

Is this another "The Girl on the Train"?- no. Is it a fabulous read in it's own right - yes!

Just before I started the book I saw a comment that this was nothing like TGOTT, and I worried that I had set myself up with a DNF. Someone living on an island all alone, cut off from the world, how exciting can this be? I thought. A shocking discovery - will it be that shocking?

Becker has a job to do. He needs to visit the island and understand why Grace isn't playing ball with the wishes in the will of the late artist Vanessa. Becker has a complicated life, but his love of the artist and his dream job makes him want to visit the island, and meet Grace himself.

I loved the writing from the first page, it's very different and whilst descriptive, I felt every word deserved to be read. I was so taken by the portrayal of the artist that I began to think she actually existed, especially when her letters and diary entries were included. Also very vivid were the descriptions of her art and I longed to be able to actually see them in person. All this just a backdrop to what is really happening. So much planning has gone into the plot and the resultant story telling.

It's certainly a slow burner.  It's a well thought out and meandering ride until it reaches the fast paced ending. For the trip you are taken on I felt was worth the scenic route.

It's been a while since I have really wanted to keep reading a book, couldn't wait to get back to it. For that reason this deserves 5 stars from me.  My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review. 

Invisible Kitties - Yu Yoyo

 

Description

A whimsical and inventive debut, perfect for fans of The Guest Cat and If Cats Disappeared from the World. A young couple’s daily life is disrupted by their newly adopted cat, who soon initiates them into the wondrous world of felines.

Every cat contains multitudes…

When a young couple accidentally comes into possession of a playful kitten, their daily routine (and cramped apartment) is turned upside down. Soon they find their existence forever altered.

Charting the couple’s ever-evolving relationship with cats – some they live with, others who exist only in their imagination – Invisible Kitties is a meditation on the quiet moments of everyday life and a celebration of cats in all their many forms.

Review

Well, it's certainly different!

I found this book too surrealist for my taste. Of course as it is translated from the Japanese I was expecting it to be different to western writing.  At times it is more whimsical and that I was okay with. I can relate to some of the descriptions of cat behaviour and those I enjoyed. 

I think you need to be a cat lover to even pick up this book. For many cat lovers it would be the perfect gift. It's a short read with lots of drawings and paw prints on the pages.

I'm giving this book 3 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.

Friends of Dorothy - Sandi Toksvig

 

Description

The funny, wise and brilliant new novel from the star of QI and the author of Between the Stops

'Warm, witty and wise... the perfect balm for these turbulent times' GRAHAM NORTON

After much searching, the happily married young couple, Amber and Stevie think they have found the perfect spot in Grimaldi Square. Despite the rundown pub across the way, the overgrown garden and a decidedly nosy neighbour, number 4 is the house of their dreams. Stevie, a woman who has never left anything to chance, has planned everything so nothing can spoil their happiness. But ... upstairs in their new home, seated on an old red sofa is the woman they bought the place from - eighty-year-old foul-mouthed, straight-talking, wise-cracking Dorothy - who has decided that she's not going anywhere. It turns out that Dorothy will be only the first in a line of life-changing surprises.

Friends of Dorothy is a touching, funny novel about a family that is not biological, but logical; a story close to Sandi Toksvig's heart.

Review

Amber and Stevie buy a house, but it has a sitting tenant, that they weren't expecting to have. She's 80 years old and doesn't care what anyone thinks and she certainly speaks her mind.

I really wanted to read this book as I loved Sandi's memoir book and her style of writing. Unfortunately for me from the first page I just didn't really gel with the whole premise of the book. Each time I picked the book up I thought the story wasn't progressing very much and I was beginning to get bored.

I stuck with it, and eventually there was a little bit more of a development to the story. Unfortunately whilst I had thought the book would be light-hearted it then went from almost slap stick to covering some darker themes. It felt like a bit of a slap in the face. Maybe the author thought that it was a truer representation of life, but it wasn't consistent with the rest of the book.

I did really like the character of Dorothy and she had some classic lines.

I'm giving this book 3 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.