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Opere di Alice Castle

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Recensioni

England, grief, grieving, gossip, small-town, pets, small-business, archivist, friends, family-dynamics, family-drama, series, Lothario, detective, frenemy, amateur-sleuth, friendship, situational-humor, gambling-addiction, siblings, investigation, widows,*****

Local Councilman Len died in his office and Beth Haldane is coerced into attending with her long widowed mother, Wendy. Turns out that all of the mourners are women in their fifties who each claims to be his favorite (think Viagra) except for the one who claims to be his wife. Beth is also a widow, her son Jake's at that awkward testosterone age, and her relationship with local DI Harry York (and his massive book collection of Golden Age novels) is getting a bit too comfortable.
Wendy wants Beth to investigate the man's death because she is sure that one of the others murdered him, so Beth gets her good friend, Katy. But then the councilman's secretary is murdered and the sleuthing really gets serious! A really pleasant read about the kind of people you'd find anywhere involved in things we'd rather leave between the pages of a good book.
I requested and received and EARC from Bookoutre via NetGalley. Thanks for the fun cozy!
… (altro)
 
Segnalato
jetangen4571 | May 4, 2023 |
department-politics, departmental-rivalry, family-drama, family-dynamics, guilt, law-enforcement, psychological, rumor-mill, series, suspense, verbal humor, situational humor, small town, widow, gossip, murder, murder investigation, friendship, cosy mystery, astounding plot twists, inventive red herrings, amateur sleuth*****

What a great start to a new series! Beth is a widow with a small son living in an interesting small town obsessed with status (not Beth, the town). She has just added a new job to her income stream, and on the first day she finds the dead body of the slimy department head. And it only gets crazier from there. Took up my whole Saturday afternoon!
I requested and received a free e-book copy from Bookouture via NetGalley. Thank you!
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Segnalato
jetangen4571 | Jul 16, 2022 |
Beth Haldane is more or less happily ensconced in the archivist's office at the Wyatt school, where her son Ben is a student despite the appallingly high fees. Her handsome boyfriend, Detective Inspector Harry York, is in the process of moving in with her--the heavy-lifting part being the moving in of all his books. Harry seems to have a collection I'd have considered adequate when I was able to collect print books, although his is almost entirely murder mysteries.

Beth's home on Pickwick Road is lovely, but small, and of very interesting geometry that makes it hard to use even the space that is there--and Beth is a neat freak. Harry's entirely reasonable cartons of books look to her like a disaster area.

So, at Harry's urging, she's looking for a house they can buy together.

Too bad the estate agent doesn't show for her appointment to see the place in Sydenham, and when another agent from the same office is persuaded to come out, they find the first agent dead in the kitchen pantry.

Murdered estate agents aren't the only problem Beth is coping with. The latest Wyatt's bill arrives, and she doesn't really have the money for it. Her friend Janice is worried that her beloved husband, Dr. Grover, the head of Wyatt's, might be having an affair, and wants Beth to find out. Beth doesn't really want to move out of Dulwich, and was not happy to be looking at possible houses even before finding the dead estate agent. Things are getting a little tense with Harry, as she both objects to his cartons of books taking up so much space, and resists the obvious necessity to find a place that will comfortably hold her, Harry, her growing son Ben, and their pets, Colin the Labrador and Magpie the cat.

Beth is a good person, a kind person, an honest person, but not an especially flexible person. Also, she's reluctantly recognizing that she's a bit of a snob, and that's a major reason she doesn't want to move out of Dulwich Village.

Beth and Harry, and some of Beth's friends, as well as Harry's police partner, are progressing and developing, and this is an enjoyable, interesting book. It probably helps to have read earlier entries in the series, but that's true of most mystery series, as the characters develop across multiple books. It shouldn't be a major obstacle.

Recommended.

I received a free electronic galley from the publisher, and am reviewing it voluntarily.
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Segnalato
LisCarey | Dec 13, 2019 |
A second outing for amateur sleuth Beth and her circle of friends in well-to-do Dulwich village. Having lived in the (poorer!) neighbourhood of East Dulwich for several years a while ago, I picked up the first book in the series just out of curiosity. I enjoyed it, and so was intrigued enough to try this second instalment.

For me, this just didn't quite have the pace or the energy of the first. A tale of a group of schoolgirls, dabbling in drugs and obsesses with body image issues, very little actually happens, and the final reveal of the 'culprit' is a little hard to believe. However, the characters that Alice Castle has created are enough to keep us returning to this series, and in Beth we have a believable and likeable heroine.

A fairly engaging cozy mystery, well written and with a good cast of central characters, whilst this doesn't have the impact of the first in the series it should satisfy returning readers.
… (altro)
 
Segnalato
Alan.M | 1 altra recensione | Oct 31, 2019 |

Premi e riconoscimenti

Statistiche

Opere
19
Utenti
80
Popolarità
#224,854
Voto
3.8
Recensioni
9
ISBN
6

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