This is a detective story set in a modern English village with a dislike of incomers. There's skullduggery afoot over illicit meat suppliers and a mysteriously missing vet. Our heroine is a good hearted and acerbic publican, formerly of the big brassy blonde style but now assiduously weight watching her way down. She's the widow of a notorious criminal, and don't ask where the money came for her to open her new country gastropub...

It's a good fun bit of light reading, not too cosy and twee, but still a long way from hard boiled. This is my first book by this author. She has another detective series, which I am now inclined to look out for in the second hand and remainder bins. ( )

A fun, joyous, mindless romp through the Wessex countryside with Mrs Josie Whetford, a pub owner who wishes to convert her country pub into a gourmet restaurant to appeal to the trail walkers and tourists in her tiny wee village.

However, not all is golden in this idyllic English countryside. What is going on with the meat packing houses and why are people disappearing. And why did the policeman who put away her husband in jail for life show up.

This delightful book is like a decadent dessert. ( )

I really enjoyed this book, Agatha Raisin fans look out! A feisty and thoughtful heroine who stands up for what is right. Careful plotting and a real environment for the crime! ( )

Protagonist: Josie Welford
Setting: present-day England
Series #1

When Josie Welford settles in an idyllic West Country village she honestly
believes she can bury her past. She becomes the owner of the local pub, and
becomes a thriving and welcome member of the community. That is until
Inspector Nick Thomas, the man who put her husband in jail appears on the
scene. But Nick has a new agenda and is no longer after Josie. In his new
position as inspector for the Food Standards Agency, he convinces Josie to
change her local suppliers, a far from popular move in the close-knit
community. Almost immediately she finds herself ostracized. When the village
vet disappears without a trace, Josie begins to wonder what the village and
its erstwhile friendly occupants are hiding? Reluctantly, she finds herself
having to turn to Nick in order to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Fifty-something Brummie Josie is a hoot. I loved her. Funny, down to earth,
warm-hearted, practical, she's got a different spin on life. Well, if I'd
been the child bride of a well-known Birmingham gangster who spent the last
twenty-five years of our thirty-year marriage behind bars, I'd probably have
a different spin on life, too. The mystery was a bit too easy to
solve, but the ride was more than worth it. I hope Cutler continues with
this character. Josie has a lot more to say! ( )