This book will be published on 1st October so time to get a pre-order in now!
In what seems to be turning into a recurring theme for me, I came to this book not realising it was second in the series featuring Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur.
Luckily for me, this one works as a stand alone novel really rather well! The novel opens with the death of an old lady in a flat overlooking Shoreham sea front. She is found by her carer, Natalka, who – along with another elderly resident of the block of flats and the local coffee shack owner – become the unlikely sleuths in a case that starts to spiral.
The key to the mystery seems to lie in the lady’s past and, in particular, her provision of consultancy services on murder methods to writers. DS Kaur leads the investigation into the possible murder and finds herself caught up in a literary puzzle.
This was an enjoyable and light read – very much in the realm of cosy crime as there’s nothing graphic or particularly perilous here. Instead, it’s a quite lovely tale of how some unlikely characters forge relationships and support each other. In particular, DS Kaur’s Sikh family were great – warm and likeable – so I hope they appear more in future outings. I wouldn’t say the events were particularly realistic but it’s a clever premise and I was happy to be drawn along in its slipstream.
Overall, this is a rather gentle but engaging mystery. For all its cosiness, I’d still say that it has plenty of surprises and twists that make it enjoyable for fans of this genre.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Header photo with thanks to Art Lasovsky for sharing their work on Unsplash.
I don’t easily go for a cosy crime novel. I tend to be more drawn to the slightly darker stuff but you do make it sound like a pretty good read. Great review!
Thanks – yes, I prefer something a bit darker but Elly Griffiths writes so well. I’ve read her other police procedural books and they are great and not cosy at all!