Murder at the Priory Hotel

Author – Merryn Allingham.

Merryn taught university literature for many years, and it took a while to pluck up the courage to begin writing herself. Bringing the past to life is a passion and her historical fiction includes Regency romances, wartime sagas and timeslip novels, all of which have a mystery at their heart. As the books have grown darker, it was only a matter of time before she plunged into crime with a cosy crime series set in rural Sussex against the fascinating backdrop of the 1950s.

Merryn lives in a beautiful old town in Sussex with her husband and one last cat, Bluebell. When she’s not writing, she tries to keep fit with adult ballet classes and plenty of walking.

Merryn Allingham

Social Media Links –

Home – Merryn Allingham – Author

https://www.facebook.com/MerrynWrites

Tweets by MerrynWrites

Publisher – Bookouture

Pages – 269

The Blurb – Join Flora Steele – bookshop owner, bicycle-rider, and amateur detective – as she faces her most puzzling case yet!

Sussex, 1957: When Flora Steele andhandsome crime writer Jack Carrington attend the grand re-opening of the Priory Hotel in the beautiful little village of Abbeymead, their day out is cut short when the flame-haired female singer in the band suddenly drops dead before their eyes.

Flora is stunned by the unexpected turn of events and immediately deduces foul play. Beverly Russo was a spirited young woman with a big voice and Flora is determined to get to the bottom of her untimely demise – especially as the detective sergeant leading the investigation is so hopeless. The first clue in the extraordinary case is Beverly’s missing ruby ring…

As Flora makes her enquiries, she discovers that Beverly wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea and there’s more than one person in Abbeymead who had reason to dislike her. But who had the biggest motive: Beverly’s former beau Tommy May, jealous love rival Sally Jenner, or the local doctor who seems to be up to no good…

Then one of the suspects is found dead in the woods near the Priory Hotel. The murder weapon – a musical instrument. As the investigation reaches a high note, Flora knows she must find the culprit and make them face the music before anyone else is hurt. But will Flora’s tenacity put a dangerous spotlight on both her and Jack?

A delightful cozy crime novel, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Faith Martin and Joy Ellis!

Today is my stop on the Murder at the Priory Hotel blog tour. Many thanks to Bookouture for the chance to read and review.

My thoughts – This is the fourth in the Flora Steele series. I have also read and reviewed:

The Bookshop Murder

This book sees Flora looking into the murder of a singer at the Priory Hotel. Flora is getting used to being in the middle of crime scenes and it isn’t long before her and Jack are once again investigating.

I really like this cosy crime series and am enjoying how the characters are developing through the books.

Highly recommended.

Purchase Links – Murder at the Priory Hotel

The Murder List

Author – Jackie Kabler

Jackie Kabler is an internationally bestselling author of psychological thrillers including The Perfect Couple, Am I Guilty? and The Happy Family.

She worked as a newspaper reporter and then in television news for twenty years, including nearly a decade on GMTV. She later appeared on BBC and ITV news, presented a property show for Sky, hosted sports shows on Setanta Sports News and worked as a media trainer for the Armed Forces. She now combines her crime writing with her job as a presenter on shopping channel QVC.

Jackie Kabler

Social Media Links –

Twitter @jackiekabler
Instagram @officialjackiekabler

Publisher – One More Chapter

Pages – 338

The Blurb –

When Mary receives a blank diary as a present, she thinks nothing of it. Until she opens the diary, and sees it’s not blank after all…

1st January MURDER LISA, OXFORD
1st February MURDER JANE, BIRMINGHAM
1st March MURDER DAVID, CARDIFF
1st April MURDER MARY, CHELTENHAM

Is this a sick joke? But…it’s the end of January now. And a woman called Lisa was murdered in Oxford on 1st January.

Could there really be a killer out there, planning to commit a new murder each month? And is the Mary due to be killed on 1st April her?

The clock is ticking for Mary to uncover the truth, before she becomes the next victim on the killer’s list…

Today is my stop on The Murder List blog tour. Many thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for the chance to read and review.

My thoughts – The premise of this book is such a great idea for a thriller. I was hooked straight away.

A diary should be a nice present but when it has a list of murders in it and one of them is yours, the joy is short lived. This is the scenario Mary finds herself in, and so to prevent her untimely deaths she looks into the other people also listed within the diary.

I really enjoyed this, flicking through the pages quicker and quicker racing to the conclusion. The author succeeded in executing a great plot with great planning.

Highly recommended.

Purchase Links – UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Murder-List-incredible-psychological-bestselling-
ebook/dp/B09KZ9FR2T
US – https://www.amazon.com/Murder-List-incredible-psychological-bestselling-
ebook/dp/B09KZ9FR2T

Sister Agatha

Author – Domhnall O’ Donoghue.

Hailing from Navan in the royal county of Meath, Domhnall is a graduate of the Bachelor in Acting Studies Programme, Trinity College Dublin, later completing a Master’s in Screenwriting at Dún Laoghaire IADT.

He now works as an actor and a journalist, dividing his time between Galway, where he films TG4’s award-winning series, Ros na Rún, Dublin and Venice, where he and his Italian lover continuously promise their well-worn livers that they will refrain from quaffing so much Prosecco. (Unfortunately, it seems some vows, just like nearby Rome, were not built in a day.)

Wine-drinking aside, for more than four years, Domhnall has also enjoyed the responsibility of being Assistant Editor at Irish Tatler Man, a title whose various awards includes Consumer Magazine of the Year. Thanks to this role, he interviewed a host of high-profile names such as Tommy Hilfiger, Chris Pine, Kevin Spacey, David Gandy, and Jacques Villeneuve.

Domhnall has written for the majority of Ireland’s leading newspapers and magazines, including the Irish Independent, The Irish Times and RTE. He also writes a monthly column in Woman’s Way, the country’s biggest-selling weekly magazine.

His first novel, Sister Agatha: the World’s Oldest Serial Killer, was released in 2016 to critical acclaim (Tirgearr Publishing). His second and third books, Colin and the Concubine and Crazy for You were published by Mercier Press, Ireland’s oldest publishing house.

Domhnall O’Donoghue

Social Media Links –

Like his page on Facebook, follow him on Twitter or follow him on Instagram.

Pages – 194

The Blurb –

Sister Agatha is 118 years of age, whose vim and vigour would put the most robust athletes to shame. However, during a routine check-up, her doctor claims that she has just a week to live—inconvenient, seeing as the beloved sister once made an improbable vow: to be the oldest person in the world. At last count, she was the fifth.

Never one to admit defeat, Sister Agatha concocts a bold Plan B. Using her final days, she intends on travelling the world to meet the only four people whose birthday cakes boast more candles than hers.

And then, one by one, she will kill them.

Today is my stop on the Sister Agatha blog tour. Many thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for the chance to read and review.

My thoughts – I loved this book, a really original read and very funny.

Sister Agatha is 118! However having lead such a long life she is not impressed with being only the fifth eldest living person alive. So she devises a cunning plan to make herself the oldest person. However she needs to track down the other four people and eliminate them.

I loved the originality of this book and the humour throughout.

Purchase Links – Sister Agatha

The Fire Killer

Author – Ross Greenwood.

Ross Greenwood is the bestselling author of ten crime thrillers. Before becoming a full-time writer he was most recently a prison officer and so worked every day with murderers, rapists and thieves for four years. He lives in Peterborough.

Ross Greenwood

Social Media Links –

Facebook – https://facebook.com/facebook.com/rossgreenwoodauthor

Twitter – https://twitter.com/greenwoodross

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/rossg555/

Newsletter Sign Up – https://bit.ly/RossGreenwoodnews

Bookbub profile – https://www.bookbub.com/authors/ross-greenwood

Publisher – Boldwood Books

Pages – 365

The Blurb –

When DI Barton is asked to investigate a seemingly innocuous fire that kills, he believes it’s either children fooling around or a worrying racially motivated crime.

As he delves deeper into the case, he soon realises that there is a history of similar blazes spread out over many years, all within a close area. And after an idea is suggested by pathologist Mortis, Barton suspects he has the arsonist’s motives wrong. 

When a night worker comes forward with a tip, Barton narrows down the suspects. Yet all of them act suspiciously and he knows for sure that one or more of them are lying.

And when a huge house blaze shocks everyone, Barton fears the killer has lost all control.

Who is The Fire Killer? What will be next to burn?

Today is my stop on The Fire Killer blog tour. Many thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for the chance to read and review.

My thoughts – What a riveting read this is. It is part of a series but can easily be read as a standalone.

We get thrown straight into the action and I flew through the book as the story hooked me immediately. I really DI Barton and the way he handles his investigations.

In this book, he is looking into a fairly straight forward house fire or so he thinks, it is only when he starts to look more closely at the case that he sees similarities with other fires within the area. His original idea of kids messing around is replaced by a pyromaniac that will only get more dangerous as time goes on.

Recommended.

Purchase Links – The Fire Killer

The French for Murder

Author – Verity Bright.

Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humour, before embarking on their first historical mystery. They are the authors of the fabulous Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series, set in the 1920s.

Verity Bright

Social Media Links –

Tweets by BrightVerity

Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Verity Bright here: https://www.bookouture.com/verity-bright/

Publisher – Bookouture

Pages – 332

The Blurb – A grand villa, croissants for breakfast and a dead body in the wine cellar… Lady Swift can’t seem to take a vacation from murder!

Summer 1923. Lady Eleanor Swift is finally persuaded by her butler, Clifford, to take a villa in the south of France for the season. She plans to do what a glamorous lady abroad should: long lunches on the balcony followed by lazy afternoons lounging by the pool. Even Gladstone the bulldog is looking forward to a daily paddle in the ocean.

But when Clifford examines the wine cellar, he discovers there are no decent reds but there is a very dead body. The victim is famous American movie star Rex Armstrong. Poor Rex seems to have been stabbed with a sword from the film set. So how did he end up in Eleanor’s villa?

Before Eleanor even has time to change out of her travelling suit, her beloved butler is arrested for the crime. At sea without her right-hand man, Eleanor must gather her wits if she’s to outsmart a murderer and save Clifford.

Attending a glitzy party at the luxurious Hotel Azure with the film’s cast and crew so she can question her main suspects, Eleanor overhears the director having a most unsettling telephone call that throws all her theories out of the water. Can Eleanor unmask the true killer before her time abroad is cut murderously short?

A gripping historical murder mystery full of charm and intrigue, set in the beautiful French Riviera. Fans of Agatha Christie, T E Kinsey and Lee Strauss will adore The French for Murder.

Today is my stop on The French for Murder blog tour. Many thanks to Bookouture for the chance to read and review.

My thoughts – This is the tenth book in the Eleanor Swift series and what a great series it is.

I have also read and reviewed:

A Very English Murder

Death at the Dance

A Witness to Murder

Murder in the Snow

Murder at the Fair

A Lesson in Murder

Death on a Winter’s Day

A Royal Murder

This is the first book in the series that has been set abroad, and we find Eleanor on holiday in the South of France but it is not long before death strikes again.

A famous movie star is dead in her wine cellar! And it isn’t long before someone close to her is arrested for the crime. So once again she investigates to find the murderer.

Another brilliant book in the series, Eleanor and the characters never fail to make me smile. Reading each adventure is like going back to friends, as I have read so many in the series.

Highly recommended.

Purchase Links – The French for Murder

Death at the Dinner Party

Author – Emma Davies.

After a varied career, Emma Davies once worked for a design studio where she was asked to provide a fun and humorous (and not necessarily true) anecdote for their website. She wrote the following: ‘I am a bestselling novelist currently masquerading as a thirty something mother of three.’ Well the job in the design studio didn’t work out but she’s now a forty something mother of three and is happy to report the rest of her dream came true.

After many years as a finance manager she now writes full time, and is far happier playing with words than numbers. She lives with her husband, three children, and two guinea pigs in rural Shropshire where she writes in all the gaps in between real life. It’s a county she adores, her love of its beautiful people and landscapes providing endless inspiration for her books, and in fact the only thing that would make Shropshire more idyllic is if it were by the sea.

Pop over to her website www.emmadaviesauthor.com where, amongst other things, you can read about her passion for Pringles and singing loudly in the car. You can also wave to her on twitter @EmDaviesAuthor or find her on Facebook (a little too often than is good for her).

Emma Davies

Social Media Links –

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emmadaviesauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EmDaviesAuthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authoremmadavies/

Website: www.emmadaviesauthor.com

Bookouture Email Sign-up: https://www.bookouture.com/emma-davies

Publisher – Bookouture

Pages – 290

The Blurb –

Francesca Eve, caterer extraordinaire, has come to Claremont House to work for the cream of society. A full breakfast spread? Simple. A glorious picnic lunch? Easy as pie. But a dead body for dinner was definitely not on the menu…

No sooner has Francesca Eve turned up for a jam-packed weekend of gourmet catering at a posh country house than she realises how challenging this event is set to be. Not only are the hosts wealthy – and demanding – beyond her wildest dreams, but each of the guests is more difficult than the last. But she never expected the host to turn up dead…

Suspicion falls on everyone in the house – could there be a murderer in their midst? Is the incredibly glamorous, and now extremely rich, widow really as upset as she’s making out? What secret is the housekeeper hiding? Whose money troubles are now forgotten? As the only person without a motive, Fran’s intimate knowledge of the house party puts her in the prime position to help the police.

As rumours swirl and guests’ pasts come to light, someone else is found dead. But when the police arrest their chief suspect, Fran becomes convinced they have the wrong person – the evidence is almost too neat to be true. So she decides to strike out alone, in the country house where the killer is still staying… Someone has killed twice to keep their secret safe. Will Fran be able to unmask them, or will this weekend turn out to be her deadliest job ever?

A page-turning cozy mystery packed with twists. If you love Faith Martin, M.C. Beaton and The Thursday Murder Club you’ll absolutely adore this unputdownable whodunnit.

Today is my stop on the Death at the Dinner Party blog tour. Many thanks to Bookouture for the chance to read and review.

My thoughts – I was so excited to read this book after reading the first in the series:

Death in Disguise

Fran finds herself in another dilemma as she does the catering at a country hotel. However when the person who hired her winds up dead, she needs more than her culinary skills to solve the case.

Once again she works with Adam to narrow down the elite clientele to find out the correct culprit.

A really good read that matched the excellent plotting of the first installment.

Purchase Links – Death at the Dinner Party

The Daughters

Author – Julia Crouch.

Julia started off as a theatre director and playwright. While her children were growing up, she swerved into graphic design. After writing and illustrating two children’s books for an MA, she discovered that her great love was writing prose. The picture books were deemed too dark for publication, so, to save the children, she turned instead to writing for adults. Her first book, Cuckoo, was published in 2011, and she has been writing what she calls her Domestic Noir novels ever since. She also writes for TV and teaches on the Crime Writing MA at the University of East Anglia. She has three grown up children and lives in Brighton with her husband and two cats, Keith and Sandra.

Julia Crouch

Social Media Links –

http://juliacrouch.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/JuliaCrouchAuthor/

https://www.instagram.com/juliageek/

Tweets by thatjuliacrouch

Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Julia Crouch here: https://www.bookouture.com/julia-crouch/

Publisher – Bookouture

Pages – 329

The Blurb –

My father said my mother killed herself. My sister says he’s lying.

The day of our mother’s funeral, my little sister Lucy and I clung to our father’s side. He promised he’d get us through it, and we believed him. But then I discovered that the coffin we wept over was empty.

Dad says he was trying to protect us – that he thought it would be easier to grieve if we didn’t know our mother’s body was never found.

His new wife says she just wants to help us move on from the past.

Then Lucy has a flash of memory that leaves her shaking. Our father. A woman she doesn’t recognise. A knife…

She insists she knows something about the day our mother died, but it’s buried too deep to see clearly.

What happened to our mother? I need to find the truth. But I have no idea who I can trust. And what if the answer puts my life in danger?

A completely gripping psychological thriller that will make your heart pound as you try to decide who is telling the truth. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Paula Hawkins and Gillian Flynn.

Today is my stop on The Daughters blog tour. Many thanks to Bookouture for the chance to read and review.

My thoughts – This is a brilliant psychological thriller that really messes with your head.

Alice died ten years ago leaving behind her husband and two daughters, her death being rules as a suicide. However now Sarah, one of her daughter is not convinced that this is the case.

The author skillfully introduces us to this family and then exposes their secrets that relate to the death of their mother/wife.

A brilliant read and I shall definitely be reading more by this author.

Purchase Links – The Daughters

Murder in Keswick

Author – William Todd.

William Todd has been writing for over 20 years, primarily gothic horror stories in the style of Lovecraft, Poe, and Shelley. Loving all things Victorian, he was inspired to read (and later to write) by Arthur Conan Doyle.

The first book he ever read cover to cover was Hound of the Baskervilles, which also fed his appetite for horror. William Todd has written two short story compilations of gothic horror, Dead of Night and Beyond the Gossamer Veil and one sci-fi/horror hybrid genre Something Wicked This Way Comes.

He has also written multiple Sherlock Holmes pastiches, Murder in Keswick, A Reflection of Evil, Mystery of the Broken Window, and Elementary—a short story compilation. Two of his short stories were part of MX Publishing’s New Sherlock Holmes Stories with proceeds going to a charity for special needs children housed in Undershaw, the very home Conan Doyle penned Hound of the Baskervilles.

Writing for the books was a special privilege because his daughter, Alina, has Down Syndrome. In 2022, he just finished his first YA/historical novel The Fall of the Hermit King, which is under review for publication, and in the meantime has started yet another Sherlock Holmes compilation.

William Todd

Social Media Links –

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/billscreativepen

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/williamtodd2442/

Publisher – SpellBound Books

Pages – 112

The Blurb –

While on a well-deserved holiday in the Lake District to get away from the toils and troubles of London, Holmes and Watson find no respite.

As soon as they exit the train, they hear news of a grisly murder making its way around the murmuring commuters. A local aristocrat, Mr. Darcy, has been found missing his head!

And that very night, the wealthy widow finds a stranger in her home who, upon seeing her, abandons his plans and quickly leaves. She believes the intruder to be the murderer of her husband who is now after a large sum of cash she keeps in the house safe.

Unsure if the would-be thief is the murderer or an opportunistic burglar, Holmes devises a plan to catch the burglar, all the while investigating the murder of Mr. Darcy.

Follow Holmes, Watson, and the local constable Mr. Wickham as they untangle the mystery surrounding a Murder in Keswick.

Today is my stop on the Murder in Keswick blog tour. Many thanks to Zooloos Book Tours for the chance to read and review.

My thoughts – I am a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes so I was really excited to read this book.

This is a short read at only 112 pages but it contains everything that is essential to a good Sherlock Holmes mystery.

This adventure see Holmes being sent on holiday as Watson believes he needs a rest but best laid plans and all that. Arriving in Keswick, a dead body has been found and Sherlock is on hand to provide his expert detective skills.

An excellent read.

Purchase Links – Murder in Keswick

Good Neighbours

Author – Mary Grand.

Mary Grand is the author of five novels and writes gripping, page-turning suspense,
with a dark and often murderous underside. She grew up in Wales, was for many years
a teacher of deaf children and now lives on the Isle of Wight where her novel,
The House Party, which was published by Boldwood in July 2020, is set.

Mary Grand

Social Media Links –

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/authormarygrand

Twitter https://twitter.com/authormaryg

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/marygrandwriter/

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/MaryGrandNews

Publisher – Boldwood Books

Pages – 393

The Blurb –

It was meant to be a safe place to start again… 

In need of an escape from her failing marriage, Nia agrees to house-sit her aunt’s cottage on the Isle of Wight. She feels sure the cosy close in a quaint harbour town will be a safe place to hide and figure out what to do next. 

But things are not all as they seem in the close, and the neighbours who welcome her with open arms, are keeping secrets. When Nia finds the body of one of her new friends lying on the beach, she feels sickeningly sure that the killer is dangerously near to home.

Who killed her friend and why did she have to die? And if Nia discovers the answers she’s looking for, is she next on their hit list? Good neighbours may become good friends, but they can also make deadly enemies… 

Today is my stop on the Good Neighbours blog tour. Many thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for the chance to read and review.

My thoughts – Wow this is a good read. I have never read anything else by this author but I will be now. The book is excellently written and the tension created as the story goes along really jumps off the page.

In order to escape an abusive relationship Nia finds herself going to the Isle of Wight to house sit for her aunt. However the pleasant surroundings are hiding something far more sinister and is Nia still in danger miles away from her ex partner…..

Purchase Links – Good Neighbours

Mystery at Lovelace Manor

Author – Clare Chase

Clare Chase writes classic mysteries. Her aim is to take readers away from it all via some armchair sleuthing in atmospheric locations.

Her debut novel was shortlisted for Novelicious’s Undiscovered Award, as well as an EPIC award post-publication, and was chosen as a Debut of the Month by LoveReading. Murder on the Marshes (Tara Thorpe 1) was shortlisted for an International Thriller Writers award.

Like her heroines, Clare is fascinated by people and what makes them tick. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked in settings as diverse as Littlehey Prison and the University of Cambridge, in her home city. She’s lived everywhere from the house of a lord to a slug-infested flat and finds the mid-terrace she currently occupies a good happy medium.

As well as writing, Clare loves family time, art and architecture, cooking, and of course, reading other people’s books.

Social Media Links –

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClareChaseAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ClareChase_

Website: www.clarechase.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clarechaseauthor/

Bookouture email signup: https://www.bookouture.com/clare-chase

Publisher – Bookouture

Pages – 298

The Blurb –

Lovelace Manor has a famous past… but when a historian becomes history at its annual open day, amateur sleuth Eve Mallow is on the case!

Everyone in Saxford St Peter flocks to Lovelace Sunday, the festival celebrating the romantic history of beautiful Lovelace Manor. This year will be even more exciting, as famous TV historian Cammie Harington is planning a spectacular stunt with a hot-air balloon for her new show.

Eve Mallow jumps at the chance to volunteer – it’s a great people-watching opportunity. But she soon realises there is no love lost between Cammie and the family who owns the manor… so why did Cammie agree to come?

When Cammie’s hot-air balloon tumbles from the sky, Eve feels sure this is no accident. Alongside dachshund Gus, she sets to work investigating the mystery, piecing together all the odd things she’s seen and heard.

Could the killer be discreet Diana, lady of the manor, who fell out with Cammie years ago? Or Diana’s dashing brother Sebastian, whose dark secret Cammie knew? Why was the loyal gardener following Cammie around? And had Cammie uncovered something explosive about the manor’s past, as she claimed?

When someone breaks into Cammie’s cottage and a priceless Lovelace heirloom goes missing, Eve is sure she’s on the right track… but can she solve the case, before the killer brings her crashing down?

A completely gripping English cozy mystery, perfect for fans of Frances Evesham, J.R. Ellis and Betty Rowlands.

Today is my stop on the Mystery at Lovelace Manor blog tour. Many thanks to Bookouture for the chance to read and review.

My thoughts – This is the eighth book in the Eve Mallow series.

Other titles in the series include:

Mystery on Hidden Lane

Mystery at Apple Tree Cottage

Mystery at Seagrave Hall

Mystery at the Old Mill

Mystery at Magpie Lodge

Eve is right in the thick of it again when she finds herself witnessing a hot air balloon fall from the sky and killing the TV presenter who was on it. Due to her job as an obituary writer she manages to interview all the people that the presenter knows and soon realises more than one person could have wanted them dead.

This is another great outing for Eve Mallow, I thoroughly the series and always look forward to another installment in the series. Eve herself is a great character and having a strong lead is what drives a good cosy crime mystery, after reading so many of her adventures you get to know the character and how she will react in situations. I like that kind of familiarity in a character.

I not only recommend this book but the whole series.

Purchase Links – Mystery at Lovelace Manor