Kat Ailes

My first thought is that this book was so much fun to read! I love cozy mysteries and this was one of the good ones. As a mother myself, I could completely relate to how tired the moms were, and I found myself jealous that I didn't have a group of friends like Alice's to solve mysteries with when my kids were little. The characters were great and very relatable, as mentioned, and the story was well written. The mystery took lots of twists and turns and had me guessing who the murderer was all the way to the end. I hadn't read the first book in the series when I started this one, but I was easily able to follow along with who was who and how they related to each other. I enjoyed Dead Tired so much, I'm definitely going to go back and read it now, though.

All in all, I enjoyed this book very much and highly recommend it.

5/5 stars.

*** I would like to thank NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Kat Ailes for the opportunity to read and review Dead Tired.… (meer)

Hilarious! This was a zany cosy murder mystery about a group of women who meet at a prenatal class. When the old man who owns the store underneath where the prenatal class is held dies during the class, the group is convinced that the police are not doing enough to investigate, so they decide to look into things themselves. It turns out that the town holds many secrets. Anyone who has ever been nine months pregnant will identify with the women, and find a lot to laugh about. The small village is home to a hippie commune and new age stuff which adds to the humour.… (meer)

I took a chance on a mystery with a cute title and had so much fun reading it! Joe and Alice decide to leave London for the small town of Penton in the Cotswolds. The fact that Alice undertakes this move at approximately 38 weeks pregnant, with a handful of a dog named Helen isn't the strangest thing that takes place. The area has a very hippie vibe--with lots of tie dye, natural cure shops and even a local commune. The bodily fluids flow when Hen's water breaks during the first prenatal class and by the time the paramedics arrive, they wonder who exactly they are there for--a possible baby or the dead guy in the shop below the classroom. It's a bit edge, a bit dark but as the story goes along, the characters really get together and all kinds of mysteries are revealed in this small town.… (meer)

This was a fun read! Some parts of the story were rather funny and the mystery kept me guessing. Pregnancy and childbirth play a prominent role in this story and I thought it was rather entertaining to imagine a group of hugely pregnant women playing detective. I am so glad that I took a chance and decided to give this book a try.

Alice and her boyfriend, Joe, have just moved to town with their dog, Helen, and are due to have a baby very soon. They enroll in a childbirth class and not only does one student go into labor during the first session but a man dies in the shop downstairs and they are all considered suspects. Alice wants to make friends and what could be a better way to bond than solving a murder with some of the women she has met at childbirth class?

I listened to the audiobook and thought Kitty Kelly did a great job with this story. This is only the second time that I have listened to this narrator’s work and I have been impressed both times. She did a great job with the more comical moments in this story which helped to bring the story to life. I liked the voices that she used for the various characters in this story and thought that she brought just the right amount of emotion to her reading. I believe that her performance added to my overall enjoyment of this story.

I would recommend this book to others. I thought that there was a nice balance of humor and mystery in this book and I loved the fact that it kept me guessing until the end. I plan to pick up the second book just as soon as it becomes available.

I received a review copy of this book from Macmillan Audio and Minotaur Books.… (meer)