Clare Chase

unputdownable, ex-cop, small-town, small-business, journalist, friendship, secrets, dachshunds, local-law-enforcement, local-gossip, Suffolk, amateur-sleuth, cozy-mystery, adult-children, divorced, infidelities, unpleasant-employee, vandalism, threats, lies*****

The woman who got murdered was the sort who delighted in causing problems for others and flaunting them. There was no lack of suspects but a distinct absence of proof. The characters are always so clearly drawn, the twists surprising, and the red herrings sneaky. The publisher's blurb is pretty good, so no need for a recap on that. Loved it!
Eve Mallow is a character that draws you in with her personality, honest journalism in writing obits for select famous people, her sleuthing, and (of course) her delightful dachshund.
This is not an unbiased review as I love this series and the work of this author!
I requested and received an uncorrected advance review e-book copy from Bookouture via NetGalley. Thank you!… (meer)

The tenth book in the series and Eve has another mystery to solve. The story is character driven and the complex mystery kept me completely stumped the whole way through. Eve is a nice character with the ability to mingle in any setting with ease and has a way of ferreting out the truth when something doesn't seem right. She spends a lot of time talking and asking questions and that got a little bit monotonous for me at one stage but the drama and suspense towards the end was exciting.
Her dog, Gus, is adorable and I enjoy it when he's involved. Robin didn't feature much in this instalment but he is also a firm favourite character.
This was a clever mystery and I'm glad to see that book 11 will be out in November.… (meer)

unputdownable, small-town, small-business, murder-investigation, murder, dachshunds, amateur-sleuth, law-enforcement, England, cosy-mystery, journalist, extortion, ex-cop, tv-personality, friendship, boarding-school, secrets*****

The author drew the "victim" so clearly that I couldn't WAIT for her to get murdered! The characters are always so well drawn, the twists diabolical, and the red herrings inventive. The publisher's blurb is pretty good, so no need for a recap on that. Loved it!
Eve Mallow is a character that draws you in with her personality, honest journalism in writing obits for select famous people, her sleuthing, and (of course) her delightful dachshund. She also has a day job working part-time in her friend's tea shop and a romantic friend who is a former police detective who is in a protection program.
This is not an unbiased review as I love this series!
I requested and received an uncorrected advance review e-book copy from Bookouture via NetGalley. Thank you!… (meer)

Eve Mallow is in the little village of Saxton St. Peter, on her latest assignment, to write a feature obituary of the famed cellist, Bernard Fitzpatrick. Her wirehaired dachshund, Gus, is with her, and she has rented a picturesque cottage with a picturesque history for her stay. The villagers are friendly, and the subject is interesting.

The subject gets more interesting when it's revealed that Bernard Ftizpatrick didn't die due to a fall. He was killed with a blow to the back of his head with a blunt instrument.

Eve isn't willing to leave the investigation to the police, especially after meeting the detective in charge. She also quickly realizes that Fitzpatrick's genial reputation isn't supported by the people who actually knew him well.

His secretary, Adam Cox, clearly resented his bullying management style, and the was he blocked Cox's efforts to move on to another position--and now that Fitzpatrick is dead and his estate passing to a local art trust, Cox will be director of it. His former publicity manager, Fiona Goddard, quit a while ago, and has been strangely unable to land a new position, despite a seemingly impressive resumé. Her husband, Andrew, has his own reasons to loathe the cellist. A promising younger cellist, Colin Wentworth, who hasn't made much progress professionally yet, is revealed by Fitzpatrick's will to be his illegitimate son--and inherits only a cello Fitzpatrick used early in his career, before he could afford a finer instrument. Several members of the board of the arts trust have their own grudges against him.

Who else might have hated Bernard Fitzpatrick? Can Eve trust her new friends?

When another murder happens, new questions arise, and Gus starts warning her of strange activities in the little lane outside the cottage, Eve starts to get really worried, and has to trust an odd collection of new friends--Viv, the local baker, her brother Simon, who runs the local stable and has a reputation of being a ladies' man, and the oddly uncommunicative, and oddly always around at unlikely times, gardener, Robin Yardley, who seems to have no past at all prior to his arrival in the village just a few years ago. Who is he really?

There's some really likeable, enjoyable characters here. Eve, despite dismissing the police, is actually fairly careful and doesn't willfully rush into dangerous situations. This is clearly going to be another British village with an improbable murder rate, but it is a very enjoyable community.

A very enjoyable, light read or listen.

I bought this audiobook.… (meer)