Dee MacDonald

small-town, Cornwall, amateur-sleuth, law-enforcement, cosy-mystery, retirement-community, retirees*****

Part time nurse Kate and her widowed sister, Angie, share a cottage and a small dog near the village and near Kate's retired police detective friend. Seaview Grange is a Victorian grey stone luxury retirement building built high on the cliffs in Cornwall which becomes the scene of a murder disguised as an accident. Kate is immediately involved as she has recently checked in on the victim who told Kate that someone was trying to kill her. The local detective pooh poohed the notion and her police friend simply wanted her to stay out of police business. Get real! Of course there are interesting personal side plots, some surprising suspects, red herrings, and some really colorful characters. Loved it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Bookouture via NetGalley. Thank you!… (meer)

OK, so you know exactly what you're going to get with a 'cozy' murder mystery: amateur sleuth who pokes her nose in everyone's business; the local inspector who tolerates her actions but tries to warn her off; a cast of dubious characters and lots of motives; a cute dog....

Sometimes a book like this is exactly what you need to read, and Dee MacDonald's sleuth, in the form of Kate Palmer, carries the plot along with gusto. Together with her alcoholic sister Angie, she has recently moved to Cornwall and has taken a position as a part-time nurse in the local medical practice. When a woman is murdered at WI meeting, and then a second body appears washed up on the beach, Kate can't stop herself getting involved. Divorced for many years, she also takes a fancy to the California-born DI 'Woody' Forrest. Clues and suspects abound, and as Kate tramps about the village and cliffs with the ever-willing Barney, her springer spaniel, somehow you just know that a) her life will be put in danger and b) she will find the killer.

It's fun and breezy and shamelessly nonsense - but that's the charm, and this is perfect escapism for a few hours. 4 stars.… (meer)

Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for a digital advance reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

I was expecting more from this first book in the series, and have to say I was disappointed - especially because the book didn't live up to its subtitle: "an utterly gripping cozy murder mystery." Nurse Kate Palmer and her alcoholic sister Angie move from London to a small village and promptly discover a body (in the village hall). Then Kate comes upon murdered person number two and feels compelled to find the murderer(s), even though the local police are doing a fine job and warn her repeatedly to stay away as she's putting herself in danger. Of course she doesn't listen, even when the "fanciful" detective in charge who has a crush on her tells her to leave it alone as she doesn't know what she's doing. She repeatedly puts herself in danger by interviewing several suspicious suspects, even telling them she suspects them. She constantly walks her dog alone at dusk or in the fog on deserted rocky cliffs or near the empty beach. I lost patience with her when time after time she said, "I guess I shouldn't be doing this," "I guess I should have told someone where I was going," or "this probably isn't safe." And she should have been more sensible than to think she was capable of solving the murders when her only detecting skill is she watches the BBC murder mystery shows and people like to tell her things.

It's fun to read about a murder in a small town, with lots of quirky characters and suspects, but this cozy was a disappointment.… (meer)