Monday 2 May 2022

A Body on the Beach - Dee Macdonald

 It’s Tinworthy village’s summer fete: a brass band, cream teas, gentle gossip... and a body on the beach? The party’s just getting started for super sleuth Kate Palmer!


Kate Palmer thought spending the day at Tinworthy’s annual summer party would involve sea air, sunshine and Cornish cream cake – how very wrong she was! When Kate goes for a cliff-top walk she is shocked to spot the body of Sienna Stone – Cornwall’s biggest gossip – on the sandy beach below.

Rumours swirl around the close-knit community and all eyes are on Kate. Half the village saw her arguing with Sienna at the party earlier that day. It was the usual bickering between neighbours, but when Kate finds herself in the frame can she – and her new husband 
Woody Forrest – solve the puzzling death and clear her name?

There’s a long list of people who might have wanted to push Sienna – 
her long-suffering husband Irvin, her jealous younger sister Sally and Timmy Thomson, the man who idolised her, not to mention all the villagers who felt the sharp end of her tongue. Finding out the truth isn’t going to be easy…

Just as Kate thinks she’s getting closer to an answer, an unexpected afternoon visitor shares some curious information over tea and scones that sets her on an entirely different path. And soon she starts to wonder if she might be in real danger too…

Can Kate solve the curious case before the murderer declares the party over? Or have her days of sleuthing come to an end?

If you love cosy crime stories complete with quirky characters, twisty plots and plenty of suspects, A Body on the Beach will have you absolutely hooked until the very last page! Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Faith Martin and Clare Chase.

Author Bio:

Aged 18, Dee arrived in London from Scotland and typed her way round the West End for a couple of years before joining BOAC (forerunner of British Airways) in Passenger Services for 2 years and then as a stewardess for 8 years.


She has worked in Market Research, Sales and at the Thames TV Studios when they had the franchise.


Dee has since relocated to Cornwall, where she spent 10 years running B&Bs, and only began writing when she was over 70!


Married twice, she has one son and two grandsons.


https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDeeMacDonald

https://twitter.com/dmacdonaldauth


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My Review

I do enjoy these Kate Palmer stories. While the idea of a woman finding herself in quite so many sticky situations when it comes to murder mysteries might not be entirely believable, they are very entertaining. This time Kate even manages to find herself as a suspect and not only does she want to find out who done it, but she's also obviously keen to clear her name!

I did think that Kate (or perhaps our author) did show her age somewhat. She was most concerned about a young woman that her son brought around for a meal having her hand resting on his thigh. I'm not entirely sure what was so scandalous about it, but Kate goes in for a bit of pearl clutching as a result. I think perhaps the idea was to show how quickly this young lady was getting herself into the relationship. Personally, I'd have been raising an eyebrow over the speed of inviting her around to meet the parents.

I didn't manage to solve this one until nearly the end. As often is the case with this kind of story, there were plenty of red herrings and blind alleys to lead you away from who was really responsible. Just the kind of misdirection that makes these classic style mysteries so appealing. I hope that we get more from Kate again soon, maybe this time I'll be a little bit more successful in my sleuthing! 



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