The annual village celebration at Berrywick House is underway, complete with over-decorated cake stalls, fiercely contested flower competitions, and even a maze for the disappointed losers to hide in. Julia Bird, now a well-known – even notorious – member of the community, with her trusty Labrador Jake, has thrown herself headlong into the festivities. But her reputation for adding drama to any event stands up yet again when she discovers a dead body in the maze…
It seems Ursula Benjamin, village know-it-all and prickly baking competition participant, has been strangled – and the killer has to be someone at the fete. As Julia grapples with finding yet another murder in Berrywick, she starts to wonder, could one of the competitive cake-bakers have taken the contest to deadly new heights? Or is there something darker in Ursula’s life that led to her untimely demise?
Embroiled once again in a murder enquiry, Julia isn’t about to leave the investigation to the police. Like it or not, she’s involved, and she’s going to help them solve the mystery. But when there’s another death, and it’s clear the murders aren’t isolated incidents, the stakes become even higher. Can Julia figure out the identity of the killer, and prevent any further dastardly deeds, before the wholesome spirit of the village is ruined forever?
If you like utterly gripping English mysteries, then you’ll love A Village Fete Murder. Perfect for fans of M.C. Beaton, Faith Martin and Betty Rowlands.
Author Bio:
Katie Gayle is the writing partnership of best-selling South African writers, Kate Sidley and Gail Schimmel. Kate and Gail have, between them, written over ten books of various genres, but with Katie Gayle, they both make their debut in the cozy mystery genre. Both Gail and Kate live in Johannesburg, with husbands, children, dogs and cats. Unlike their sleuth Epiphany Bloom, neither of them have ever stolen a cat from the vet.
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Buy Link:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B0BD5Y4QSQsocial
My Review
A Village Fete Murder sees us joining Julia again and somehow she seems to have stumbled on yet another body! Like the previous books, Julia can't help but try and find out who is behind this latest murdering spree. There are plenty of suspects, for the first murder at least and she wastes no time in trying to find out what happened.
Books like this do amuse me, who anyone could be so unlucky to find so many murder victims I don't know, but Julia seems to take it in her stride. It was nice this time to find out a little more about Julia herself. We learn about her life as a social worker and what came before her retirement. We also learn a little more about her daughter Jess.
I didn't manage to solve this one before it was revealed, but I still enjoyed the book and giving it a go. I don't think that Julia was any further ahead though and her friend in the police wasn't either. In fact, the police don't seem to be able to spot anything without Julia's help!
This is a great fun series, if murder can be fun that is! I can't wait to see more from Julia soon.
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