ARC Book Review: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

Publisher: Viking

Published: September 2020

Pages: 400

Summary

Four septuagenarians with a few tricks up their sleeves

A female cop with her first big case

A brutal muder

Welcome to...

THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left behind the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case. As the bodies begin to pile up, can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it's too late?

ARC Book Review: The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss by Max Wirestone

I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

Publisher: Redhook

Published: October 2015

Pages: 320

Summary

Veronica Mars meets the World of Warcraft in The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss, a mystery romp with a most unexpected heroine.

If it were up to me this book would be called Hilarious Things That Happened That Were Not At All Dahlia's Fault -- or HTTHTWNAADF, for short.

OK, I probably shouldn't have taken money from a mysterious eccentric to solve a theft, given that I'm not a detective, and that I am sometimes outwitted by puzzles in children's video games. I probably shouldn't have stolen bags of trash from a potential murder suspect. Arguably -- just arguably, mind you -- it may have been unwise to cos-play at an event where I was likely to be shot at.

But sometimes you just have to take some chances, right? And maybe things do get a little unfortunate. What of it? If you ask me, an unfortunate decision here or there can change your life. In a positive way, just so long you don't get killed in the process. Admittedly, that's the tricky bit.

ARC Book Review: A Murder of Magpies by Judith Flanders

I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Publication Date: 24 February 2015

Pages: 288

Challenges: Around the World Challenge; Women's Challenge

Rating: 3/5

  

Summary

It's just another day at the office for London book editor Samantha "Sam" Clair. Checking jacket copy for howlers, wondering how to break it to her star novelist that her latest effort is utterly unpublishable, lunch scheduled with gossipy author Kit Lowell, whose new book will dish the juicy dirt on a recent fashion industry scandal. Little does she know the trouble Kit's book will cause - before it even goes to print. When Police Inspector Field turns up at the venerable offices of Timmins & Ross, asking questions about a package addressed to Sam, she knows something is wrong. Now, Sam's nine-to-five life is turned upside down as she finds herself propelled into a criminal investigation. Someone doesn't want Kit's manuscript published, and unless Sam can put the pieces together in time, they'll do anything to stop it.

With this deliciously funny debut novel, acclaimed author Judith Flanders introduces readers to an enormously enjoyable, too-clever-for-her-own-good new amateur sleuth, as well as Sam's Goth assistant, her effortlessly glamorous mother, and the handsome Inspector Field.

Book Review: Murder on the Hill by Kennedy Chase

I received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher: Monty's Tale Press

Published: 3 November 2014

Series: Harley Hill Mysteries #1

Pages: 252

Rating: 4/5

  

Blurb from Goodreads

Look out London, there's a new investigator in town! Harley Hill is a twenty-five year old woman in need of a new identity. Until now she's been known as many things: Thief, Bandit, The Girl Dressed Like a Ninja... 

When she's offered an investigative position at the Silvers Finders Agency, she decides it's time to go straight. But when a jewelry store break-in she's investigating turns into a murder case, Harley will need all her skills to find the killer and avoid the attentions of a Russian crime boss.

With the help of her new friends, and some from her underworld past, Harley faces a race against the clock. She'll need to uncover the secret behind the artifact left at the jewelry store if she's to catch the murderer. If she fails, it won't just be the job she loses - but her life.