Murder in the Village (Belinda Penshurst #1) by Lisa Cutts
Genre: Cosy mysteries
Read: 18th August 2021
Published: 25th August 2021
★ 1.5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Meet Belinda Penshurst. Castle owner, dog lover… crime solver?
Belinda Penshurst loves her home village Little Challham, with its shady lanes, two pubs and weekly market, and she’s determined to keep it peaceful. She may live in Challham Castle but she knows almost everything that goes on under her nose. So when irritable pub landlord Tipper is found dead in his cellar, she’s perfectly placed to investigate.
Retired detective Harry Powell moved to Little Challham for a quiet life. He didn’t expect to be dragged into a murder investigation. But the police don’t seem half as enthusiastic as Belinda about the case, and there are strange things happening in the village. Particularly the number of dogs that have disappeared lately…
Is there a dognapper snaffling schnauzers and luring away Labradors? Is Belinda barking mad to be worried that her brother Marcus was arguing with Tipper on the day he died? Belinda and Harry track down the suspects: the rival landlord, the outraged barmaid, the mysterious man in the black car following dogwalkers around. But are the dogged detectives running out of time to sniff out the killer, before he starts hounding them?
A charming cozy mystery full of laughs and eccentric characters. Fans of M.C. Beaton, H.Y. Hanna and Emily Organ will love the first novel in the Belinda Penshurst series!
MY REVIEW:
Nothing ever happens in Little Challham...nothing really happens in this book either! Yes, the local pub landlord drowned in his own ale and there are a band of dognappers lurking in the dark...but none of it is exciting enough to hold my attention.
Belinda Penshurst might love her life in Little Challham...hell, I probably would too if I lived in her castle! But I didn't like Belinda. She was irritating and seemed to look down her nose at everyone. Her brother Marcus was another fool who hasn't appeared to have grown up. Harry Powell, now retired from the author's previous East Rise series, was the only likeable character with his little chats with the villagers...but with Belinda I was left scratching my head. What on earth are they talking about? The pair left me utterly confused by their interactions to the point I just didn't care anymore.
I really couldn't get into this book and I don't even have the energy to rehash the plot in my own retelling of it because there doesn't seem much point.
I love Midsomer Murders and the whole cosy English village scene...but MURDER IN THE VILLAGE doesn't cut it for me. But don't take my word for it...plenty of other people have enjoyed it so you might too!
I haven't read the author's crime series but I think that would be more up my alley, particularly the ones that feature DI Harry Powell who has now retired to Little Challham and featured in this book, as I'm fairly fussy about cosy mysteries that can hold my attention.
I would like to thank #LisaCutts, #Netgalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #MurderInTheVillage in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
She is the author of the DC Nina Foster books, 'Never Forget' and 'Remember, Remember'. 'Never Forget' was longlisted for the Waverton Good Read Award 2013 and the winner of the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award 2014 for Best Thriller. She has also written four books in the East Rise Incident Room series, 'Mercy Killing', 'Buried Secrets', 'Lost Lives' and 'Don’t Trust Him'. All four centre around DI Harry Powell and his Major Crime Team battling to solve the latest murders within the county. Currently she is writing the Little Challham mysteries, cosy mysteries set in a fictional village in Kent also featuring the now retired detective Harry Powell.
She writes a monthly column, Behind the Tape, for Writing Magazine answering police procedural questions from other writers. In early 2016, she was honoured to become the Patron of Rochester Literature Festival and help establish Murderous Medway, an annual crime fiction festival packed full of amazing author panels. As well as being on BBC Radio 4’s Open Book, Lisa has twice appeared on This Morning to chat about TV crime dramas Broadchurch and Line of Duty.
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