Review: THE IMPOSSIBLE FORTUNE, Richard Osman

• 
  This edition read on my Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DJ1TQH16
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin, Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 25, 2025
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 409 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1405975629 
• Book 5 of 5: Thursday Murder Club Mysteries  

Synopsis (Amazon)

Who's got time to think about murder when there's a wedding to plan?

It’s been a quiet year for the Thursday Murder Club. Joyce is busy with table plans and first dances. Elizabeth is grieving. Ron is dealing with family troubles, and Ibrahim is still providing therapy to his favourite criminal.

But when Elizabeth meets a wedding guest who fears for their life, the thrill of the chase is ignited once again. A villain wants access to an uncrackable code and will stop at nothing to get it. Plunged back into their most explosive investigation yet, can the gang solve the puzzle and a murder in time?

My Take:

 Joyce's daughter Joanna is getting married and Elizabeth is still not really herself. And then at the wedding itself comes an action which brings the Thursday Murder Club a task, after almost a year of inaction. And the old team prove that they've still got it, despite the failings that come with their advancing years. 

There were times when I found this latest incursion into geezer lit both challenging and exasperating.  I struggled at times to remember the background to each character, but thank goodness it all came together at the end. 

My Rating: 4.4

I've also read

4.5, THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB  - #1

4.3, THE MAN WHO DIED TWICE - #2

4.6, THE BULLET THAT MISSED - #3

4.8, THE LAST DEVIL TO DIE - #4

4.5, WE SOLVE MURDERS

Review: THE WILL OF THE STANDING STONES, AG Barnett

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on my Kindle (Amazon)
  
• A Hammond & Circle Mystery Book 1
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0C8TWMC91
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oddmoor Press, June 20, 2023
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 236 pages

Synopsis (Amazon)

A 1920's historical mystery whodunnit 

Someone has the will to murder…

1920’s England – A group of strangers gathers at an isolated house for the reading of a will. Tensions rise as the mysterious Mr. Badala’s fortune comes with unexpected conditions.

Cut off from civilization by a raging storm, the guests must uncover the truth when one of them dies in an apparent accident. As paranoia and accusations mount, it becomes clear that there is far more at play than a simple inheritance.

In a battle of wits and wills, the group must navigate secrets and lies to survive.

My Take

The scenario described in the blurb made this sound a more attractive read than it turned out to be.  It had too many characteristics of a "first" novel: too much convolution, too many deaths, and a central character who was a really poor judge of character. The setting of the standing stones had almost no relevance to the plot.

My rating: 3.2

About the author

AG Barnett lives in Oxfordshire with his wife, daughter, three ridiculous spaniels, and four frizzle chickens. 

Review: THE VICARAGE MURDER, Faith Martin

• 
  This edition read on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DFQ67QTQ
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Joffe Books crime thriller, mystery and suspense (August 29, 2024)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 263 pages 
• Please note this book was first published in 2015 as An Unholy Mess under Faith Martin’s pen name Joyce Cato.  

Synopsis  (Amazon)

Meet Monica Noble: the vicar’s wife with a taste for solving crimes.

IN A QUIET COTSWOLD VILLAGE ALL HELL IS ABOUT TO BREAK LOOSE.

Monica Noble is throwing a party to welcome the village’s new residents. The guests include celebrity chef Sean and his wife Margaret. Also on the list are an Oxford university professor, a 40-something divorcée, and the owner of a chain of gyms.

Then as the drinks are flowing, a shotgun blast rings out. One of the guests is found dead.

DCI Dury and Sergeant Jim Greer are soon on the scene and discover that the victim had many enemies. Almost all the guests harbour secrets and motives for murder. Even Monica’s daughter comes under suspicion.

When another villager is strangled to death nearly a week later, the stakes are raised.

Can Monica help the local detectives save her daughter and solve the murders before anyone else pays the ultimate price?

This is the first of a series of enjoyable murder mysteries with great characters and baffling crimes which will keep you gripped till the final page.

MEET THE AMATEUR SLEUTH
Monica Noble was widowed young, leaving her to raise her feisty daughter on her own. That is, until she met and fell in love with Graham Noble, a country vicar (pastor), who enticed her to leave her high-flying job in advertising in the city and move to the Cotswold countryside. There she found bucolic life very pleasant indeed — until murder started to rear its ugly head. And she discovered, to everyone's surprise, that she had a flair for solving the most unholy of crimes.

My Take

There is quite a bit of  "introduction to the series and main characters" stuff in this first novel, to the point where I got wishing the author would just get on with the story. There were a couple of red herrings that led me to thinking the plot lines would turn out a little differently. Anyhow in the long run it all came together quite nicely. I'm not sure if I will continue reading the series though, although there are only 3 of them.

My rating: 4.4

I've also read some of the Hillary Greene series

• 4.5, MURDER ON THE OXFORD CANAL #1
• 4.5, MURDER OF THE BRIDE #2
• 4.5,  MURDER AT THE UNIVERSITY #3
• 4.5, MURDER IN THE VILLAGE #4
  
• 4.6, MURDER IN THE FAMILY #5
• 4.5, MURDER AT HOME #6

Review: THE BRIDE OF LILLY PILLY CREEK, Abbie L. Martin

• 
  This edition an e-book from Amazon
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0C7CMDG59
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Abbie Allen Publishing (August 26, 2023)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 214 pages
• Book #2 in the Lilly Pilly Creek series  

Synopsis (Amazon)

The second instalment in The Lilly Pilly Creek Ghost Mystery series finds sisters Jones and Autumn embroiled in yet another local mystery. Jones has been assisting Iris, a bride-to-be, in creating a memory box for her wedding. But at the final dress fitting disaster strikes. Iris collapses, leaving everyone shocked.

Invisible to all but Jones, Autumn decides to use her ghostly skills to aid in unravelling the mystery surrounding Iris's sudden collapse. Together, they delve into the secrets of Lilly Pilly Creek, determined to uncover the truth.

Jones and Autumn follow the clues that lead to trouble brewing between two rival farming families. With her friends Wren and Atlas, and her spectral sister, by her side, Jones races against time to uncover the truth and bring the culprits to justice.

As they investigate, Jones must also navigate her feelings for Hugo, the bartender next door, as well as the constant fear that her ghostly sister Autumn could at any moment be lost to her forever.

Join them on this captivating journey of courage, love, and unbreakable bonds that will leave you breathless until the very last page.

My Take

There was just enough in this story to keep me interested.  It includes references to a little known tourist attractions of the Adelaide Hills, "ghost" mushrooms. 

I still have my reservations about Jones' ghostly sister Autumn, but I will continue with the series.

My rating: 4.3 

I've also read

4.4, THE GHOST OF LILLY PILLY CREEK =#1

Review: THE CRYPTIC CLUE, Amanda Hampson

• 
   this edition published 2024 by Penguin
• #2 in The Tea Ladies series
  
• ISBN 978-1-76136-102-1
• 323 pages

Synopsis (publisher)

Look who’s back in hot water! The delightful and witty second novel in The Tea Ladies mystery series. Ideal for fans of Richard Osman and Bonnie Garmus.

In ZigZag Lane, in the heart of Sydney’s rag-trade district, tea ladies Hazel, Betty and Irene find themselves in hot water. Having already solved a murder, kidnapping and arson case, and outwitting an arch criminal, they have proved themselves a useful resource and earned the respect of a local police officer. Now he needs their help to solve a plot that threatens security.

As if that’s not enough, Irene gets a coded message directing her to the spoils of a bank robbery, which sends the tea ladies on a treasure hunt with an unexpected outcome.

There’s also trouble brewing within the walls of Empire Fashionwear, where an interloper threatens not just Hazel’s job but the very role of tea lady. It’s up to Hazel to convince her friends to abandon their trolleys and take action to save their livelihoods – before it’s too late. 

My Take

Sydney 1966. The building of the Sydney Opera House has begun and local feeling is running high about what many feel will be a white elephant. Pounds, shillings and pence are a thing of the past, and many are confused about the swap to decimal currency. 

Things are changing on the tea lady front too, A new fangled thing known as a Cafe Bar has appeared and is threatening their jobs.

While for me this was a bit of a slow read, I enjoyed the interplay between the main characters, the hint of romance in Hazel's life, and the historical setting with it's several themes.

My rating: 4.4

I've also read

4.4, THE TEA LADIES

Review:, MURDER ON AN IRISH FARM, Carlene O'Connor

• 
   this book made available by my local library,
  
• published by Kensington Publishing Corp 2022
• ISBN  978-1-4967-3080-0
• Irish Village Mystery #8
• 327 pages

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction) 

In this enchanting new read in the fan-favorite series from a USA Today bestselling author, garda of County Cork, Ireland, Siobhán O’Sullivan and Macdaras Flannery, are about to get married at last. But just as the rowdy O’Sullivan brood and all the regulars of the local bistro have gathered at the church, the nuptials come to an abrupt halt when the discovery of an unidentified skeleton puts the wedding on pause…

If only her mother could be here! The entire O’Sullivan brood—not to mention the regulars from Naomi’s Bistro—have gathered at St. Mary’s Church for the wedding of Siobhán and Macdara. It’s not every day you see two garda marrying each other. Only Siobhán’s brother James is missing. They can’t start without him.
 
But when James finally comes racing in, he’s covered in dirt and babbling he’s found a human skeleton in the old slurry pit at the farmhouse. What farmhouse? Macdara sheepishly admits he was saving it as a wedding surprise: he purchased an abandoned dairy farm. Duty calls, so the engaged garda decide to put the wedding on hold to investigate.
 
James leads them to a skeleton clothed in rags that resemble a tattered tuxedo. As an elderly neighbor approaches, she cries out that these must be the remains of her one true love who never showed up on their wedding day, fifty years ago. The garda have a cold case on their hands, which heats up the following day when a fresh corpse appears on top of the bridegroom’s bones. With a killer at large, they need to watch their backs—or the nearly wedded couple may be parted by death before they’ve even taken their vows. . .

My Take

I've inadvertently jumped a number of titles in this series but I only realised that when I've come to write the review. Not that I think it matters much in this case.

These novels appear to be cosies, with lots of action happening all at once, and a cast of at least dozens, and a puzzle or two to be solved.

I am enjoying them, so I shall persist.

My rating: 4.3

I've also read

• 4.5, NO STRANGERS HERE - #1 Kerry Mystery series
•  4.4, MURDER IN AN IRISH CHURCHYARD - Irish Village Mystery #3

Review: THE TEA LADIES, Amanda Hampson

• 
  this edition made available by my local library
  
• ISBN 9-78176-04385
• 368 pages
• Penguin Random House 2023   
  

Synopsis (publisher) 

A wickedly witty cosy crime novel set in Sydney in the swinging sixties, ideal for fans of Richard Osman and Bonnie Garmus.

They keep everyone's secrets, until there's a murder...

Sydney, 1965: After a chance encounter with a stranger, tea ladies Hazel, Betty and Irene become accidental sleuths, stumbling into a world of ruthless crooks and racketeers in search of a young woman believed to be in danger.

In the meantime, Hazel’s job at Empire Fashionwear is in jeopardy. The firm has turned out the same frocks and blouses for the past twenty years and when the mini-skirt bursts onto the scene, it rocks the rag trade to its foundations. War breaks out between departments and it falls to Hazel, the quiet diplomat, to broker peace and save the firm.

When there is a murder in the building, the tea ladies draw on their wider network and put themselves in danger as they piece together clues that connect the murder to a nearby arson and a kidnapping. But if there’s one thing tea ladies can handle, it’s hot water.

My Take

Angela Hampson is obviously an accomplished writer but this is my first outing with her. It takes us back into the 1960s in Sydney with a bunch of observant tea ladies who become accidental detectives. 

The glue who holds together a group of tea ladies who work in adjacent buildings is Hazel Bates. Hazel also provides an observant link between all levels of workers and management in Empire Fashionwear. It is Hazel who first notices "the woman at the window" in the bond store next door. It is Hazel who reports her observations to the police and raises the alarm when the bond store is torched.

Hazel is the ring leader of a group of tea ladies who work for neighbouring firms, and organises meetings where they compare notes on their observations.

There are lovely character sketches of each of the tea ladies, and touches of humour too. A satisfying read. I can see myself looking for more by this author..

My rating: 4.4

About the author

Amanda Hampson grew up in rural New Zealand. She has lived in London and Sydney, and now lives in Melbourne. Writing professionally for more than 20 years, she is the author of The Olive Sisters, Two for the Road, The French Perfumer, The Yellow Villa, Sixty Summers, Lovebirds, and the bestselling cosy crime novel The Tea Ladies. Her forthcoming novel is The Cryptic Clue.

Review: A STRANGER'S HOUSE, Clare Chase

• 
  this edition published by Choc Lit Limited 2017
  
• ISBN 978-1-781893-47-0
• 307 pages
• source: my local library
• #2 in the London and Cambridge series
  

Synopsis (author website)

What if you were powerless to protect the person you cared about most?

When Ruby finds out that her partner has done the unforgivable, she has no option but to move out of their home. With nowhere else to go, a job house-sitting in Cambridge seems like the perfect solution.

But it’s soon clear the absent owner hurts everyone he gets close to, and Ruby’s faced with the fallout. As violent repercussions unfold, her instinct is to investigate: it’s a matter of self-preservation. And besides, she’s curious…

But Ruby’s new boss, Nate Bastable, has his eye on her and seems determined to put a stop to her sleuthing. Is he simply worried for the welfare of a member of staff, or is there something altogether more complicated – and potentially dangerous – at play?

My Take

I picked this up expecting it to be similar in tone to the cosy by the same author (MYSTERY ON HIDDEN LANE) that I read a few weeks ago. But there is something a little more noir about this one, a little more mystery to be unpicked, with Ruby facing and solving some serious problems.  

There was an provocative twist in the tail right at the end too.

An interesting story that just kept me reading.

My rating: 4.4

I've also read

4.3, MYSTERY ON HIDDEN LANE

About the author

Clare Chase is becoming quite a prolific author with 3 separate series on the go.
Accord ing to Fantastic Fiction, Clare Chase writes romantic suspense and women sleuth mysteries, using London and Cambridge as settings. Brought up in the Midlands, she went on to read English at London University, then worked in book and author promotion in venues as diverse as schools, pubs and prisons. More recently she's exercised her creative writing muscles in the world of PR, and also worked for the University of Cambridge. Her current day job is at the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Her writing is inspired by what makes people tick, and how strong emotions can occasionally turn everyday incidents into the stuff of crime novels.

When she's not reading or writing, Clare enjoys drawing, cooking and trips to the Lake District. Closer to home, she loves wandering round the pubs, restaurants and galleries of Cambridge, where she lives with her husband and teenage daughters.

London & Cambridge Mysteries
   1. You Think You Know Me (2014)
   2. A Stranger's House (2016)
   3. One Dark Lie (2016)
 
Tara Thorpe
   1. Murder on the Marshes (2018)
   2. Death on the River (2018)
   3. Death Comes to Call (2019)
   4. Murder in the Fens (2019)
 
Eve Mallow Mystery
   1. Mystery on Hidden Lane (2020)
   2. Mystery at Apple Tree Cottage (2020)
   3. Mystery at Seagrave Hall (2020)
   4. Mystery at the Old Mill (2020)
   5. Mystery at the Abbey Hotel (2021)

Review: AUNTY LEE'S DELIGHTS, Ovidia Yu

•  this edition published by William Morrow 2013
  
  
  
• ISBN 978-0-06-222715-7
• 257 pages
• source: my local library

• #1 in the Aunty Lee series
  

Synopsis

This delectable and witty mystery introduces Rosie "Aunty" Lee, feisty widow, amateur sleuth, and proprietor of Singapore's best-loved home-cooking restaurant

After losing her husband, Rosie Lee could have become one of Singapore's "tai tai," an idle rich lady. Instead she is building a culinary empire from her restaurant, Aunty Lee's Delights, where spicy Singaporean meals are graciously served to locals and tourists alike. But when a body is found in one of Singapore's tourist havens and one of her guests fails to show at a dinner party, Aunty Lee knows that the two events are likely connected.

The murder and disappearance throws together Aunty Lee's henpecked stepson, Mark, his social-climbing wife, Selina, a gay couple whose love is still illegal in Singapore, and an elderly Australian tourist couple whose visit may mask a deeper purpose. Investigating the murder are Police Commissioner Raja and Senior Staff Sergeant Salim, who quickly discover that Aunty Lee's sharp nose for intrigue can sniff out clues that elude law enforcers.

Wise, witty, and charming, Aunty Lee's Delights is a spicy mystery about love, friendship, and food in Singapore, where money flows freely and people of many religions and ethnicities coexist peacefully, but where tensions lurk just below the surface, sometimes with deadly consequences.

My take

This was my second venture into the Aunty Lee series, an enjoyable, not overly complex cosy. It gives good background for the later novel that I had already read. Apart from the murder mystery there is interesting commentary on life in Singapore. In style it reminded me just a little of Alexander McCall Smith's No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. 

My book group have suggested I also try the Crown Colony series.

Listings from Fantastic Fiction

Singaporean Mystery
   1. Aunty Lee's Delights (2013)
   2. Aunty Lee's Deadly Specials (2014)
   3. Aunty Lee's Chilled Revenge (2016)
   4. Meddling and Murder (2017)

Crown Colony
   1. The Frangipani Tree Mystery (2017)
   2. The Betel Nut Tree Mystery (2018)
   3. The Paper Bark Tree Mystery (2019)
   4. The Mimosa Tree Mystery (2020)
   5. The Cannonball Tree Mystery (2021)

My rating: 4.2

I've also read

4.4, MEDDLING AND MURDER #4  in the Aunty Lee series

Review: MEDDLING & MURDER, Ovidia Yu

• format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 847 KB
• Print Length: 256 pages
• Publisher: One More Chapter (April 28, 2017)
• Publication Date: April 28, 2017
• Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
• Language: English
• ASIN: B01MQFCSVL

Synopsis (Amazon)

A delightfully warm and witty mystery from one of Singapore's best-known and most acclaimed writers, perfect for fans of Alexander McCall Smith’s NO. 1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY.

Aunty Lee is on the case!

There is nothing Rosie ‘Aunty’ Lee, amateur sleuth and proprietor of Singapore’s best-loved restaurant, loves more than solving other people’s problems. So when Beth Kwuan, an ambitious businesswoman, tells Aunty Lee her maid has disappeared, Aunty Lee is happy to let her own maid, Nina, help.

Only as the weeks go by, little clues make Aunty Lee worry. And as she digs into what is really going on behind the closed doors of Beth’s grand house, she starts to wonder—did Beth’s maid just run away, or did she meet a darker fate?

Now the race is on for Aunty Lee to get to the bottom of the mystery…and save Nina before it’s too late!

My Take

Although this is #4 in the Aunty Lee mystery series, I really didn't feel that I had missed much from not reading earlier titles. I would categorise the novel as a cozy, but there are also embedded some quite serious comments on the development of Singapore, and the impact of things like immigration of groups from China and India. There were references to earlier books in the series.

In style it reminded me a little of the Inspector Singh novels by Shamini Flint - also a Singaporean author. Although of course while Inspector Singh is a policeman, usually on an "official case", Aunty Lee is a "noseyparker".

Anyway, a fairly quiet sort of read, although some serious events do occur.


My rating: 4.4

About the author
Ovidia Yu is one of Singapore's best-known and most acclaimed writers. As well as award winning short stories and a children's book, she has had over thirty plays performed and is author of the Aunty Lee books, featuring a crime solving Tai Tai, and the Colonial Crime series set in Colonial Singapore.