Book: Death on the Menu
Author: Emma Davies
Pub Day: Sept 22nd 2022
About the Book:
Francesca Eve has planned a showstopping funeral supper to say goodbye in style, but the last thing she expects is a murder on the menu…
When elderly millionaire and eccentric entrepreneur Clarence Lightman dies, his nearest and dearest gather one final time at Justice House, Clarence’s beautiful country estate, for the reading of his will. But the day ends in uproar when it is revealed that whoever solves a series of complex clues will inherit everything. Will one of Clarence’s disagreeable children outwit everyone else for the fortune, or could his devoted housekeeper or even Francesca herself win the day?
Francesca knows she should stick to the kitchen and stay out of this lethal game, but she is unwillingly drawn into the mystery when she finds one of Clarence’s sons, blood pooling from a deadly thwack to the head, shoved into the larder. Somebody is clearly not playing fair, and Francesca feels sure that they won’t stop until all of the competition has been eliminated.
Trapped in the game until all the riddles are solved, Francesca must solve the clues and find the ruthless killer to protect herself and her fellow innocent guests. But she can’t trust anyone. Fran must use all her wits, not only to hunt down the truth, but to stay alive…
An addictive cozy crime novel packed with twists you won’t expect. If you love Faith Martin, M.C. Beaton and The Thursday Murder Club you’ll adore this thrilling mystery.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'Death On The Menu' by Emma Davies.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 22nd September 2022.
This is the fifth book I have read by this author. It is also the third book in her 'Adam And Eve Mystery Series' but can be read as a standalone. I have previously read 'A Year At Appleyard Farm', 'The Little Island Secret', 'My Husband's Lie', 'After The Crash' and 'Death On Disguise' (First book in the 'Adam And Eve Mystery Series' and would recommend them all!!
I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis. I am a huge fan of Emma and if this book is half as good as 'A Year At Appleyard Farm', 'The Little Island Secret', 'My Husband's Lie', After The Crash' and 'Death On Disguise' it is bound to be an epic read!! The synopsis stated that 'If you love Clare Chase, M.C. Beaton and The Thursday Murder Club you’ll adore this thrilling mystery.' I am a huge fan of Clare Chase so am interested to see if it will live up to this statement. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of 22 chapters. The chapters are medium to long in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in Shropshire, England 🏴 , UK 🇬🇧. The bonus for me of books that are partly or fully based in the UK is that I live in the UK and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book which makes it easier to picture. I have actually visited and stayed in Shropshire so am looking forward to seeing if I recognise any places mentioned in the book.
This book is written in third person perspective with the main protagonists being Francesca Eve and Adam Smith. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.
WOW!!! JUST WOW!!! YET ANOTHER ADDICTIVE ADDITION TO THE FANTASTIC 'ADAM AND EVE' SERIES!! I LOVE HOW YOU CAN JUMP FROM GENRE TO GENRE ABSOLUTELY PERFECTLY AND WHETHER IT IS A ROMANCE, WOMEN'S FICTION OR MURDER MYSTERY YOU SLAM DUNK IT EVERY TIME AND THIS BOOK IS NO EXCEPTION!!!
Another huge success by Emma Davies!!! This book is beautifully written and filled with vivid descriptions to the point where I can hear the trees rustling in the wind and taste Frank's divine dishes while curled up on the sofa reading. The cover and synopsis suit the storyline perfectly.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVED IT!!! AN ABSOLUTELY GRIPPING COSY MYSTERY!!!!
I must admit that I had no idea what to expect when I started reading this fantastic series when I read 'Death In Disguise' but I will start by repeating that you Emma are a lady of many talent! The first book of yours that I fell in love with was 'My Husband's Lie' which was a psychological fiction filled with mystery and suspense, I then read 'A year at Applewood farm' which was filled with romance, I moved onto 'The Little Island Secret ' which was a gorgeous romantic holiday fiction and the last book I read by you was 'After The Crash' which was a romantic mystery. I then moved onto the first in this series 'Death In Disguise, somehow I think I may have missed' Death On The Dinner Plate' and now I have just finished this absolutely addictive page turner and yet again you have outshone yourself!! Does your talent have no boundaries? Not many people can jump from one genre to another and even less do it well but you have done an absolutely fantastic job Emma!!!! Congratulations and I am looking forward to your next successful surprise!!
The storyline is absolutely addictive starting off with the perfect atmosphere for a cosy mystery being a treasure hunt after the death of an author!! A unique and perfectly fitting start for an murder mystery!! This is most definitely one the best cosy murder mysteries I have ever read!!! It was filled with murder, suspense, mystery, humour and rammed full of red herrings!! What more could you ever ask for in a cosy mystery? This book is perfect to read curled up by a fire or relaxing on a beach. There were so many different red herrings and different leads that Emma took me down and I enjoyed solving the puzzles and clues along with Fran and Adam. I would never have worked out who the killer was so a MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS to Emma for managing to surprise me. I have read several books by authors who have only ever written mysteries and yet have worked out the whodunit by 50% in some which is a pet hate for me. However, you normally write romance novels and amazing ones at that, and yet managed to completely shock me!!! I also loved how everything was explained and tied up as another pet hate of mine is when a piece of the puzzle is mentioned then seemingly forgotten and never spoken of again. Emma, I absolutely LOVED this book which is an absolutely, perfectly explosive addition to what has promised to be an absolutely epic new series!!! I would LOVE to see this book, well this whole series turned into a movie which is sure to be a huge hit. Keep up the amazing work and I cannot wait for your next success whether it's another romance or the fourth part in this fantastic series!!
Although this is the third book in the series I had would have had absolutely no problems reading it without the others. Any details or events that have previously happened are mentioned in just the right amount of detail to let a new reader know what has happened and yet not too much to bore a previous reader.
I absolutely love Fran and was over the moon to meet her again!!! When I started this series and I realised that she was a 50 year old caterer I did not know what to expect but straight away her personality lit up like a lighthouse. She made me laugh until I had tears streaming down my face. I can't remember the last time a character made me laugh so much! She is such a realistic character that jumps out of the pages and who is smart, caring and intriguing. The fact that this was a cosy murder mystery was even better as she definitely made it lighter than most I have read. She is such a larger than life and bubbly character who says it as it is, doesn't take any crud and has the most gorgeous personality. She is friendly, knows what to says who to trust and the fact that she swears now and again makes her my perfect cup of tea!! Fran is definitely the type of woman I would want by my side whether I wanted to laugh, cry or have a 5 course meal. I immediately clicked with her after the first few pages of 'Death In Disguise' and she hasn't left my mind since. The second I started reading this book it felt like I had only just finished saying Goodbye to her as qshe materialised in front of me again. I am happy to say that the same went with Adam who was nervous, funny and minced his words. They are complete opposites who made the perfect team. Again, neither knew each other previously when they first met yet they hit it off straight away and they work just as well together in this book as they did the first. They make one of the best teams I have ever met!! They make a perfect pairing and I cannot wait to meet them both again. They are most certainly the type of characters whose personalities stay with you for a long time and I've already started missing them... Hint hint Emma 😉
DO NOT PICK THIS BOOK UP UNTIL YOU HAVE CLEARED YOUR SCHEDULES AS YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PUT IT DOWN! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ⚠!!
Yet one more HUGE CONGRATULATIONS Emma on the best cosy mystery series I have ever read and I am impatiently waiting for the next success in this series!!
Overall an absolutely addictive , fun, light hearted cosy mystery which will keep you up on a treasure hunt until 2am turning the pages
Genres covered in this novel include Murder Mystery, Cozy Culinary Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy Crafts & Hobbies Mystery, Cozy Animal Mystery and Crime Fiction amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as FANS of Agatha Christie, Clare Chase, Helena Dixon, Martin, M.C. Beaton, 'The Thursday Murder Club' and anyone who loves an amazing cosy mystery and especially you reading this!! .
287 pages.
This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle via Amazon or free on kindle unlimited (at time of review) and £7.99 in paperback which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5/5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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@EmmaDavies @Bookouture @Bookworm1986 @bookworm86
Author Bio
After a varied career, Emma Davies once worked for a design studio where she was asked to provide a fun and humorous (and not necessarily true) anecdote for their website. She wrote the following: 'I am a bestselling novelist currently masquerading as a thirty something mother of three.' Well the job in the design studio didn't work out but she's now a forty something mother of three and is happy to report the rest of her dream came true.
After many years as a finance manager she now writes full time, and is far happier playing with words than numbers. She lives with her husband, three children, and two guinea pigs in rural Shropshire where she writes in all the gaps in between real life. It's a county she adores, her love of its beautiful people and landscapes providing endless inspiration for her books, and in fact the only thing that would make Shropshire more idyllic is if it were by the sea.
Pop over to her website www.emmadaviesauthor.com where, amongst other things, you can read about her passion for Pringles and singing loudly in the car. You can also wave to her on twitter @EmDaviesAuthor or find her on Facebook (a little too often than is good for her).
Social Media
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Purchase Link
Amazon: https://geni.us/B0B21SSK37social
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