Book Description:
A lovely day out takes a dark turn when a complaining customer is found dead… Luckily amateur sleuth Belinda Penshurst is on the scene – and ready to investigate!
Belinda Penshurst has always loved Brabourne Gardens. A keen animal lover, she enjoys walking its winding paths and listening to the excited squeals of schoolchildren encountering the kind of wildlife you don’t normally find in England. So when one of the visitors is found strangled, she’s determined to learn whodunnit – and why.
The victim, Simon Carter, had a reputation for making trouble… But surely that’s not a good enough reason to want him dead. Together with retired detective Harry Powell, Belinda investigates the goings-on behind the scenes, and learns that some of the staff are more savage than the animals.
Is it Estelle Samuels, the anti-social owner, who clearly has something to hide? Or the security guard who takes his job too seriously? Most worrying of all, Belinda’s ex Ivan was there when the body was found, and she’s determined to clear his name. As suspicions swirl, one thing’s for sure: if Belinda keeps following the killer’s tracks, she might find herself in their sights…
Can she sniff out a murderer, before she becomes prey?
A completely unputdownable and charming cozy mystery. Fans of M.C. Beaton, H.Y. Hanna or Emily Organ will love the Belinda Penshurst series!
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'Murder At The Gardens' by Lisa Cutts.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Lisa Cutts, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 14th April 2022.
This is the third book I have read by this author. It is also the third book in the 'Belinda Penshurst Mystery' series but can be read as a standalone. I have read the first book which is called 'Murder In The Vilage' and the second which is called 'Murder At The Casrle' and would definitely recommend both.
I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful eye catching cover and intriguing sounding synopsis and title. I am also a huge fan of Lisa and if this book is half as good as 'Murder In The Village' and 'Murder At The Castle' it is guaranteed to be a great read. The synopsis stated that 'Fans of M.C. Beaton, H.Y. Hanna or Emily Organ will love the Belinda Penshurst series!' I am a huge fan of M.C. Beaton so am looking forward to seeing if this lives 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 a prologue and 45 chapters. The chapters are short to medium 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 Little Challam which is a fictional village in Kent, England 🏴, UK 🇬🇧. I always enjoy when books are set in the UK as I'm from Wales and have sometimes visited areas mentioned in the book. This makes it easier to picture where the scenes are set at times.
This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonists are Belinda Penshurst and Harry Powell. The benefits of third person perspective 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.
What an absolutely fantastic page turning editon to a riveting new series!!! Congratulations Lisa on a great success!!!
This book is very well written and very smooth and easy to read. The descriptions are vivid and helps you to really feel that you are in the middle of the village whilst everything is going on. The synopsis and cover suit the storyline perfectly.
The storyline itself is fast paced and there is always something going on to captivate your attention and keep you constantly turning the pages. It is such a smooth and easy read and I completely lost myself in the pages. Once I started it I just could not stop!!! I have lived this series from book one 'Murder In The Village' and even though I loved that book and also the second in the series 'Murder At The Castle' I just say this one is definitely my favourite so far. I am a HUGE animal lover so the setting and atmosphere was absolutely perfect!!! It is also very unique as I can't think of another murder mystery set in a zoo!! I really enjoyed the storyline and loved visiting Little Challham again and exploring more of the fantastic countryside as well as more of Belindas Castle and of course the new setting of Brabourne Zoological Gardens. This book is filled with suspense, red herrings, tension, friendship, a hint of romance, lots of animals and absolutely loads of laughter mixed in. A perfect combination for any successful cosy mystery. I had no idea who was doing what and am pleased to say that I was very surprised when the reveal was made. It is getting harder and harder to surprise me after reading so many crime books and there is nothing worse than working it all out by 50% so another congratulations on this Lisa!! I lam looking forward to seeing what adventure Belinda and Harry will go on next along with seeing how Harrys new job prospects go!!!
Although this is the third book in the series I 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.
Clear your schedules and get the tissues ready as you won't be able to put this book down and you'll have tears streaming from laughing!!!
I absolutely loved meeting Belinda and Harry again along with all the new characters and some old faces too. I was not only invested on the storyline but I also became even more invested in them than the first book. I am looking forward to seeing more of both Belinda and Harry again plus meeting more old and new faces. These characters are he type to stay with me for a while. I love that Belinda is such a strong woman, being female myself I enjoy seeing strong female leads in books. The fact that I love animals and run a rescue and that both Harry and Belinda are animal lovers definitely helped me engage with them both. I liken them to a pair of naughty school children. The type in primary school who bicker but really fancy each other and I really am looking forward to see what becomes of them. They both had me in stitches on several occasions, Belinda with some of the things she came out with and her attitude and Harry for just being Harry, bless him!!! I also enjoyed finally meeting the mysterious Ivan after reading about him in both previous books. I wasn't a huge fan of his but he did kind of come through in the end and Belinda and Harry's obsession with his forehead was absolutely hilarious!!! I also enjoyed meeting Malcolm, Belinda's brother, again who always makes me laugh with his hare brained schemes and ideas. I'm looking forward to seeing what he gets up to next along with Belinda and Harry. These characters have very quickly become close friends and each time I end one of Lisa's amazing books they stay with me for a long time. They are all extremely strong, likeable and realistic characters who work perfectly with the storyline.
I cannot remember the last time I laughed so much especially reading a crime book!!! Absolutely perfect 👌This is why Lisa is one of my favourite authors and this is one of my favourite series!!!
Well done Lisa on an yet another absolutely fantastic book in what is an epic series. Here's to reading the next adventure 🍻 🥂!!
Overall a page turning, non stop, addictive, hilarious cosy mystery that is perfect for the beach or in front of a fire, a fantastic addition to a riveting series!!!
Some of my favourite quotes/parts in this book include the following:
😂 The part where Harry, James and a pasty are in Harry's car made me laugh out loud so many times 😂 😂 😂
🦒 "‘I remember how intrigued you were when you found out that a giraffe could kick the head off a lion,’he said with a chuckle. ‘I think your exact words were, “king of the jungle, my eye. It’s just a big pussy cat" ". Well I never knew that and had to Google it!!! Learn something knew every day!!!
😂 😂 " ‘They’re not rabid,’ said Harry, ‘merely dangerous. What is the police force coming to? It’s vital evidence and you’re waiting for what? The negotiator to talk the hyena into swapping it for a Kong toy filled with peanut butter?’‘Do you think that will work?’ said Vince, getting his notebook out of his pocket."
Genres covered in this book include Cosy Mystery, Crime Fiction, Mystery and Crime Thriller amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Emily Organ, Agatha Christie, Faith Martin, Helena Dixon, M.C. Beaton, H.Y. Hanna, Emily Organ and anyone looking for a fantastic, laugh a minute cosy mystery
266 pages.
This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle via Amazon or free if you have kindle unlimited (at time of review) 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.
Feel free to add me on Goodreads or follow me on my website or Facebook for more reviews
@LisaCutts @Bookouture @Bookworm1986 @bookworm86
Author Bio:
Lisa Cutts is a full-time detective constable investigating murders for a living. When off duty she writes a fictitious version of her day job. She lives and works within the county of Kent with her husband and Labrador. She is the author of the DC Nina Foster books, Never Forget and Remember, Remember. Never Forgot 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. 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. https://www.facebook.com/lisa.cutts.505/ https://www.instagram.com/lisa_cutts/ https://twitter.com/LisaCuttsAuthor
Buy Link:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B09MLY2NQNsocial
Comments