Book 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!
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'Murder In The Village' by Lisa Cutts.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Lisa Cutts, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 25th August 2021.
This is the first book I have read by this author. It is also the first book in the 'Belinda Penshurst Mystery' series.
I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful cover and intriguing sounding synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that 'Fans of M.C. Beaton, H.Y. Hanna and Emily Organ will love the first novel in the Belinda Penshurst series!' I am a huge fan of Emily Organ 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 50 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 start to what promises to be 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. Absolutely LOVE that Belinda lives in a castle, very unique and great setting!! The synopsis and cover suit the storyline perfectly.
The storyline itself is quite fast paced and there is always something going on to captivate your attention and keep you constantly turning the pages. I am very pleased that Lisa brought the methods used my dotnappers to the readers attention as graffiti outside homes where dogs reside is a well used technique by dog thief's yet many people I speak to know nothing about it so congratulations Lisa on bringing this fact to your readers attention. I really enjoyed the storyline and was pleased to read at the beginning thay No dogs were harmed in the making of the story or in the storyline either. I also wanted to mention that I really enjoyed the extract included prior to the storyline from 'The Power of the Dog' by Rudyard Kipling. An absolutely fantastic choice and true words that fit well with the storyline. This book is filled with suspense, red herrings, tension, friendship, a hint of romance, lots of dogs and some 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 quite 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 really enjoyed meeting Belinda and Harry for the first time and not only was I invested on the storyline but I also became invested in them. It is always worrying when starting a new series as you have no idea who the characters are and whether you are going to love them or hate them.
I am pleased to say there was nothing to worry about in this case and I am looking forward to seeing more of both Belinda and Harry. 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 on 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!!! Extremely strong, likeable and realistic characters!!!
Well done Lisa on an absolutely fantastic first book in what is promising to be 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 start to what promises to be a riveting series!!!
Some of my favourite quotes in this book include the following:
😂 "‘Who hasn’t?’ said George, vein popping out of the side of his shaved head. ‘Especially when someone accuses them of murder.’‘She didn’t actually accuse you of murder,’ said Harry, stepping forwards. ‘Didn’t she?’ said George. ‘Didn’t I?’ said Belinda. ‘I meant to.’‘That’s what it sounded like to me,’ said Anita. ‘Thank you, Anita, at least someone was paying attention,’ said Belinda, a triumphant look on her face."
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 and anyone looking for a fantastic, laugh a minute cosy mystery
252 pages.
This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle via Amazon or free if you have kindle unlimited 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.
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Buy Link:
Amazon: https://bit.ly/3mb60aM
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