Murder on the Downs

Whitstable Pearl Mystery, Book 7

By: Julie Wassmer

Narrated by: Karen Cass

Murder on the Downs is the seventh instalment in the popular Whitstable Pearl Mystery series, from best-selling author Julie Wassmer.

A controversial new property development is planned in Whitstable, which will encroach upon the green open space of the downs, to the dismay of Whitstable residents who view this as the thin end of the wedge with regard to local wildlife conservation.

A campaign springs into life, spearheaded by a friend of Pearl’s family, Martha Laker. A committed environmentalist, Martha is no stranger to controversy herself. She has also managed to divide opinion across town, with the locals viewing her as their fearless champion while establishment figures seeing only an interfering agitator.

Tensions escalate between the developers and Whitstable residents, straining Pearl’s close relationship with London-born police officer DCI Mike McGuire, who harbours concerns that the local campaign will spiral out of control. Pearl’s loyalties are torn, but the protest duly goes ahead - and newspaper headlines claim a moral victory for the residents in this David and Goliath battle.

But the victory is short lived when Pearl discovers a dead body on the downs....

©2019 Julie Wassmer (P)2019 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

A Tired Narrative

I’m still really happy that this series has a much better narrator than before and these books aren’t great literature, but usually a good, dependable cozy mystery. This last chapter (no spoilers) was just so hackneyed and sadly predictable. It was like a bad B horror film where people do inexplicably stupid things. Pearl needs to grow a backbone—I’m getting a little weary of her “I’m a Private Detective” muscle flexing when she’s constantly scared of her shadow. Still, it is what it is—it is a light escape…

As usual, good story that gets wrapped up quickly in the end.

There’s never a way of knowing who the murderer is in any of these books. That’s fine, since I enjoy spending time with the crowd in Whitstable, and working through the story. But as typically happens in this series of books, there’s a lot of action and lots of red herrings. But, it suddenly gets wrapped up in the end with an explanation that you never saw coming, and there were no clues at all as you were going through. But, as I said, if you enjoy spending time in Whitstable with these interesting characters, read this book. But if you’re looking for clues and figuring out a murder mystery not so much.