The Art of Murder

The Village Detectives, Book 1

By: Fiona Walker

Narrated by: Christine Mackie

Don't miss this brilliantly gripping cozy mystery from MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER Fiona Walker

A must-listen for fans of Richard Osman, Janet Evanovich and the Reverend Richard Coles!

Former stand-up comic Juno Mulligan has been suffering a serious sense-of-humour failure. Not only has she lost the love of her life, but she’s having to relocate to the (admittedly idyllic) village of Inkbury to watch out for her elderly mother, who she’s genuinely worried might be marrying a wife-killer.

She hopes that her old friend, disgraced-journalist-turned-novelist Phoebe Fredericks can help her crack the case of whether her mother’s perma-tanned, iceberg-smiled, three-times-a-widower fiancé is hiding a murderous past.

But before they have a chance, the local art dealer washes up distinctly dead in the village’s famous river. His lover is in the frame, but Juno and Phoebe suspect that there is a deeper secret… One that relates to Phoebe’s own past and Juno’s present.

Will the unofficial Village Detective Agency solve the mystery before the killer strikes again? In sleepy Inkbury, as they soon discover, living one’s best midlife can be murder.

©2024 Fiona Walker (P)2024 Boldwood Books

Too Wordy!

This might work better as a print book, but the excessive descriptions and "verbosity" make this hard to follow as an audiobook. Trimming down to important details would help.

the elaborate language, sometimes delicious, sometimes tideous.

as said above, I was everywhere on the listener spectrum : between funfilled, joyful smiles and the point of no return-" just get this lament over with". some chapters became too much like Sunday school, an aversion I take seriously .The story was very good, the characters well drafted and employed.
the end was not easily for seen.

Loved it!

Another blinder from Fiona Walker, love the new genre. She's been a fave for years and murder mystery really suits her

It's OK

I almost quit; for me the characters are a little over the top. There seemed to be a lot of digressions on topics. What my professors used to call excess verbosity. I am in no hurry to read the next edition, but I will say Christine Mackie was outstanding and probably the reason I finished the book.

Thursday Murder Club for Gen X

A fun cozy mystery with lots of pop references to the 80’s and 90’s. Filled with cultural references, art, poetry, a strong sense of place, the loved, the lovable, losses and midlife resets. The puns are often funny and only occasionally cringey. Highly enjoyable.