Fiona, Daisy and Sue volunteer in a charity shop together. One of their regular customers is murdered and the police are struggling to find the culprit or even any motive. The three charity shop workers decide to launch their own investigation…
The Charity Shop Detective Agency is a wonderfully warm and amusing cosy murder mystery set on the south coast of England.
Fiona finds a bloody knife amongst the donations left outside the chairty shop. Later she discovers that one of their elderly customers has been stabbed to death. The police are stumped and there seems to be a serial killer on the loose.
The style of writing is full of gentle humour. I loved the animosity between Fiona and the owner of the rival charity shop across the street. The main characters are easy to like, written in an engaging way with their little quirks.
I found the murder mystery intriguing and was led down several dead ends along with the amateur sleuths, convinced I had guessed the killer before being proved wrong.
The Charity Shop Detective Agency is delightful and I look forward to meeting these lovely ladies for their next case.
THE CHARITY SHOP DETECTIVE AGENCY by Peter Boland
PUT THE KETTLE ON AND DISCOVER AN UTTERLY CHARMING NEW COZY MURDER MYSTERY SET IN A SLEEPY SEASIDE TOWN.
A serial killer is stalking the elderly of Southbourne. The only clue left behind is a domino in the hand of each victim — with a name scratched on the back.
Eighty-six-year-old Sarah Brown is found dead in her hallway one morning by her delivery man. She was stabbed in the back.
Fiona, Sue and Daisy, volunteers at the local charity shop, Dogs Need Nice Homes, can’t believe their favourite customer is dead. The ladies vow to bring the killer to justice.
With plenty of tea and cake along the way, and despite squabbles with their rivals, the Cats Alliance across the street, the Charity Shop Detective Agency is born.
Fans of The Thursday Murder Club, Janice Hallett, Simon Brett, Ian Moore and Sarah Yarwood-Lovett will adore this exciting new voice in cozy crime.
THE DETECTIVE
Level-headed Fiona has found a quiet sanctuary volunteering at the local charity shop, Dogs Need Nice Homes. And she’s found firm friendship with the strong-willed Partial Sue (she’s ever so partial to a cup of tea) and the kindly — and surprisingly tech-savvy — Daisy. Together, these ladies, with Simon Le Bon, Fiona’s scruffy haired terrier cross, investigate murders as the utterly charming Charity Shop Detective Agency.
PETER BOLAND
After studying to be an architect, Pete realised he wasn’t very good at it. He liked designing buildings, he just couldn’t make them stand up — a big handicap in an industry that’s partial to keeping things upright. So he became an advertising copywriter, the highlight of which was creating an ad featuring Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman. He then tried his hand at writing his own stories and quickly realised there’s no magic formula. You just have to put one word in front of the other (and keep doing that for about six months). It also helps if you can resist the lure of surfing and drinking beer in a garden chair.
