Phoebe is a crime writer, always looking for new ways to kill off her characters. Her writing is paused as she helps her friend Juno look for a new home in the village. But both women are soon investigating a local murder…
The Art of Murder is the first book in the new Village Detectives series set in the fictional village of Inkbury in the UK.
Juno returns to the UK to help her mum move into a retirement home and meet the new love of her life. She is instantly mistrustful of her mother’s beau whose first 3 wives all died and she wants to protect her mum from the same fate. Juno and Phoebe witness a blazing row between a couple over dinner and one of them is found dead soon after.
There is a wonderful comedic tone to the style of writing which contrasts lightness against the murderous content. Juno was formerly a stand up comic while Phoebe is an author so both have a great turn of phrase. The interactions, banter and dialogue between the whole range of characters felt natural as well as showing affection and emotion. I did feel that the chapters were a little long but that is my personal preference for short chapters to increase the pace of the plot developments.
The Art of Murder is a fun start to a new series. I liked the friendships and relationships depicted in the book and look forward to seeing how they develop over the series.
The Art of Murder
Welcome to the beautiful English village of Inkbury. Tucked deep in the North Wessex Downs, its only claim to fame is the picturesque riverside that once appeared in a Richard Curtis movie. That is, until the murder…
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.
Fiona Walker is the million copy bestselling author of joyously funny romantic comedies. Most recently published by Head of Zeus, she will be turning to cozy crime for Boldwood. The first in her new Village Detectives series, The Art of Murder, will be published in May 2024.
