Four amateur sleuths investigate a missing farmer. Did Joe run away due to his overbearing mother in law or is there something more sinister behind his disappearance…?
A Harvest Murder is the third book in the Ham Hill series by Frances Evesham. It is the first book that I have read of the series so it works as a standalone. There are some mentions of things that had occurred in the past and I think there is some relationship and character development in the first books that I would benefit from reading.
The four sleuths are two couples: Imogen and Dan, Adam and Steph. This adds an extra dynamic to the plot as they compare themselves and their relationship to the other couple. It also allows us to see a different, more personal aspect to their character.
Farmer Joe goes missing as does one of Dan’s donkeys. Both return but Joe is poisoned before he can explain his disappearance. This book fits firmly into the cosy murder mystery genre. There is little violence or detail about the death. The English village setting and the occasion of Apple Day provides the backdrop to the plot.
A Harvest Murder is an enjoyable murder mystery novel.
I have previously reviewed Murder at the Abbey which is from Frances Evesham’s Exham On Sea series.
A Harvest Murder
One unexplained disappearance is strange, but two are sinister.
In Lower Hembrow, an idyllic village nestled beneath Ham Hill in Somerset, the villagers are preparing to enjoy the autumn traditions of the rural English countryside until Joe Trevillion, a curmudgeonly local farmer and the father of six children, vanishes.
When Adam Hennessy, the ex-detective proprietor of The Plough, the village’s popular Inn, investigates, he finds ominous undercurrents beneath apparently harmless rumour and gossip.
Meanwhile, a vicious campaign of vindictiveness forces Adam and his three amateur sleuth friends to dig deep into the secret lives of their neighbours to expose the source of a cruel vendetta and prevent another death.
As they uncover the disturbing truth, the friends learn they must also lay their own past lives to rest before they can hope to make their dreams for the future come true.
Frances Evesham is the bestselling author of the hugely successful Exham-on-Sea murder mysteries set in her home county of Somerset, and the Ham-Hill cosy crime series set in South Somerset.
Abigail and Edward are co-owners of Winfield Hall and are renting out apartments with varying degrees of success. Romance flutters in the air but secrets lurk in the shadows…
The Colour of Summer is the third and final book in Victoria Connelly’s series and I have reviewed the first book in the series The House in the Clouds.
Abi and Edward were thrown together by their ownership of the house. Their friendship teeters on romance with neither willing to make the first move. Harry and Aura are the other couple to feature in this book. Their relationship is ready to move to the next stage and a wedding is planned. This makes Abi and Edward consider their own relationship.
Things do not run smoothly for the couple even though I was eager to finally get them together. The pair are having trouble with one of their tenants and this really struck a chord with me as we have noisy neighbours. They also have secrets from the past and I wrote in my review of the first book that they were both haunted and vulnerable.
The tone of the book is gentle and the author treats her characters with warmth. I enjoyed the descriptons of the setting which supported the plot and characters.
The Colour of Summer is a warm and enjoyable romance novel.
The Colour of Summer
How long can you hide your past from the one you love?
When Abigail and Edward became co-owners of historic Winfield Hall in the beautiful Sussex countryside, they had little idea what the future held. But, as the days of summer lengthen, their feelings towards one another grow and love begins to blossom.
Harry and Aura have been a couple for a year now and, with the summer solstice approaching, Harry hatches a very special plan. He just hopes that the sun, moon and the stars are all in alignment.
But not everything is going to plan. Life has a way of catching up with you and it isn’t long before Abi discovers that Edward’s been lying about his past, and the family secrets he’s been hiding now threaten their future happiness. Can Edward make amends for his mistakes and will Abi ever be able to forgive and trust him again?
Heartwarming and uplifting, The Colour of Summer is the final book in The House in the Clouds trilogy by bestselling author Victoria Connelly.
Victoria Connelly lives in a 500-year old thatched cottage in rural Suffolk with her artist husband, a springer spaniel and a flock of ex-battery hens. She is the million-selling author of two bestselling series, The Austen Addicts and The Book Lovers, as well as many other novels and novellas. Her first published novel, Flights of Angels, was made into a film in Germany. Victoria loves books, films, walking, historic buildings and animals. If she isn’t at her keyboard writing, she can usually be found in her garden either with a trowel in her hand or a hen on her lap.
Sister Agatha is 118 and the fifth oldest living person. She believes she only has a week left to live and it is her ambition to be the oldest in the world. She has a week to kill off the four people older than herself…
What a book! Sister Agatha is an absolutely fantastic novel, packed with adventure and humour . I had a smile on my face as I whizzed through the pages, enjoying every nuance of plot and character.
The depth and layers of plot are superb. Agatha was thwarted in love as a teenager and joined the convent where she has led an exemplary life. Now she has an ambition to be the oldest person in the world and is prepared to break her vows to commit murder. Agatha’s plans don’t work out quite the way she anticipates leading to wonderful plot twists.
The luck or coincidences were a joy to read. The style of writing is light hearted, full of funny commentary but also wise.
There are a number of peripheral characters whose lives are altered by Agatha’s journey. There are little mentions in passing of the other nuns which hint at the personality behind the veil. All of the characters were brought to life so well with very human foibles. However it is Agatha herself who truly shines, immersing us in her mission.
Sister Agatha is fun and quirky and I loved the escapades of the incredible nun.
Book blurb: Sister Agatha: The World’s Oldest Serial Killer
Sister Agatha is 118 years of age, whose vim and vigour would put the most robust athletes to shame. However, during a routine check-up, her doctor claims that she has just a week to live – inconvenient, seeing as the beloved sister once made an improbable vow: to be the oldest person in the world. At last count, she was the fifth.
Never one to admit defeat, Sister Agatha concocts a bold Plan B. Using her final days, she intends on travelling the world to meet the only four people whose birthday cakes boast more candles than hers.
Hailing from Navan in the royal county of Meath, Domhnall is a graduate of the Bachelor in Acting Studies Programme, Trinity College Dublin, later completing a Master’s in Screenwriting at Dún Laoghaire IADT.
He now works as an actor and a journalist, dividing his time between Galway, where he films TG4’s award-winning series, Ros na Rún, Dublin and Venice, where he and his Italian lover continuously promise their well-worn livers that they will refrain from quaffing so much Prosecco. (Unfortunately, it seems some vows, just like nearby Rome, were not built in a day.)
Wine-drinking aside, for more than four years, Domhnall has also enjoyed the responsibility of being Assistant Editor at Irish Tatler Man, a title whose various awards includes Consumer Magazine of the Year. Thanks to this role, he interviewed a host of high-profile names such as Tommy Hilfiger, Chris Pine, Kevin Spacey, David Gandy, and Jacques Villeneuve.
Domhnall has written for the majority of Ireland’s leading newspapers and magazines, including the Irish Independent, The Irish Times and RTE. He also writes a monthly column in Woman’s Way, the country’s biggest-selling weekly magazine.
His first novel, Sister Agatha: the World’s Oldest Serial Killer, was released in 2016 to critical acclaim (Tirgearr Publishing). His second and third books, Colin and the Concubine and Crazy for You were published by Mercier Press, Ireland’s oldest publishing house.
Kitty and her fiance Matthew are invoted to an exclusive country club. Their host Sir William Winspear wishes to have a secret meeting with Matthew but is murdered before the pair can meet. What did he want to tell Matthew and did it get him killed?
Murder at the Country Club is the 9th book to feature Kitty Underhay. She tries to get away for some rest and relaxation but death seems to follow her!
Kitty and Matthew are guests of Sir William but Kitty finds his body pierced by a broken arrow. There is a scrap of fabric which seems to implicate his wife but surely the case can’t be solved that easily?! Another murder makes the pair consider the suspects more carefully to establish motives and a connection between the deaths.
The book is set in 1934 and has a classical feel. I was reminded of an Agatha Christie mixed with Midsomer Murders. The death and body are not described in detail, making this a cosy murder mystery. The style of writing is easy to read and the plot twists maintain the puzzle of the culprit’s identity.
Murder at the Country Club is an enjoyable cosy historical murder mystery.
Kitty Underhay is accompanying her fiancé, Matthew Bryant,and Bertie, his new cocker spaniel, on an outing to Torbay Country Club. However, the delightful day soon turns to disaster. Walking Bertie in the shaded grotto after an exhilarating archery demonstration, Kitty makes an unsporting discovery: the body of their host, Sir William Winspear, with an arrow in his back.
When the local inspector falls foul interviewing female witnesses, Kitty steps up to the mark. And she quickly discovers that Sir William had threatened one of the guests, dashing Russian dancer Ivan, who is dependent on him for patronage. When Kitty overhears a damning conversation between Ivan and his sister, the case seems clear. But the next day Ivan is disqualified as he is found face down in the pool…
The race is on for Kitty to find the real killer, but she must keep her head in the game if she is to outwit this cunning murderer. And when the final score comes in, will it be ‘killer: three, Kitty: zero’…?
A completely gripping, suspenseful and utterly cozy historical mystery! The perfect read for fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Lee Strauss.
Author Bio
Helena Dixon splits her time between the Black Country and Devon. Married to the same man for over thirty five years she has three daughters, a cactus called Spike, and a crazy cockapoo. She is allergic to adhesives, apples, tinsel and housework. Her addictions of choice are coffee and reality TV. She was winner of The Romance Prize in 2007 and Love Story of the Year 2010 as Nell Dixon. She now writes historical 1930’s set cozy crime. Nell enjoys hearing from readers and you can read her news and contact her via her website at http://www.nelldixon.com
Last weekend we went to see Jurassic World Dominion. It is the sixth film in the franchise and concludes the plot and character arcs.
The film begins four years after the events at Lockwood House and the release of dinosaurs into the wild. Dinosaurs are now at risk from poachers and other forms of exploitation. Claire and Owen live in a remote woodland home with Maisie Lockwood who is also being hunted. One day velociraptor Blue turns up with a baby and shortly afterwards both the baby and Maisie are kidnapped.
Meanwhile Ellie Sattler enlists the help of Alan Grant to help investigate a plague of gigantic locusts that is destroying crops and upsetting the food chain. She gets special permission to visit the Biosyn lab and dinosaur reserve in Italy to meet with Dr Ian Malcolm.
Fans of the series will love this film. Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum all reprise their roles, 29 years after they originally starred in Jurassic Park. Meanwhile there are the newer characters Owen and Claire who are dynamic and jump headfirst into danger to protect their adopted daughter. They are involved in some pretty impressive and intense chase scenes. This counteracts some of the longer aspects that dragged a little.
I was hugely excited when I heard the name Dodgson as he appeared in the first film and hired Nedry to steal the dinosaur embryos.
Dr Wu also returns and is trying to atone for his past sins (and we’re blaming him for the whole thing but especially the indominus rex and indoraptor!) The film has some science and cloning detail but this is softened by the emotional discovery of Maisie about her mother.
There are some fab jump scare moments even though I was anticipating them. The dinosaur range has grown and there are some great additions including giganotosaurus and therizinosaurus.
The film is a 12 A in the UK. There were some young children present but we decided not to take 6 year old Zach. The film does contain some bad language and violence as well as multiple dinosaur attacks. I think that seeing the film on the big screen might be a bit scary for little ones.
I thought that the ending satisfyingly concluded the series with a happy and uplifting outcome. The final shots of dinosaurs and ‘normal’ present day animals were superb.
