Mystery on Hidden Lane
(Eve Mallow Mystery #1)
by Clare Chase
Meet Eve Mallow: an American far from home, a professional busybody… and an amateur detective?
Seasoned obituary writer Eve Mallow has a new assignment: to tell the life story of famed musician Bernard Fitzpatrick. A chance to spend a few days in the sweet little village of Saxford St Peter, walking the country lanes with her beloved dachshund Gus and meeting new people sounds like a dream. But it turns out that Bernard’s life was much less interesting than his death. On the day she arrives, news breaks that the charismatic cellist was the victim of a grisly murder. Could this quaint English village be hiding a dark secret?
As Eve starts to interview Bernard’s friends and colleagues, she finds that he’d ruffled a few feathers. In fact, from the keepers of the Cross Keys Inn to his own staff at High House, there’s barely a person in town who doesn’t have some reason to hate him… is one of the friendly villagers a cold-blooded killer?
Eve hoped Saxford St Peter would be the perfect escape from her busy city life. But there is darkness even in the most sunlit of settings. And when a second body is found, Eve becomes certain that one of the people she’s met must be the murderer. She has never done any detective work before… but is there something in her notes that can crack the case?
… she reached down to ruffle Gus’s fur as he looked up at her, no doubt after another treat… ‘No, Gus – no more. Because I love you and I’m taking care of your health.’ For a moment she imagined how it would be if the roles were reversed, and Gus was in a position to ration her cake intake at the teashop. It didn’t bear thinking about.
Can’t blame you for not trusting DI Palmer. You have to chivvy him if you want something in a hurry. When Simon had that horse stolen, he had all the urgency of a dormouse on Valium.
My Review:
I enjoy cozy mysteries for a change of pace between my habitual reads of women’s fiction and thrillers as they are almost medicinal as they generally allow me the novel experience of sustaining a consistent pulse rate and blood pressure at normal levels. This slowly developing tale was rather complex for a cozy and entertained and amused me with the quirkiness of the characters and originality of the plotlines.
So, a Londoner arrives in a small village to write a celebrity obituary for her part-time job. Who knew there was such a thing as a celebrity obituary writer? But the character of Eve was perfect for the task as she was a full-on natural-born snoop who was eaten up with curiosity, oozed diplomacy, and easily put others at ease while she finagled and finessed interesting bits of information out of them. Eve was highly observant and spent endless hours researching everyone, even those on the fringes. She was also apparently in love with my beloved Mr. Google. And yes – I do know that my love is unrequited and that he cheats on me relentlessly, sigh… Regardless, Eve arrived in the small village to interview her subject’s peeps only to learn that her assignment had not only died but had been murdered, which was her first, but I have a feeling it won’t be her last.
I adored Eve! She talked aloud to her little dog Gus and sought his opinion as well as assigned him thoughts, motivations, and emotions. I reveled in these anthropomorphized bits as I do the same with my fur babies who, of course, are feline geniuses and possible serial killers/ninjas. The storylines were heaving with colorful and amusing descriptions, copiously noted details, and possible suspects. Eve kept track of her carefully curated details on spreadsheets and was quickly befriended by Viv, a gifted baker who conjured divine cakes, whom I loved just as much as Eve because, well, cake, and, she was good fun and had pink hair. I am eager to read the next book in the series, which is locked and loaded on my impatiently idling Kindle.
I picked up two new clever bits and bobs for my Brit List with playing away – being unfaithful to a partner, and chivvy – pushing or nagging someone repeatedly to do something.
About The Author
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Clare Chase writes women sleuth mysteries. After graduating from London University with a degree in English Literature, Clare moved to Cambridge and has lived there ever since. She's fascinated by the city's contrasts and contradictions, which feed into her writing. She's worked in diverse settings - from the 800-year-old University to one of the local prisons - and lived everywhere from the house of a Lord to a slug-infested flat. The terrace she now occupies, with her husband and teenage children, presents a good happy medium.
As well as writing, Clare loves family time, art and architecture, cooking, and of course, reading other people's books.
Amazon
Goodreads
Website
Clare Chase writes women sleuth mysteries. After graduating from London University with a degree in English Literature, Clare moved to Cambridge and has lived there ever since. She's fascinated by the city's contrasts and contradictions, which feed into her writing. She's worked in diverse settings - from the 800-year-old University to one of the local prisons - and lived everywhere from the house of a Lord to a slug-infested flat. The terrace she now occupies, with her husband and teenage children, presents a good happy medium.
As well as writing, Clare loves family time, art and architecture, cooking, and of course, reading other people's books.
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