Join Flora Steele – bookshop owner, bicycle-rider, daydreamer and amateur detective – in her quest to solve a brand-new murder mystery.
Cornwall, 1956: When Flora Steele sets off for a peaceful vacation with crime writer Jack Carrington in his little red Austin, the last thing she expects to find is a body at their pretty rental cottage!
Shocked by the discovery, inquisitive Flora joins forces with handsome Jack to find out how the poor man came to such an untimely end in the overgrown orchard of Primrose Cottage. They discover Roger Gifford was a man with plenty of friends and the villagers seem devastated by his sudden death…
So why was he murdered? And who has blood on their hands – his estranged wife Beatrice, his wayward younger brother Lionel, or the suspicious newcomer Mercy Dearlove?
The baffling case gets even more complicated when a second man is found dead and a set of puzzling clues lead them to an intriguing wartime mystery connected to Jack’s estranged father.
As old secrets emerge and Jack receives an unsettling letter, it seems the crime writer is in danger of a fate befitting his fictional characters. Will Flora be able to crack the case and save Jack? Or will this be one murder too many for Flora Steele?
Amazon UK
I received a copy of this book from Bookouture via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
My Thoughts…
Murder at Primrose Cottage is the third book in the Flora Steele Mystery series, set this time in Cornwall. Flora and Jack are comfortable in each other’s company and are looking forward to their research stay in a Cornish village. Their relationship remains in the friendship zone, but there are hints of a possible romance. Finding a body means that the amateur sleuths led by Flora have to investigate, and the story is full of danger, suspects and twists.
I enjoyed the realistically created late 1950s ethos and the well researched Cornish connection with WW2, which gives the story depth and intrinsic interest. The suspense intensifies as the mystery deepens with a climactic ending.
A charming, well-written cosy mystery that is enjoyable and informative to read. I am eagerly anticipating the next book.
Read my review of the Bookshop Murder
Read my review of Murder on the Pier
Jane Hunt Writer 