Digital Reads Reviews

Many thanks to publisher Bookouture for my spot on this Blog Tour.

I had liked author Clare Chase’s first book, but I loved this book. It was everything an old fashioned sleuthing ought to be, using an intelligent brain as the weapon to solve the crime.

Obituary writer/amateur sleuth Eve Mallow was back with another murder mystery to solve, this time of a bad boy supposedly turned good, Ashton. His company did a makeover of homes, bringing nature to their interiors. Unfortunately, somebody took a gun to him, and he was found dead. Eve, who was a suspect initially, soon started investigating.

My second book by this author, I flew through the pages which showed me convoluted plot twists where Eve had to use all her talents at interviewing people to get to the truth. I loved how her brain worked, grasping the tiny flickers of statements given by the suspects and putting it into perspective.

I loved Eve in this book, there was something soothing about her. She made mistakes but also rectified them well. A few risks were taken in the book. Her no nonsense attitude along with the way she dealt with people endeared me to her. She was bold and clever. Her friendship with Viv was very sweet. The way the author etched her in this book made me her complete fan.

I generally avoided cozy mystery as I found them pretty slow, but I could read this smoothly, all thanks to the author’s writing. The story kept to the investigation with Eve and her life being at the spotlight.

The steady pace along with the clever twists and false leads, a determined protagonist, the most unexpected killer, and a brilliant author linking them together had me enjoying this book all through the evening. Well recommended.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!! STRICTLY HONEST AND UNBIASED.

All my reviews can be read here

Obituary writer and amateur sleuth Eve Mallow is enjoying life in sleepy Saxford St Peter – until a mysterious murder lands right at her door…

It’s spring in Saxford St Peter – time to get back in the garden, listen to the birds, and take gentle strolls in the woods. But for some, it’s the season for murder.

Eve Mallow is relishing the gentle pace of the village until a new arrival stirs everyone up. Ashton Foley is back: a teenage tearaway turned interior designer to the stars. He’s mad, bad and dangerous to know, but charming too – as Eve herself can testify – and every house in Saxford opens its doors to him.

So when he’s found murdered in the woods near his mother’s home, Apple Tree Cottage, there’s no shortage of suspects. A jealous husband? A spurned lover? Or has someone from his past life caught up with him?

The police soon hit on a simple solution, and arrest his mother’s partner Howard. Ashton always hated him, and he bears all the marks of a recent fight. But Ashton’s mother, miles away in New Zealand, is convinced he’s innocent, and enlists Eve’s help to prove it.

There’s just one problem. Eve saw Howard sniffing around Apple Tree Cottage on the morning of the murder, and she’s fairly sure he’s guilty, too…

Publication Date: March 2020