Three retired teachers meet every Thursday for tea/coffee at the local garden centre cafe to chat. One afternoon they run into another ex-colleague, Topsey, who seems to be upset and suffering from dementia. Shortly thereafter Topsey is found dead from mixing up her medications, but her ex-colleagues think there is much more going on and play detectives. They discover a shady workman who seems to be preying on elderly pensioners and swindling them out of their savings, but was he involved in Topsey’s death? Will these three friends be able to unravel the mystery of what really happened?

I’ll start off by saying I really wanted to like this book but it just wasn’t for me. I couldn’t keep the characters straight and found myself confused for much of the book. I struggled to stay interested, though the story does come together in the end tidily.

Thanks to NetGalley & Harper Collins for a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I hope this isn't the last we see of Liz, Pat and Thelma. I love a good cozy murder mystery and combined with amazing female protagonists I love it even more. After being reunited with their friend, Liz, Pat and Thelma are quickly faced with the news that she has passed away. The death is written off as an accidental mix-up with medication, but the ladies aren't buying it and decide to investigate themselves.

4/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK, Avon for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was hopping for a murder mystery Miss Marple style. It wasn't quite it.
The book is enjoyable, a bit charming, it's definitely a cozy mystery. But it didn't do the trick for me. I can't quite put my finger on why I felt like that reading it. But the story didn't grab me and neither did the writing. The writing was slow, the ending was a bit convoluted.
I have read a lot of mystery books, maybe I'm over them.

This is an ok mystery. I enjoy the trend of having people who aren't young do things , especially as I hit my 40th birthday, so I'm happy to read another book about people not in their 20s or even 30s. I enjoyed some of the subplots, especially the ones about the teenage son and the young grandson having trouble in school - those both seemed somewhat realistic and I liked that they had decent resolutions - but this did need more editing. I'm not using any characters name because I can't remember who is who, of the three detectives.

I could have done without the subplot about one of them obsessing about her weight. While it is something that does happen in the real world, do we have to normalize it in fiction? Let's just not.

While I was not surprised by who the murderer was, I was not anticipating the motive. So that's something.

There was a lot of what I would call 'wittering" in this book, if I was talking about Jane Marple - people fussing about talking about or thinking about what had already happened - but Agatha Christie would write it so it was telling us new information, not repeating plot we had just read ourselves. Experience, editing, or both will hopefully help with that in the future.

I could not put this book down. It is the first and only book by author J.M Hall and it made me want to read everything they had ever written so I hope book two is in the making.
As a teacher myself I loved the fact that the sleuth's were retired teacher’s. Their slant on things definitely appealed to me. My recommendation would be to sit yourself down with a cup of tea and prepare for many twists and turns in this wonderfully well written murder mystery. Perfect if you want to be kept guessing throughout and if you prefer more comedy than grit. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced. copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A good cosy crime, funny in places. A recommended read

Three retired schoolteachers meeting for their normal coffee morning in Thirsk, here they discuss the death of a former colleague Topsy. She had been defrauded of her savings, was becoming muddled and considered to have taken the wrong mix of pills which caused her death. Our three schoolteachers were not convinced and set out to delve deeper. They did so gently but persistently foiling various red herrings, twists and turns. Plenty of modern issues discussed - scamming, pits falls of getting older, care without children as well as the continuing friendship of three quite disparate ladies and their husbands who played small parts overall. Definitively cosy and I hope we see more of Liz, Pat and Thelma. Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Loved Thursday Murder Club? Than this is hands down the one for you! A gripping murder mystery that will have you sucked in from page one!

A mystery with a cuddle.

The perfect read for a cosy night in, with each of the characters own lives coming to the forefront.

Quite a different take on a 'murder' story - but one that worked.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Dementia is a terrible disease for both the person who is suffering and for the ones who love them. Topsy is clearing afflicted as her former workmates and friends can attest when they meet with her and her daughter Kelly-Anne in the coffee shop. She is discombobulated so when she says she heard someone say she would be better dead, nothing is done. Shortly thereafter, she is dead. And while the daughter and the police are convinced it was a tragedy caused by her confusion, the three ladies are not.

Throughout the story we are introduced to a motley crew of questionable younger people including the stripper son of another friend, the early middle aged ladies who are desperate for boy toys and the daughter of the deceased. Which, if any of these wayward children, is responsible for both the fraud that cost Topsy her life savings and then cost her her life. Poor old Topsy had it hard at the end. Maybe it was a kindness to put her out of her misery.

You know going in that this is not the case and while the three ladies individually and together try to work out what happened, when they do solve the mystery, it turns out to be the most obvious and most sad answer. It is a case of greed and opportunity. And the belief of entitlement. While there are some solid side storylines including the difficulties of some children in fitting into environments that are not conclusive to good outcomes and the challenges of teens in discovering who they truly are. It also deals well with the emotional cost of dementia but it took almost to the end of the book before the characters of the three protagonists clicked for me.
It might have just been me but they seemed to muddled.

Three and a three and a half purrs and one paw up.

Unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to read this due to issues with my device but I hope to get to read it soon

A book that kept me guessing and changing my mind about who did what with each new chapter.

I loved the characters in this story (as a teacher myself) I can only hope that I many years time retirement brings me and my colleagues this level of adventure.

As I read the words I could hear the tone of voice - that teacher voice which we try not to use when talking to adults but still slips out anyway.

I loved the references to small things that reminded the characters of something but that they couldn’t put their finger on. So often in murder mystery those moments are glaringly obvious to everyone other than the characters. In this book though they were not - I found myself wracking my brain trying to recall that connection myself.

A lovely cozy crime mystery that is definitely worth a read.

I’m really enjoying reading cosy thrillers at the moment, and this was a great read that kept me engrossed throughout. I liked the characters, the chapters flowed nicely, and all came together in the end. There were a few glimpses of humour from the characters.

Thank you net galley and the publisher for lowing me to read the ARC

I was looking forward to reading this as I usually love cosy murder mysteries in the ‘Miss Marple’ vein, but this book left me disappointed I’m sorry to say.

The whole book was very disjointed, had far too much unnecessary filler and an over use of red herrings which confused rather than enhanced the plot.
Add to that the fact that it was difficult to differentiate between the 3 main characters as they did not have district enough personalities, and what could have been a very good story became a struggle to finish.

I didn’t like Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club either, in fact I gave up reading that a third of the way through it, so maybe this is a sub-genre that just isn’t for me?

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy in return for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for the opportunity to read this ARC. This honest review was based off my experience reading an ARC, which in no way biased me.

I had never read a cozy mystery prior to picking this book up, in fact I didn’t know that was a subgenre.

This book follows former colleagues, retired teachers who are friends. They learn of one of their friend’s “mysterious” death and begin to investigate the suspicious “medication tampering” nature of her death.

The story itself is a bit slow in my opinion, but easy to follow, but what complicated everything was the involvement in the murder. Everything got very convoluted towards the end there.

All in all this was ok, 3 star read.

I really enjoyed this tome as it was written by a teacher about teachers who in their retirement take to sleuthing-however when one of the three dies it ups the ante!
This was a wonderful read a Murder She Wrote in the garden centre making it very British.
Can’t wait for more by the same author and don’t know how he does it working as a busy Deputy Head and writing .

Adored this book. Wanted to pull up a chair in the cafe and sip my coffee whisky interjecting my own ideas. Touch of the Thursday Murder Club with an dash of Agatha Raisin. Loved it ! More!

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for the opportunity to read and review this title. This is the first in a planned series.

Liz, Thelma, and Pat are retired schoolteacher friends in an English village. They gather weekly at the local garden center for tea and company. Their routine world is shattered after an encounter with another former teacher friend suffering from dementia. Thst friend dies shortly after, and something doesn't feel right so they look into it.

The characters are interesting though have little development, and the writing is a little clunky. The transition between character perspectives is hard to follow at times, and being in everyone's thoughts can be hard to follow. The identity of the murderer was clear to me from the beginning. What was well-done is highlighting the scams the elderly often fall prey to and their impact. Not sure if I would read another in this series.

This review is given openly and honestly.

Poignant and twisty cosy whodunnit, drawing on the author's personal experiences of his elderly father suffering from dementia and being inundated by scammers, together with his admiration for the motivation, organisation, resourcefulness and capability of teachers following his 35 years as a Deputy Headteacher.

Meeting for their weekly coffee, three retired primary school teachers happen to meet a former colleague. Before long she is found dead and the three unlikely heroines bring together their invaluable experience from the playground, classroom and staffroom to get to the bottom of what is going on.

There is something inherently warm and comforting about this book. It is the literary equivalent of a cup of strong Yorkshire tea and a slice of homemade cake - utterly delicious.

The three female sleuths are well-drawn and very relatable (especially for women of a certain age). The underlying murder mystery is not a dramatic or complex one (in fact the police are convinced the victim died from natural causes) - but the tenacious trio knew their friend well, and know something is amiss about the way she died.

The thing I enjoyed most about this book were the insightful observations, clever details and the sometimes laugh-out-loud scenes, such as the Zumba class. Often humorous and funny, frequently poignant and reflective, this book is a delight from start to finish. I will definitely be reading the next book by J M Hall when it is released in 2023