Favorite Quotes:

To onlookers, her long fringe, sturdy build, and diminutive stature might say adorable little Shetland pony, but inside, Ben’s exams made her feel like an overbred dressage horse, nostrils flaring, quivering with nerves before going into the ring to do utterly impossible things with her hooves.

Puberty was lurking round the corner, like the bad fairy at the Christening. It would change her soft-skinned, gorgeous boy, with his luxuriant eyelashes and ready smile, into a gangling, bristly, spotty giant that she would scarcely recognise or want to acknowledge.

‘What happened? Not a pervert? What was he, a boob man?’ Sam leaned in to get all the details. ‘Toe sucker?’ said Lily understandingly.

Oh come on, don’t you recognise Ryan Gosling when you see him? Someone’s just using his picture. You can bet he looks nothing like that at all.

‘I should go to the movies more. The only things I see now are superhero films with Ben. He’s ten… I don’t think I’ve seen a man who isn’t wearing a mask and a Lycra bodysuit for years.’ ‘Well, you can probably find loads just like that on Tinder,’ said Sam.

What do you call it when you’ve had déjà vu twice? Déjà vu-vu? Or déjà déjà vu?

My Review:

I have become quite a fan of Ms. Castle’s wry and sardonic humor and cleverly amusing depictions of her characters’ appearance, temperament, and contemplations. Her vivid and evocative descriptions never failed to call forth keenly sharp and smirk-inducing visuals. This installment had a lighter tone than the first two volumes as the focus was not on solving a murder (until much later in the book) but rather on the characters themselves. Widowed for eight years, Beth felt under pressure from her friends and co-workers to return to the social minefield of dating. Her colleagues even introduced her to Tinder – oh my. And being a world-class procrastinator, Beth did what she did best - she dithered and ruminated - over everything. I adored the little pixie boot-wearing sprite but there were times I wanted to give her a good pinch, or ten. My curiosity was quickly piqued and remained alert to something rather foul and troublesome occurring in the home of her friend Jen, although the discovery of what exactly was always thwarted by Beth’s scatty dithering. I was beginning to despair that the wily author had forgotten to include my favorite Detective Inspector, the Inscrutable Harry York, although he was just busy elsewhere until midway through the book. I look forward to more pairings and hopefully sparks flying for this somewhat recalcitrant duo in future installments as I am totally grooving on this author’s lush word skills. My latest extra fun bonus word addition to my Brit List was “goolies,” which are those rather useless appendages that my coy and genteel Grandmother called the family jewels, but of course, only when absolutely necessary.

Won't be going on eith this series even though it's an enjoyable read . Just not into the repetitive of some things .

In this third instalment of the Beth Haldane Mysteries. Jen, Beth's friend, goes missing after recently getting married. After raising the issue, the police determine Jen must be on an extended honeymoon, but Beth is suspicious of Jens new husband and believes he is up to no good. Can she find her friend before something untoward happens?

A good mystery full of twists and turns.

The Murder Question is the third Beth Haldane cozy by Alice Castle. Originally published in 2018 (as Calamity in Camberwell), this reformat and re-release from 22nd Aug 2022 is 242 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently available to borrow and read for free. The other books in the series are also currently available on KU.

This is a competently written and engaging amateur sleuth mystery featuring an archivist employed at a local high-end boys' school who takes to sleuthing to help straighten out mysteries which seem to keep happening around her, this time the suspicious disappearance of her friend, another mother in the school mothers' group. The writing is engaging and the mystery is quite readable. I liked the protagonist and the author does a good job with the settings and descriptions. Some of the subject matter may be difficult for some readers. There are descriptions of spousal abuse and domestic violence included on page and which I found distressing in places.

The dialogue is a bit rough and uneven in places but overall, it's an entertaining and readable cozy-ish mystery. There are 8 books extant in the series currently (and all are available as part of the kindle unlimited library service), so it would make a good choice for a binge read for fans of British cozies. The mystery, denouement, and resolution are satisfying and well wrought, and self-contained in this volume so it would also work perfectly well as a standalone read.

Four stars. Worth a look for fans of J.R. Ellis, Faith Martin, and Merryn Allingham.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

As I've said before about this series, I initially kind of liked this book. It kept me engaged and interested in what happened. It's only looking back, given my intense dislike of the fifth book in the series, and a more critical eye toward how this one was written, that the rating plummeted.

Rather like with the previous instalment, this book has a slightly split personality. Again, it's a cozy mystery - it fills in all the Bingo card squares. If it's meant to be something more than that, the majority of what I read completely failed to get the memo. But, as with the previous instalment in the series, the POV occasionally flips to that of the possible victim (here, a friend of Our Heroine Beth's who seems to have gone missing), and it is <I>dark</i>, as though the author had delusions of Scandi noir or something. And - spoiler - none of that has anything to do with anything. Just like last time, the flashbacks and POV pivots are completely irrelevant to the myster(ies) at hand. I wouldn't even call them red herrings, really - the only person they serve to throw off the scent is the reader, since literally no one else in the book outside the two characters involved in the scenes ever knows anything about them.

I believe it was in this book that Beth's true feelings about her sort-of boyfriend the hot detective are made clear, and it was all weirdly uncomfortable and depressing for a cozy mystery. I don't expect - or want - any heroine I'm reading about to be worshipful of her boyfriend, whatever his profession, but Beth's opinion of this guy and (ironically, considering the truly pathetic level of effort she puts into her own job) his work ethic is sadly low. This does not make for any kind of foundation for a relationship. She basically believes, on whatever factual basis, that he'll take any easy solution that comes along and call a case closed, or if no easy solution falls into his lap will be perfectly fine with shrugging and sticking the file on the Unsolved shelf and moving on. This is her justification in her own mind for much of her sleuthing: not the usual, that the cops are looking at the wrong person or that she is better equipped to get at some answers than the police, but instead that the investigating officer, with whom she is now sleeping, just won't bother, that he is no more invested in his job than she is in hers. Which is a terrible thing to say about anyone. Later this begins to turn into a contempt for him (also very un-cozy-like); here I think it was just the idea in her own weird head (based on not much) that he won't listen to her, he doesn't care whether he has the truth or not, she'll just have to do the investigating.

Which lands her in the hospital.

Twice.

But that won't stop her! No, she is intrepid. Or maybe just stupid - authors tend to get those two things mixed up.

The story had potential. The idea that this friend has gone missing and no one is recognizing her absence as a real problem except for Beth is intriguing ... though I'm not sure it holds water. It's because - as with the last book - nearly all of the characters are awful people that this concept stands up; the friend's ex-husband is weak and pathetic, his new wife doesn't really care, and there isn't much of anyone else to speak up. The resolution to the mystery in no way satisfied the expectations built by a fairly decent setup.

And I have to say - I'm a little annoyed by the fact that after I had to spend the entire book with Beth forgetting over and over (AND over) to give her friend Jen (not her "best friend", as the description has it, but a sort of casual see-you-around-but-don't-think-of-you-otherwise friend) the wedding present she has kicking around in her car, the wedding present which Beth spent a lot of time over and which she thinks Jen will love, the wedding present about which much is told except <I>what it actually is</i> ... after a whole book of this, I think it just ends up in the bin, and the reader is never even told what it was. It's not a Chekhov's-gun level of irritation, but I expected there to be some sort of payout, a button on the end of the story - maybe "here, daughter of Jen, you might like this", followed by revelation and reaction, or ... I don't know, something. Anything that wasn't ... nothing.

The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.

Very enjoyable. I found this one to be a page turner and finished it in an afternoon. I thought the plot was great and the characters perfect. I find Beth to be interesting and enjoy the way she solves a mystery. Still looking up the British terms, but not as many. Well done.

EXCERPT: Beth's breath was rapidly misting up the window as she squinted this way and that, trying to work out what was going on. She stepped back a little to wipe the condensation down with the sleeve of her coat. Suddenly, a twig snapped somewhere behind her in the dense mass of dripping darkness that was the garden. In the quiet, it was as loud as a gunshot going off. She clutched her chest. Her heart had started pounding. Was it a fox? Or maybe Jen's beloved cat, Meow? She knew from Magpie that sometimes you could see cats' eyes glittering in the darkness. She swung round, suddenly supremely conscious that she shouldn't be here. But there was no sign of the cat, or anything else. Thank goodness. She turned back again.

Instantly, there was a flurry of movement right behind her. Then pain exploded through her skull as something hard and heavy connected mercilessly with the back of her head.

ABOUT 'THE MURDER QUESTION': When her best friend goes missing, amateur sleuth Beth Haldane is determined to do some digging of her own… but can she crack the mystery before it becomes a murder?

Beth Haldane is worried. First her dear friend and fellow single mother Jen suddenly gets married to a new man who seems too perfect to be true, then she moves out of leafy Dulwich Village – and now seems to have disappeared without a trace.

Beth knows Jen would never leave her little daughter to handle playground predicaments or her sneaky stepmother alone. Heading to Jen’s new home for answers, Beth’s knocks on the periwinkle-blue front door go unanswered. Police are convinced the lovebirds are on an extended honeymoon: but Beth suspects Jen’s new husband is up to no good… why does no-one in Dulwich know where he came from? Are his looks hiding a dark past?

With Jen’s unpleasant ex popping up at every turn, and gruff but handsome policeman DI Harry York insisting Beth should leave things to the professionals, it’s going to take all her sleuthing skills to track Jen down. But searching Jen’s overgrown garden for clues, Beth hears a twig snap… and next thing she knows, she’s woken up in a hospital bed.

Someone in normally peaceful Dulwich Village will do anything to stop her reaching the truth. Can Beth get to the bottom of this mystery before she’s the next to disappear?

MY THOUGHTS: I don't know quite what it is about this series that keeps drawing me back. I love a good mystery, but in The Murder Question, the mystery definitely takes a back seat to Beth's life. Yet, I enjoyed it. It's entertaining. Amusing. I could easily be friends with Beth. I wouldn't employ her, but we could be friends.

Beth's friends and workmates are ganging up on her, saying that after almost a decade of being a widow it's time she got back on the dating bandwagon. Beth is slowly coming around to their way of thinking. She misses the companionship of a relationship. And her friend Jen's sudden marriage to the unknown Ted has only reinforced her own loneliness. But while she is browsing a dating website one day, she finds something disturbing. Then, Jen disappears.

I like the way Beth bumbles around in her 'investigations'. She has no finesse, no real idea of what she is doing. Probably just as I would do in her place. She's relatable. Ordinary. She's not beautiful, but rather resembles a Shetland pony with her long thick fringe, sturdy build and short stature. She has a bit of a thing for local DI Harry York, who always seems to be rescuing her from whatever predicament she finds herself in, but doesn't believe her feelings are reciprocated. Harry, a DI addicted to the works of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Margery Allingham, has a disastrous love history. He has all but given up when he is called to a flat where the body of an elderly pensioner has been laying undiscovered for some time, and he wonders if this will be his fate.

The characters are definitely what attract me to this series. From the smug newly married, pregnant Janice to the head 'yummy mummy' at the school gates, they are all beautifully drawn and realistically portrayed.

Every book in this series gets better and now I'm ready for book #4, The Murder Plot.

⭐⭐⭐.9

#TheMurderQuestion #NetGalley

I: @alice_castle_ @bookouture

T: @AliceMCastle @Bookouture

#contemporaryfiction #cosymystery

THE AUTHOR: Alice Castle lives in South London with her two children and two cats. She was a feature writer on the Daily Express for many years and has written for most other national newspapers. She has a degree in Modern History from St Andrews University, is the British Royalty expert for Flemish TV, and lived in Brussels for nearly a decade.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Bookouture via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Murder Question (A Beth
Haldane Mystery #3) by Alice Castle for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

Beth has been to visit her friend Jen, who is recently married. Only to find her friends new husband on a dating app. Later Beth see's a tension between Jen and her husband. Only to find that Jen is not answering her calls or answering her door.. Once Beth files a missing persons report she starts to try and find her on her own. Once she is bashed in the head while looking in Jens windows, York steps in to help. With Jen missing her daughter Jessica is now with her father and step mother full time. But what has happened to Jen. thanks netgalley.

Of course Beth Haldane is happy that her friend Jen got married. But when she disappears and leaves her daughter pretty much in the care of Beth, quite naturally Beth becomes concerned. Putting on her hat as a more than efficient amateur sleuth by now, Beth begins to ask questions. Where is Jen and why would she leave her young daughter right after getting married?

Perhaps it’s just a honeymoon? At least that’s what the police think. But since not much was known about Jen‘s new husband, Beth suspects otherwise. Not only does Beth not know anything about Jen‘s new husband, especially considering they are best friends, no one else seems to know anything about him. Not even where he came from.

DI Harry York does not want Beth to interfere. However, Beth does not listen. Not only does best continue to ask a lot of questions, she keeps running into Jen‘s ex. And he is not the most likable person. More than that, she faces dead ends at every turn. Yet she hopes against hope that Jen will be found safe and sound.

As this Beth Haldane Mystery series continues to unfold, readers are granted a deeper look at who Beth is. This book discusses more about Beth’s marriage to James, and how he passed away, and why she is reluctant to act on her attraction to Harry. We also learn a bit more about Harry actually, and why he is so drawn to Beth, and what he does to win her over.

Concern for her son Jake it’s only one thing on her mind. Discovering that her office has been ransacked is yet another concern. During previous situations, Beth has stuck her nose in to some precarious issues, but this time she may have gone too far and actually ends up in the hospital. It is quite obvious that someone does not want Beth finding out what happened to Jen.

What an excellent installment in a series that has become quite endearing to me in a very short period of time. I love how Beth never shies away from her responsibilities as mother to Jake. She never forgets how important his education is and always puts him first despite her more than curious nature to solve crimes that sometimes involve murder. I also enjoy the fact that her new relationship with Harry isn’t it always easy, but something that is slow burning.

This thorough enjoyable read kept my attention from beginning to end and had me more than eager to jump right into book four, The Murder Plot.

This was an ok cozy crime, easy to read. I understand this is part of a series that has been republished under different titles. Having read the first 2 books, I felt this was a slightly weaker story.

Thanks just go to the publisher and Netgalley for a copy of the book in exchange for my review.

When Beth's best friend goes missing after recently getting married to a new man, things don't quite add up.
This is the third in a series that has been recently re-released. It wasn't as punch as the previous two with the plot being slower but despite that, it was an enjoyable cozy mystery

I really enjoyed this book. Alice Castle is a talented writer. I liked the characters and the protagonist, Beth Haldane. Beth tries to solve the disappearance of her friend, Jen. I was astonished by the culprit behind Jen's disappearance. I highly recommend this book to other mystery readers. I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley, and the opinion expressed is solely my own.

Re-published with new titles and cover designs, the Beth Haldane Mysteries is a series of seven cozy mystery books dealing with widow Beth Haldane and her quest to solve mysteries while raising her son in the upscale Dulwich Village.

Each book deals with a murder mystery revolving around the residents of Dulwich Village with the elite Wyatt's School and College School and other landmarks of the village making up the scene of the crime. Each murder mystery is connected to a social/moral issue (child sexual abuse, incest, peer pressure, health and image issues amongst teenagers, abusive relationships, cheating and jealousy, foul play/fraud, etc.) which becomes the motive for the crime.

As an inquisitive character with a strong sense of truth and justice, Beth can't resist attaching herself to each mystery and doing everything possible to make sure the culprits are caught and punished, which irks DI Harry York to no end.

In my opinion Beth should just become a private investigator instead of staying on as an archivist at the Wyatt's School, a job she rarely finds herself doing.

The thing that gradually became annoying as I kept reading the books was Beth's constant introspection and self musings about everything that was happening in her life at that moment, her past, her future, etc...it was repetitive and most times steered away from the issue at hand.

I have so far read the first four books in the series. I will continue and read the rest of the books but I feel I do need a break from all the incessant self musings/brooding of Beth.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Bookouture and the author Alice Castle for the e-Arcs of the books.

Ratings:

The Murder Mystery (previously published as Death in Dulwich)- ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Murder Museum (previously published as The Girl in the Gallery)- ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Murder Question (previously published as Calamity in Camberwell)- ⭐⭐⭐💫

The Murder Plot (previously published as Homicide in Herne Hill)- ⭐⭐⭐💫

The Murder Question by Alice Castle
A Beth Haldane Mystery Book #3 - Previously released as Calamity in Camberwell

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

When her best friend goes missing, amateur sleuth Beth Haldane is determined to do some digging of her own… but can she crack the mystery before it becomes a murder?

Beth Haldane is worried. First her dear friend and fellow single mother Jen suddenly gets married to a new man who seems too perfect to be true, then she moves out of leafy Dulwich Village – and now seems to have disappeared without a trace.

Beth knows Jen would never leave her little daughter to handle playground predicaments or her sneaky stepmother alone. Heading to Jen’s new home for answers, Beth’s knocks on the periwinkle-blue front door go unanswered. Police are convinced the lovebirds are on an extended honeymoon: but Beth suspects Jen’s new husband is up to no good… why does no-one in Dulwich know where he came from? Are his looks hiding a dark past?

My Opinion

This series of books is being re-released with new names. Out of the three books I have read so far this is definitely the slowest as the plot develops slowly - however the book is still a quick read. The further I get through this series, the more interested as I get to know the characters for. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Rating 4/5

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.
So this is the third book of the series and I enjoyed this one as much as the first and second ones. Great job by the author on all three.

I really enjoyed the others in this series and this didnt disappoint.

Whilst it wasn't my favourite of the three the main characters were still there and I enjoyed reading it. A cosy, fun mystery.

Thanks for the arc.

The Murder Question is the third book in the Beth Haldane Mystery series. There is enough background information to enjoy this book without reading the prior books in the series. The series centers on Beth, her daughter and their lives in Dulwich Village. Beth’s best friend, Jen, has met a new man and is swept off her feet, married and moved to a nearby town in less than 6 months. When Beth goes to visit Jen, she senses that all is not well in the new home. In a short time, Jen is missing and Beth starts investigating to find out what happened. When Beth goes to Jen’s house and around to the garden in the back, she hears someone behind her and then it all goes dark. Beth wakes up in the hospital, with no idea as to who attacked her. What happened to Jen? Is it the new husband? And how can Beth avoid Jen’s ex-husband, who is trying to get Beth to take his and Jen’s daughter off his hands? What about the new wife?

Lots of questions in this book, which had a darker feel to it compared to many of the cozy mysteries I read. Often times I don’t get a great feel of how the main character feels about the victim. Not so in this book – Beth’s concerns and fears for her friend are evident throughout, which drew me further into the story. I also liked how Beth’s interactions with DI Harry York are described. In this book, the author writes from other viewpoints besides Beth’s, which gave me more insight and explanation about their motivations.

A great read and I’m looking forward to reading more in this series. Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the third book in the series and you won’t be able to put it down. I’m ordering all the rest of the series since they’re all out now. It keeps getting better and better. There’s a change of pace in this book and I really like that. I adore Alice’s writing style.

The Murder Question by Alice Castle is the third book within the new Beth Haldane Cosy Mystery series and these books have all been an excellent read. In this book Jen has just got married to a new man who seems too perfect to be true and then she moves out of leafy Dulwich Village. with him and her daughter.
Jen goes missing and Beth' who is a dear friend of her's is determined to do some digging of her own,

But, Beth need to leave it to her local policeman DI Harry York, she still is finding it really hard to do some investigating herself!

This book is full of good strong twists and turns throughout and another great book and I highly recommend this series.

This book was previously published as Calamity in Camberwell

Thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and the author Alice Castle for my advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was really looking forward to starting a new cosy series. But I made the mistake of asking for all 3 that were available. I struggled with the first one and then just couldn't bring myself to continue. Apologies. It just wasn't my cup of tea and I am a big fan of Agatha Christie. I didn't find it gripping. I'm sure others will enjoy the series.

Thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and the author for my advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.