A Body at the Farmhouse is an engaging procedural and the 4th book in the West Wales mysteries by P.F. Ford. Released 5th July 2023 by Joffe, it's 304 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. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free. The first books in the series are also currently available on KU.

This is a well written and engaging procedural mystery set in Wales. It's an ensemble cast, and the author does a very good job of rendering the characters distinctly and sympathetically. It's the fourth book in the series, but works perfectly well as a standalone; some minor spoilers with character development and interrelationships will be slightly spoiled if read out of order.

The plotting is straightforward, and although most readers will likely work out "whodunnit" before the denouement, it's still thoroughly readable and engaging. The language is PG, nothing overly rough or egregious.

It would make a nice buddy read, and with 5 books available (on KU), it would also make a good series binge read.

Four stars. Well written and worth a look, especially for fans of Pauline Rowson, Peter Robinson, and Peter James.

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

I have not read the first three books in this series and I think that might have helped me enjoy this book more. This is book 4 in the West Wales Murder Mysteries. Detective Norman is an old fashioned police officer who has returned to duty following a short stint of retirement. His first case back is a bride found dead on her wedding day. It looks like a suicide, hanging, but Detective Norman isn't so sure. As he begins his investigation the groom turns up dead a few days later. Good old fashioned police work, set in Wales.

I enjoyed this story with all the characters within. The main character was Norman.

Norman is an Detective that was retired he has came back. His boss has sent him and his partner out to a seaside town to look into a murder that happened.  The dead person that was found is a young woman and she was getting married on that day. They are not sure what happened but it looks like she hurt herself. But Norman doesn't think so.

This was fun to read. It had action, adventure and suspense throughout. It had a few giggles within. It was fun trying to solve this mystery within.

I received a complimentary copy via Netgalley. This is my honest unbiased opinions.

This is my first read by P. F. Ford and they did not disappoint in their writing!

I do so love a good police procedural! This was a very fun (for me) and mysterious story that threw a few twists I wasn't expecting!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

It is always helpful when reading a novel to have it placed in an area that is familiar to me and where the relationship dynamics are more familiar. Although I very much enjoy american writing it is much easier to picture events in a place I know well. I found the writing style to be easily read, not complex and a nice bridge between cosy mystery and thrillers, a very good rainy ( well it would be in Wales) afternoon read.
Thank you Netgalley for ARC.

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Not a bad book, though I couldn't get into it at first. Part of a series, this is the first one I have read by this author, consequently I did not know much about the characters of the detectives and although there are hints and throwaway remarks about past events, this passed me by. I like to get to know the characters but in this book the characters were a little two dimensional for me. The story did not grab me at first either, though it started to pick up more later on. The evidence and reasons for the crimes did not quite gel .
Not bad, but with the same crimes and perpetrators could be better with a few tweaks and a bit more background information.
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

A Body at the Farmhouse is the 4th installment in a series of police procedural murder mysteries. Set on the coast of Wales Tilly Rotherby is discovered dead the morning of her wedding. Detective Norman comes out of retirement and along with his crew work to solve the crime.

I enjoyed reading this novel. There were many twists within the story that I did not see coming. I enjoyed the thought process of the crew while working to solve the mystery. I found that the detail to the characters was fantastic. Also, I’m a sucker for a series, seeing as this was the fourth.

A decent police procedural set in Wales featuring an eclectic group of detective led by the formerly retired Norman Norman, a man so good they named him twice. The mystery is decent, although the solution not unexpected. I’ll be going back to find the earlier entries in the series to catch up on the backstory.

A well-written detective with a nice group of detectives, no marital angst, personal problems or anything to detract greatly from the detecting. Good to have an older senior investigator. I would have liked a bit more descriptive context, at times this read more of a narrative alone. Nonetheless, good murders, plenty of intrigue and sufficient red herrings to keep the reader's interest. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

I've not read any of this author's books before and it's always great to discover a different crime novelist. I was drawn to this by the fact that it was set in Wales but, apart from a few names, the Welshness wasn't obvious.
It was refreshing to have a set of detectives who weren't dealing with the angst of their home lives or who could be classed as 'maverick' and this left them free to do their job and deal with the detecting unencumbered.
The culprit was, perhaps, a little obvious but there were still some surprises along the way. All in all, I enjoyed it and will be looking out for other books by this author.
Thanks to Netgalley.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book ahead of time in exchange for a review. It didn't disappoint! Must read!!

I enjoyed this mystery a lot and now want to read the rest of the books in the series! As someone who started with this book, I can verify that it definitely worked as a standalone read.

The characters were all well developed and the mystery had lots of twists and turns without feeling overdone. It also wasn't confusing or overwhelming, which can be a hard balance to strike! Definitely unpredictable enough to keep you reading, but still a solid police procedural.

The main character's relationship with his younger colleagues (he either came out of retirement or is close to it) is humorous and feels very authentic.

This is the first book of the series I have read, and I'll soon be checking out the rest of the series, thanks to a super low price right now on Amazon ebooks! It's an interesting tack- taking your lead character and putting them at the END of their career, and giving them a bunch of new team member to help fit into the local division. It lets your character show their experience, common sense and instinct, honed from years on the beat and solving crimes. In this case there oh SO any possible suspect and motives, that it needs a whole team to sort them out! They are acting like a team, in the this 4th outing, and no one is ready to let Norman retire again, as he is too beneficial to the team still. If you like cozy British police procedurals, you'll take to this series!

An excellent first book I read in a this police procedural series. Tightly knitted, fast paced and gripping: it kept me guessing and surprise with each twist.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Wow. This Police Mystery book was so freaking good! I could not stop reading this. I love Detective Norman's character! I can't wait to read more and see what he gets into next.
I just reviewed A BODY AT THE FARMHOUSE by P.F. Ford. #ABODYATTHEFARMHOUSE #NetGalley
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Another great book in the series, however it is easily read as a stand alone story.

It’s a story that soon hooks you in and will make you struggle to put the book down. The characters aren’t complex, even the baddies aren’t that bad. A gentle police procedural that’s not too difficult to follow however that means it’s a quick read! More please.

Thank you to the author, publishers and Netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review

A Body at the Farmhouse is the 4th installment in a series of police procedural murder mysteries set on the coast of Wales. The body of Tilly Rotherby is discovered on the morning of her wedding leaving many suspects and a slew of secrets to be uncovered! It’s up to recently un-retired Detective Norman and his crew to solve the crime.

Not realizing this was the 4th installment in a series, I was quite confused with the lack of character description and setup in the beginning. Had I known that, I would’ve at least read the first installment beforehand though, this book is able to be read as a standalone. I enjoyed the twists and tension Ford created as well as getting the know the characters’ traits and fun quirks but the style of writing isn’t my favorite as I enjoy reading what the characters are thinking rather than strictly dialogue and brief descriptions setting the scenes. I was disappointed by the lack of setting description as I was excited to read about a small coastal town in Wales.

Overall, the plot was well thought out and I enjoyed following the footsteps of the team as they worked together to solve the crimes. I didn’t have it all figured out by the end which is also a plus for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Joffe Books for the ARC!

As an armchair detective, I love going through the process of trying to figure out ‘whodunit’ before I reach the end of a book. A Body at the Farmhouse was no exception here, the story took me on a winding path complete with potential evidence and some strongly possible suspects. The unexpected twists of why as I neared the end of the story made it that much better.
To be honest, I had a bit of a hard time getting into this book at first. It just started off slower than my usual go to books, but once I pushed through those slow bits, it became a quick and easy read!

Complex mystery with many threads to untangle. A good mix of characters who were believable and worked hard to solve the case.

A Body at the Farmhouse is a twisty and clever police procedural set in the Welsh countryside. It's the forth book in the West Wales Murder Mysteries series but works perfectly well as a stand-alone novel. Despite the name of the series, there's not a whole lot in this book that screams “set in Wales” other than a few Welsh names scattered throughout. This was a bit disappointing to me since I haven't read many books set there and was hoping for something more quintessentially Welsh, but it was still an entertaining read nonetheless.

Without a doubt, my favorite part of this novel was the characters. They were all well-written, likable and multifaceted, and I loved that they all had a great rapport and seemed to enjoy working together. The plot itself was nothing terribly ingenious, but it had several twists and turns and kept me guessing right up until the very end. The mystery was complex but not at all confusing, even with a large cast of characters and multiple red herrings thrown in along the way. There's no gore or major violence or sex scenes, making this book a great option for someone looking for a “clean” murder mystery.

A Body at the Farmhouse is the first I've read from this author but I definitely plan to go back and read the previous books in this series. P.F. Ford is obviously a talented writer and I look forward to learning more about Detective Sergeant Norman and his crew.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Joffe Books for providing me with a copy of this novel to review!