In her debut novel Kat Ailes explores what happens when a death happens so close to a prenatal class in a small town.

Alice and her partner Joe have decided to move from London to the small sleepy town of Penton because they are expecting their first child together. The agree that the small town feels like the perfect place to raise a family. That is until a local shop keeper's body is found just a few feet from where Alice and Joe are attending their prenatal class. What Alice and Joe also don’t expect is that somehow everyone in the class is now a suspect. With that in mind, Alice and the other women in the class has a common goal, to prove that they did not murder the shop keeper and find out who did. Penton is far from the idyllic town that they thought it would be and between the shady commune in the woods to a mysterious death that occurred 10 years prior, moving to the country may not have been the best thing.

I really enjoy small town mysteries as I find that while the small town may look quant to those who are just visiting you have to know that there are probably secret galore in that town as well. Hard to keep secrets when everyone knows each other. What makes this one different from books that you have read in the past is the main two individuals who do the detecting are Pregnant, well along pregnant, like could pop at any moment. This add a unique perspective in what Alice decides to do, I mean when you're pregnant and already off work what better way to spend your time than to investigate a murder.

This is a cute cozy mystery that is not that high on suspense and more about a very pregnant women and one who just had a baby try to figure out who a murderer is. There are some different aspects with the hippie compound that seems to be the center of it all, as well as the death that occurred 10 years ago that seems suspicious. With all this i will say that Ailes did a good job of keeping things straight and not confusing. I was able to figure out one twist but not the other. We only get Alice's POV in this book so i feel like you get to know her quite well and her motivation to investigate the murder is really seeded in her need to find friends.

Helen is the best character and I will not be swayed from this. Really Helen is the hero here.

I like that Ailes highlights at the beginning of a book how hard it is to root up one's life when they are older and how much harder it is to make friends as an adult. It's like we all forgot how to make friends and are just overly concerned that we will say the wrong thing, that we do say the wrong thing. Alice i very conscious of this and often put her foot in her mouth.

The book did feel overly long by the end of it though and everything get tidied up in a neat bow. I think you can also tell with the writing style that this is Ailes debut novel but I have no issue with that.

This was a good easy read, with some fun and funny moments. If you want a break from more serious books, this is one to give a try. I mean they are pregnant, why not investigate a murder.

Enjoy!!!

Alice and Joe left the high-rental prices on tiny lofts in London to live in an actual house in the countryside. They somewhat unexplainably decide to do it while Alice is nine months pregnant and about to pop, which is why they join an antenatal class the day after moving into town. Because, of course, one of Alice's main personality quirks is that she leaves everything to the last second and is unprepared for everything. A few days into small-town living, one of the women in the class goes into labor right in the naturalist shop where it's taught and as one new life is born, the owner of the shop is found murdered in another room. Naturally, Alice decides that she must find out the truth of what really happened, becoming friends with the other women and shedding light on several secrets along the way.
Even with Alice having many of the traits that I usually dislike in a lead character - i.e, an unhealthy lack of basic life skills that gets presented as a funny quirk but isn't - the plot keeps taking such interesting turns that it's impossible to not get pulled into the caper. I was interested in the investigation because a big part of it is getting to know the very different women coming together to solve the mystery, and it happens via women coming together to support each other. It's a solid plot support and one that really helped me get over my initial dislike of Alice and helped her grow on me.

Am I going to rave about this book to all and sundry? Probably not. Did I end up really enjoying it and getting pulled into the story? Definitely. In the end, it's the ultimate bumbling busybody sticking their nose into a small-town murder mystery with the original twist of most of the characters being extremely pregnant. It has its moments, both good and bad, but it certainly delivers an entertaining story.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the most excellent read!

Quite the fun twist on your typical cozy mystery this new English cozy (cosy for them 😉). This is a fresh modern take on quite a few classic tropes - Alice, the sleuth, has just changed her life in dramatic fashion: she is about to be a mom and moves from London where space is way too expensive to a village in the Cotswolds with her partner.

At the start of the book Joe and Alice haven’t even unpacked, but Alice signs up for a prenatal class and that’s were things start to go off the rails, quite the cast of characters get together in that class. I was reminded of prenatal classes for my kids births and how the sole common denominator was the kids’ birth month so I thought this setting for a mystery was a good one just for the laughs that result from getting such a wild cast of characters together in one room. Already during the first class a death and a birth occur in the same building at the same time. Now suspicion looms over the whole group, slightly disappointed by the local police, Alice and her new pregnant and recently delivered friends set out to solve the mystery. They have a very different access to this little community and it’s eccentric characters and unexpected secrets are revealed. Alice's 'sidekick' crazy dog Helen was a standout for comedic relief!
For a debut, this was a fun one and I will read book two when it comes out. The writing was good, it had short chapters, hilarious characters, and a mystery that kept me engaged even if there were moments when I thought the story moved a bit too slowly and there we’re redundancies. Alice herself was a part I did not enjoy as much, she was naive and oblivious to the point that it became a bit annoying. But I enjoyed how themes of female friendship were addressed in this book.

I ended up DNF this book around 40% I just couldn't get into it. I mostly wanted to read because there was a daxie on the cover, and there were fun dog antics talked about in the book but it was never actually mentioned that Helen was a daxie. The overall "mystery" too just seem so far fetched. The writing was good though!

Thank you netgalley for the earc in exchange for an honest review.

I don't read a lot in the cozy mystery genre, but I think I should start. There's something really comforting about a mystery that's infused with a bit of humor and lightheartedness. This book follows Alice, a pregnant woman who moves to the English countryside right before her due date. She makes friends with the women in her birthing class, but when a murder happens in the town, the women decide to play detectives and solve the case.

There's a lot of silly antics (especially when it comes to Alice's rambunctious dog, Helen) that would have turned me off in other books, but it seemed to work really well here. I also thought I had figured out the killer early on, but there were a few twists that ended up changing the game. My only complaint was that the book was a tad long. It felt like there were a few side characters and plots that didn't need to be there.

I am looking forward to heading back to this world again, so I'll definitely be checking out the second book in this series. Can't wait to see Alice as a mother and to see what shenanigans she finds herself in next!

The cast of characters were entertaining. Overall, I enjoyed the story. I think I was expecting it to progress a bit more quickly than it did, though. I admit I did not see the killer coming, but I am sure there are those who will figure it out before the end of the book.

I have been provided with a review copy of The Expectant Detectives from NetGalley for an impartial review. I just absolutely had so much fun getting to go along on these characters journey. I was just swept away and I just absolutely can’t get enough of this series or its wonderful characters. This author just has a way of drawing you in with her wonderful stories and you just can’t get enough of them. I can’t wait to see what’s next from this author.

This was a cute book. I wasn’t sure “whodunit” until the end. The descriptive writing placed me right in the English countryside and the homeopathic shop.

The Expectant Detectives was a read I was looking forward to for a funny cozy mystery. While I did laugh a bit, at times the story felt a bit dry and repetitive, though I did enjoy the goings on from the ladies in the prenatal class and how they felt they needed something to take their mind of their pregnancies, so they became detectives. Overall the story was entertaining but left me wanting a bit more.
Thank you to Netgalley and Mintoaur Books for a copy of this read in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was such a fun mystery set in the English countryside. Alice moves to a small town during her pregnancy and connects with other women over a mysterious murder. There were so many laugh out loud parts (mostly including Helen the dog) and really engaging characters. I am looking forward to the next in this series.

Thanks to Kat Ailes, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Frothy and fun, mystery. Hope we see our protagonist, Alice, her fellow amateur sleuths, and especially her endearing dog, Helen, in a future cozy mystery set in the Cotswolds or elsewhere.
Thank you #NetGalley and #MinotaurBooks for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.

The Expectant Detectives was a well-done and charming cozy mystery. Alice is pregnant and about to pop when she and her partner, Joe, move to the town of Penton. She expects an idyllic village full of charming but quirky characters, but ends up with so much more. There's more than meets the eye to everyone she encounters.

An enjoyable mystery with cute comic relief, particularly Helen the dog. A few sections dragged a tad, hence the 4 stars, but overall would recimmend. I look forward to the next book in the series to see how the characters continue to develop!

This book was such a treat! It gave me the same vibes as the Finlay Donovan series which is a favorite of mine. I enjoyed the friendship formed between all of the "detectives" and enjoyed the witty conversations. Comedic mysteries are really turning into my favorite! Happy to see that there will be a sequel!

My only wish is that there had been more content between Alice and Joe and a little more information towards the end. It felt a bit rushed to wrap up and I had wanted more details about the things that were discovered towards the last 10% of the book.

Thank you to netgalley and St. Martin's press for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

I love a cozy mystery and this one definitely delivered. I would say it has a bit of a slow start but many great books do. It has lots of quirky characters and the setting is just lovely. I enjoyed it and will definitely keep reading more of this author.

The Expectant Detectives was the true definition of a cozy murder mystery. It was a hilarious and fun read and I’m sad it’s over!

A group of women, including newcomer, Alice, bond over the fact that they are all pregnant and were all present at a murder. They decide that they must launch their own investigation and they get themselves into a truly tangled mess.

Genre: mystery
Pages: 384
Author: Kat Ailes
Favorite quote: “Don’t bring Helen.”

Expectant Detectives was a great debut novel by Kat Ailes! I was laughing from the very beginning - the characters were great and I loved the additional mysteries inside this cozy mystery. I look forward to reading the next book in this series!

The story itself was well written and it really started out strong, I just felt like it started to become redundant and went on longer than it really needed to. I love how all of the Mom Detectives were so diverse and yet they really complimented each other. While I really enjoyed Alice’s character, she did come across as a complainer. I get that pregnancy can be rough but I felt that she was over the top at times and really put herself & her baby at risk (more than any of the other moms really).

I loved the setting of this book! I was just really confused on how they didn’t check the house before moving there - especially so close to Alice’s due date. And why didn’t they contact their landlord for all of the issues?

Helen really stole the show in this book. Her antics had me laughing the most. I can just see this ditzy dog getting into trouble! Ailsa was my favorite character and I was secretly hoping that I figured out who her baby’s dad was! Joe was my least favorite character - I get that he had his own things he was working through but seriously, he really was a crappy partner. I hope we can see some character development with him in the next book.

Overall, this was such a hilarious book and I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a quick read!

𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℍ𝕒𝕤:
Small Town Drama
New Found Mom Friends
Pregnancy
Cozy Mystery
England Countryside Setting
Murders
Amateur Sleuthing
LGBTGIA rep
Dog moms

Thank you to @netgalley, @stmartinspress & @minotaurbooks for the gifted copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Expectant Detectives, by Kat Ailes, is an unusual, quirky, comedic cozy mystery that’s quick reading, despite it’s length. At the beginning of the story, Alice finds herself pregnant and she and her boyfriend decide to move out of London to the countryside for a better lifestyle for their new family. The place Joe found, sight-unseen, is a little rougher than imagined, and the town is a bit more new-agey than they are used to. Add in a birthing class with an unexpected birth and a murder in the same building, it’s safe to say that things are definitely not going according to plan. When the women of the birthing class decide to unite to investigate, all kinds of town secrets, a questionable commune, and hysterical hijinks occur.

Though I didn’t expect, or care for the swearing in the story, and some of their actions and antics are decidedly irresponsible and silly, The Expectant Detectives is a fun and entertaining start to a new, light-hearted mystery series.

This was a cute and fun light mystery. Main character Alice is pregnant and has just moved with her boyfriend from London to a small village in the Cotswolds. While attending a prenatal class, a man is murdered downstairs from where the class is being held. Alice, and some of her fellow pregnant classmates, start trying to investigate on their own, slowly becoming friends as they also bumble their way through investigating - though maybe more effectively than the local police!

The book manages to have an interesting mystery which kept me guessing, while also being light and funny with plenty of hijinks. Fans of Finlay Donovan and the Aunties books should enjoy this one too. Looking forward to reading the sequel when it comes out this summer!

This cozy mystery has crafted some truly lovable characters and manages to avert the typical "unicorns and rainbows" early motherhood storyline. I loved getting to know Alice and her new friends in Penton.

The Expectant Detectives is a fun cozy mystery, the start of a new series.

Alice and Joe just moved from London to small-town Penton. Alice is eight months pregnant and they wanted to move away from the city. But now they have to find new friends, new grocers, new doctors, and it is all overwhelming. They begin a prenatal class, in hopes of both learning about childbirth and meeting other people around their age and stage in life.

What they didn't expect is that one of their new acquaintances, Hen, would give birth during their second class and the shop owner where their class was held would wind up dead. Did someone come in during the confusion of the childbirth, or was the killer one of their classmates?

Alice, Hen, Poppy and Alisa decide to investigate, while also dealing with a police detective who is quick to jump to conclusions and partners who are acting suspicious.

Very pregnant amateur detectives is a fun concept, and I'm sure the next book, with moms of babies solving a murder, will be just as much fun. I really liked all of the secondary characters as well. Penton is an interesting locale for murder, with a commune in the woods, and a lot of natural medicine stores and a Women's Inner Goddess Temple, where Alice has a gong bath.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book.