"Murder on the Dancefloor" by Katie Marsh is the second book in The Bad Girls Detective Agency series, and it's just as good as the first! I loved the initial installment in the series, so I eagerly dived into its sequel. This cozy murder mystery follows the shenanigans of Clio, Amber, and Jeanie, the newly-formed Bad Girls Detective Agency.

The book is written in the third person POV of these three protagonists and alternates between them. While the first book focuses more on Clio, this one centers on Jeanie and her impending marriage. Set in a seaside English town, Jeanie is on the brink of marrying Tan, the father of her twins. Her sisters - Nicola, Charlotte, Pen, and Emma - along with her two best friends, throw her a weekend hen party. However, the celebration takes a dark turn when Jeanie stumbles, quite literally, upon a dead body in the middle of the dancefloor. Amidst the flurry of wedding preparations, Tan's odd behavior, and other "fun" activities planned by Nicola, our gang is busy trying to unravel the identity of the murderer and stay alive in the process.

I found the book to be an enjoyable and quick read. While there were some slow moments, the pace mostly flowed well. I particularly loved the humor, the interactions between the characters, and the dynamic they shared. Clio remains as impulsive as ever, Amber remains clear-headed, and Jeanie exudes sweetness. However, Tan's irritating and foolish behavior grated on me. This time, I didn't manage to guess the identity of the guilty party, and I appreciated the twists. I especially enjoyed the countdown of hours before the wedding and after the murder, as well as the "what's up" chats between the three women.

Overall, it was a fun read, albeit a bit slow-paced at times. This book possesses all the ingredients of a great cozy mystery: an intriguing plot, quirky characters, a fabulous small-town location, and a whodunit filled with twists. The strength of this book lies in its smooth writing and wacky characters. The author introduces readers to a rich and believable cast of characters, quickly immersing them in their lives. This is a great addition to the series, and I'm eagerly anticipating the next installment. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a sweet cozy mystery intertwined with family drama.

* Thank you NetGalley and (publisher) for the opportunity to read this arc. All opinions are my own.

These are fun and quick cozy mysteries. Don't need to use much of my brain and in for the laughs. The characters are memorable and will definitely look foe the next in the series

friends, friendship, family, family-by-choice, family-drama, family-dynamics, private-investigators, wedding-madness, verbal-humor, unputdownable, contemporary, cozy-crime, local-law-enforcement, ex-cop, murder-investigation, relationships, relationship-issues, sisters, situational-humor, solicitor, theft, threats, thriller, alcohol-issues, drug-trafficking****

It all started with a bar party on her hen party weekend. Jeanie is preparing to marry her longtime partner and father of her children, Tan, but things started to go south when a woman in a party shirt was stabbed to death. It continued to double spiral with some really convincing red herrings and blindsiding twists. Good quick read.
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from Boldwood Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
#BadGirlsDetectiveAgencyNo2
Pub Date 29 Mar 2024

Murder on the Dancefloor is the second book in the Bad Girl's Detective agency series. Jeanie is preparing to marry her longtime partner and father of her children, Tan. While out at her bachelorette party with her sisters and best friends a woman is murdered. Soon it is discovered that Jeanie's fiancé has a mysterious connection with the murdered woman and the Bad Girl's Detective agency jumps into action to clear his name and find the real killer.

I read the first book in this series last year and jumped to request the ARC. Both books have had a great mix of mystery and humor. The ladies have a really great relationship. I enjoyed the focus on Jeanie in this book. I will be keeping a lookout for the next installment in this series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for a copy of "Murder on the Dancefloor" in exchange for my honest review.

This is the second book in The Bad Girls Detective Agency series. While it works as a stand-alone book, there are a lot of references in it to the previous book so it would be best if readers had read the first book, as to better understand some of the events that are referred to in this book.

The story starts at a nightclub where sisters Nicola, Charlotte, Pen and Emma have gathered for their sister Jeanie's hen. Jeanie's best-friends Clio and Amber are also present. The three women work together at the Bad Girls Detective Agency. The story starts out slowly but once it gets going it is very exciting and there is a lot of suspense and thrilling chases after Jeanie trips over a dead body at her hen. The story then continues with the countdown to the wedding - and how many hours since the body was found.

At the same time as the hen there is also a stag going on at the club. The two groups end up doing some activities together. Amber, Clio and Jeanie are also investigating because the police seem to be making no progress or arresting the wrong suspects. They're definitely not listening to the private detectives.

Interwoven with a lot of family drama, the detectives piece together the clues as to what happened in the club and soon realize that the most obvious suspect might not even be involved. The cast of characters that are involved is interesting and the reader will be wondering will Jeanie and Tan actually make it to their own wedding.

The book is not all suspense, there are a few laugh out loud moments as well. The characters are rich and engaging, the storyline is very interesting.

I adored How Not to Murder Your Ex, so I'll start by saying that this book wasn't as good. It had the same excellent humour and was a quick and easy read, but felt like it didn't have as much heart as it's predecessor. The investigation just didn't seem to have as much impact, and I wasn't as gripped. That said, it was still a fun book and I'll probably keep reading the series if any more books are penned!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Jeannie is at a nightclub on her hen weekend when an unknown girl wearing one her hen t-shirts is discovered stabbed to death on the dancefloor.
Murder on the Dancefloor is a quick and easy read with the focus partly on the mystery element of the story and partly on the relationships between the bride to be and her fiancée, family and her friends.
The Bad Girls Detective Agency show that they can beat the police in solving crimes but there is an implausible amount of tripping over, very bad surveillance skills and getting themselves locked in various rooms before they stumble (literally) to the correct solution.

Rating: 2.3/5

I enjoyed Katie Marsh's "How Not to Murder Your Ex", which was what tempted me to come back for this second book in the "Bad Girls Detective Agency" series. Unfortunately, this one is less impressive than its predecessor.

In book one there were already clear signs of the author's background in romantic fiction, but that didn't overwhelm the murder mystery element of the plot. This time around the story is essentially an example of feel-good chick lit with large doses of romantic fiction (especially in Jeanie's chapters) with the murder mystery element feeling very much like something of an aside. Even though the murder occurs at the beginning of the book, it isn't until three quarters of the way through the story that the members of "The Bad Girls Detective Agency" really start to seriously seek out the killer.

The writing is once again fluent and engaging enough - though the use of references to people looking "askance" seemed a bit overdone. In terms of the cosy mystery element, I would say this is more "Agatha Raisin" than "Thursday Murder Club", but as I have said, the mystery element takes a supporting role in proceedings in any case. Overall, this was okay as a quick, disposable read, but if there are to be further books in this series I think I will allow them to pass me by.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

I liked the premise of the book and really liked reading about characters in their 40s. However, there was too much bickering between various characters for me to really enjoy the book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Boldwood Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you, Boldwood Books.

A book with a lift and more than a smile! It's Jeannie’s hen weekend, she is marrying Tan on Monday and unfortunately her sister Nicola has taken over the organising, which means her insisting on doing varying things to have “fun” as Nicola has googled. Heavens to murgatroyd! There are five sisters in all and also Jeannie’s two best friends who she sees as family and with her run the Bad Girls detective agency. Jeannie was in the police until a while ago and her and the girls have rather a reputation for finding criminals quicker than her ex-colleagues. When Jeannie finds a body on the dancefloor it looks like the hen weekend could be rather busier than first anticipated.

This is the second in the series but is happily a standalone book. I loved this, one I raced through as I was enjoying it so much. Its life with a twist and yes, some authors licence (what fiction book isn’t?) but seen through real life eyes. There are chases in heels with feather boas (we’ve all seen it), and paintballing (ouch- been there -never again) and lots of drama involved in the pursuit of the bad guys. If you enjoy a light-hearted, fun mystery read this could be the very thing, it really did leave me with a smile. A thoroughly enjoyable read, I very much look forward to the next one.

This was a fantastic mixture of comedy and mystery that kept me reading until the end, I found it easy to read and I enjoyed getting to know the characters.