Daphne and her family leave behind the crime, traffic, and expense of London for the delightfully silly town of Pudding Corner. The setting gives me the same open coziness as Shady Hollow, promising an enjoyable experience. As an amateur sleuth enthusiast, I love the fresh take that our FMC starts the series with a husband and kids.

After learning more about Paula Sutton, I’m fascinated by the personal elements she wove into this story. Those details elevate it beyond a cookie-cutter cozy mystery. As a Christian, I don’t enjoy reading about a Wiccan character. For that reason I won't continue the series.

Special thanks to Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Paula Sutton is known in the UK as a lifestyle blogger, highlighting her charming country home, garden, and vintage furniture. This is her first foray into fiction, and it’s wonderful. The main character, Daphne Brewster, has left the hurly burly of London for the quiet of the countryside, along with her husband, kids, and cute dog. As the only black woman in a very white village she’s affably acclimating to her new surroundings, friendly with everyone from the irritating Diana Spencer wanna be mom to the doctor next door, full of interesting gardening facts which Daphne finds she desperately needs.

She finds the village is seething with as much intrigue and gossip as any London street, which any careful reading of any number of golden age mysteries could attest. This leisurely read has the vintage feel of an E.F. Benson Lucia book with it’s loving, humorous and clear-eyed look at the village residents. As Daphne acclimates, she also accidently finds a new career: painting and restoring vintage furniture. She even sets up shop as she begins to find a few clients.

The first is a fellow mother named Minerva, who is ostracized by the other moms for being odd. Minerva lives in a kind of wicca style commune on the edge of town with her son, Silvanus. Daphne’s friendship with Minerva is something the other mothers aren’t too sure about, and the Diana Spencer mom, a social climber named Marianne, tells her it’s straight up social suicide. Undeterred, Daphne accepts the commission of creating a bed for Silvanus and attending his birthday party along with her kids.

During the party, she sees Daphne in an intense conversation with the headmaster of the village school, Charles, and while she’s unsure of exactly what she’s witnessed it certainly makes her uncomfortable. As rain buckets down that evening, a series of highly charged conversations and encounters seem to follow Charles, and the next morning he’s discovered dead in his potting shed of an apparent heart attack.

His wife immediately accuses Minerva of poisoning him despite a lack of any evidence, and Minerva goes to ground. Daphne’s attempts to contact her completely fail. Meanwhile, various people fall under suspicion as Charles’ death is (of course) proved to be an actual murder. The relationships between Charles and all in his orbit become of vital – and fascinating – importance.

This book has many things going for it. The setting is dreamy – what I call “English Village Porn” (example: The Marlowe Murder Club) where, while there are murders, there all also reasonably priced Georgian homes to be had. The delineation of the characters is carefully and skillfully done, and more importantly, memorably done. Each one is a little gem of a portrait, and combined with the threads of the story, the characters become jewels on the web of the story Sutton is telling.

The often slyly humorous tale is still a penetrating look at human nature, a reminder to readers that Agatha Christie found a universe of possibilities in the British village. The real life people who live in the lovely village turn out to have real life problems. This is a wonderfully perfect debut.

A nice start to a new cozy series that sees Daphne, her husband James, and their children move from London to Pudding Corner thinking that it will be a kinder gentler place to live. But wait- almost immediately, she finds herself wrapped up in the mysterious murder of the headmaster of the local school. Classic cozy- more to the victim than it appeared and more than one suspect. This is an initial entry so there's a bit of worldbuilding of this slightly twee setting and character. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Looking forward to seeing where Sutton takes this next.

The Potting Shed Murder by Paula Sutton is the coziest little crime novel with just the right amount of sass and secrets. It’s set in a delightfully gossipy English village. Daphne stumbles into a local murder that shakes up her quaint new life in Pudding Corner. This book is witty and sneakily clever. A total treat full of quirky village drama!

The Potting Shed Murder by Paula Sutton is a highly recommended cozy murder mystery.

Daphne and James Brewster and their three children have moved from London to the Cranberry Farmhouse in Pudding Corner with the neighboring village of Pepperbridge, in Norfolk. The family is settling into the country life and their children are happy at Pepperbridge Primary School. Daphne is known as the "Vintage Lady" and she has a shop with restored and hand-painted furniture.

Life in the country, however, means Daphne is actually meeting her neighbors, something that didn't happen in London. When the headmaster of Pepperbridge, Charles Papplewick, is found dead in his potting shed on his allotment patch, the list of suspects and motives, along with plenty of secrets and accusations begin to appear.

Daphne is the amateur sleuth in this cozy mystery as she carefully pieces clues together that could determine who was responsible for the murder - and there are several suspects. Some suspects are unlikable right from the start, others are sympathetic. There are several flashbacks exploring motives. The narrative follows Daphne and all the various people who could be suspects in the death of Papplewick. Daphne is also a very appealing character and it would be nice to see her return in another mystery.

The writing is descriptive as it creates a picture of the setting and introduces all the people in the village. The pace is even but slow for much of the novel, picking up toward the end. It's actually the quality of the writing that elevates the novel and encourages you to continue reading even though the pace is so slow at first. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of cozy mysteries, but this was a nice interlude.

The Potting Shed Murder is a good choice for cozy murder mystery fans. Thanks to Kensington for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

The Potting Shed Murder is a cozy mystery set in a small town in rural England, called Pudding Corner.

You know it is going to be a perfect cozy mystery, when the town you get to read about is called Pudding Corner! FMC Daphne Brewster, her husband James, and their 3 children decide to move away from the busy and not so safe city of London, to a much smaller, quieter, and slower town called Pudding Corner. They move into a lovely old home, Cranberry Farmhouse in Pudding Corner, next to a larger small village, called Pepperbridge. Daphne also quits her busy job in the city, and find herself enjoying restoring antique furniture. As Daphne and her family are settling into their new cozy life, they learn that Mr. Papplewick, the headmaster at the children's school, has been found dead in his potting shed. Initially everyone assumes a heart attack, but eventually the authorities discover foul play seems to be at hand.

Daphne's friend Minerva gets the first finger pointed at her as the likely suspect, by Mr. Papplewick's widow, Augusta. So Daphne puts on her sleuthing hat and starts to unravel this very tangled mystery of who murdered, and why they murdered, Mr. Papplewick.

This story gives you all the cozy vibes, of course with an unsuspecting murder in the small town. There is a lot of history and secrets to untangle, to truly get to the bottom of the crime. There are multiple possible suspects as Daphne weaves her way through the town gossip web, and uncovers secrets about the villagers who have lived in Pepperbridge their entire lives and did not know some of the secrets that lead to Mr. Papplewick's murder. This story, while a cozy mystery, is actually pretty sad at the end when you learn the truth behind a few of the characters childhood hurts, and how that made them who they are in the current day.

I enjoyed Daphne's character, I felt like she wasn't the typical sleuther that we find in a cozy mystery, more so that she kept finding herself in situations where she was able to piece together the different events on the day of the murder. But once she became determined to discover the truth, she left no stone unturned, and was still surprised at the end when she finally made the very unsuspecting discovery.

It will be fun to return to Pudding Corner and follow along with Daphne in another sleuthing mystery.

Thank you to Netgalley, and the author for a copy of this book!

The premise of this book ok. None of the characters were particularly likeable, and even though Daphne is the main character, I could not find myself interested in her or her investigation. Many times, I found the author was too wordy and sometimes I skipped entire paragraphs and didn't muss anything important.

I took a long time to read the book because I wasn't invested in it.

I recognized the name of this author from a profile that I had read about her in a magazine. I loved Sutton's sense of personal style (vintage) and was eager to see what kind of writer she was. Here, she has penned a mystery that readers will enjoy.

Spring time seems like the perfect moment to focus on a title with gardening...and murder. This is what readers find when a school headmaster is found dead on his allotment.

Newcomer to the community (after choosing to leave London), are Daphne and James. They are an interracial couple with three children who at first wonder how they will fit in in a less urban setting. Daphne seems to be accepted and liked for her sense of style. But, what will happen when Daphne gets herself involved in the investigation? What will happen when her friend is accused of the crime? How will sleuthing impact Daphne's standing in her village? Read this one to find out.

Some reviewers have noted that this title is written a bit muddily. Still, it is worth a look in my opinion. I enjoyed both the characters and the setting. I hope that the author will have a second traditional mystery for us.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this title. All opinions are my own.

Daphne Brewster and husband moved their three children from London to the cozy village of Pudding Corner in Norfolk hoping to find peace in the countryside. Everything seems idyllic until the local schoolmaster is found dead in his allotment potting shed.

When it is revealed that it was murder, Daphne starts looking at the locals differently. She couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to kill Charles Papplewick.

Augusta Papplewick, the widow immediately accuses Minerva Leek, who is a friend of Daphne’s and lives in a commune outside of the village. She believes Minerva was having an affair with Charles. There are also a couple of odd sisters who own the local convenience store who seem to have had a secret past with Charles. Augusta had been an early suspect for me because of their unhappy marriage.

Daphne investigates because she believes Minerva is innocent and soon finds herself in over her head. Can she catch the killer before Minerva is arrested?

This was the first book that I’ve read by this author. The author is a skilled storyteller. The characters felt like real people and were quirky enough to be entertaining. Tension built slowly through to the unexpected twists and turns at the end. I hope to read more from this author. Thanks to NetGalley and John Scognamiglio Book Publishing for an advanced readers copy for my honest review.

I will be posting my review on my blog at Virginig-Gruver.com, Goodreads., and Linkedin. I will also post reviews on Amazon and Barnes and Noble when we get closer to the release date.

This was an enjoyable cozy mystery. about a mixed race family that moves from South London to a small village. The main character is a spunky, smart Black woman named Daphne, who’s raising her family along with her husband and running her own business. She gets drawn into trying to find out who murdered the local headmaster of her children’s school. It was a bit drawn out for me, but I didn’t guess who the killer was until close to the end. So that was well done. There was some suspense towards the end and then it wrapped up quickly. Daphne was a likable protagonist and I can definitely see this as a series.


#ThePottingShedMurder #NetGalley

Daphne Brewster, shoot producer for the Stylish Home magazine, has had enough of the hustle and bustle of inner-city London, not to mention the crime, and has relocated with her husband James, daughter Immy, and twin sons Archie and Flynn to the quiet town of Pudding Corner near Pepperbridge. Where it seems that "death, murder, secrets and betrayals were all wrapped up in the bucolic beauty of a village nestled within fields and country air." This was an excellent series starter for the Hill House Vintage Murder Mysteries series. With a few chapters that are multiple points of view and flashbacks, you get a story within a story, within a story.


Daphne is a strong character, but also kindhearted with a desire to defend the excluded and overlooked. She has no need to climb a social ladder like Marianne Forbes or try to be in the good graces of Augusta Papplewick, school headmaster's wife. Those two are a couple of mean gals. Daphne, on the other hand, really doesn’t care what the locals think and chooses to befriend Minerva Leek, a Wiccan who may have grown up in the small town and is a local, but because she is different, she is considered an outcast. These characters are so well described, and their emotions are so strong that you become engrossed in the story. There is a "mean girl," a quiet recluse, a frustrated housewife, and a couple of gossip gals. On the more positive side, Daphne and James’s children have adjusted quite well and made a friend of a young boy named Silver, the son of Minerva Leek. With the lower cost of living, Daphne is able to be a stay-at-home mom but finds that she has a knack and a creative flair for refinishing furniture and creating wonderful and decorative pieces. There is even an available storefront for the newly nicknamed Vintage Lady to conduct her new business venture. I like how Daphne is given an outlet for her creative nature. Her husband, James, would rather she didn’t find an outlet for her curious nature.


This was a mystery that kept me guessing. Every suspect has motive and opportunity to have visited the headmaster while he relaxed in his happy place. Each personal story that Daphne collects/learns is like a puzzle piece and a picture begins to take shape, and then Daphne discovers another clue that changes everything. Every suspect has motive and opportunity to have visited the headmaster while he relaxed in his happy place. This is going to be a most excellent series that has inspired me to look up a recipe for Jamaican Ginger Cake, so stay tuned.

5 stars

I loved this book so much more than I expected to. I was anticipating a run-of-the-mill cozy, and in many ways it is a very standard cozy. It’s just that the writing was so tight, the characters so real, and the feeling it gave me was so similar to reading a Miss Marple story. Paula Sutton has managed to capture the thing that makes the genre special rather than writing “just another” book of its kind.

Our amateur sleuth is a newcomer to a sleepy English village, a Black woman from South London who has moved into a picturesque cottage with her husband and children. As a newcomer, she’s able to see past some of what the locals take for granted, but her friendliness and helpfulness smooth her transition into the local social scene. Sutton neatly threads this tricky tightrope—outsider enough to have a fresh perspective, but not too much of an outsider for the locals to confide in—very skillfully, perhaps because of her own experience as a London transplant to rural life.

The central thread of the story, protagonist Daphne’s observations and eventual investigation, is laid out in chronological order, but the surrounding narrative is pleasingly nonlinear, vignettes from before and after the titular murder dotted in throughout the novel to give us a quilt-pieced view of the village story. Every piece of the story, however small, had a part to play, which was oh so satisfying to see as the mystery unfolded.

I would highly recommend this title to fans of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple and other classic cozy mysteries. It beautifully encapsulates the charm of village mystery without indulging in the cutesiness that has turned me off of many contemporary cozies. It’s a good story, a good mystery, and a very good time.

Spoilers for a final thought on an element of the story: <spoiler> My one “off” note about the book is how odd I find it that the narrative never really addresses the fact that Augusta raped Charles in their early courtship. Perhaps it’s because taking advantage of a blackout drunk man wouldn’t have been viewed as rape at the time it was committed, but in the present day it certainly does, and I wish it had been addressed. </spoiler>

3.75 stars

Series debut featuring transplanted Londoner Daphne Brewster and family, who have moved to the country to escape crime and craziness. However, when the headmaster of her son's school is found dead under suspicious circumstances, Daphne can't leave it alone.

Daphne is a strong female character, and one of the few Black residents of her community so she brings a different and refreshing perspective. As she examines new friends and neighbors as suspects, she finds out a lot about her surroundings. She befriends another outlier -- a young mother who lives in a caravan outside town with reputed Wiccans and travelers. Daphne is clearly one to stand up for others.

Promising entry with a compelling main character. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

_The Potting Shed Murder_ by Paula Sutton is a humorous and fun cozy mystery book. Told from multiple perspectives, it follows residents of the small village of Pudding Corner as the headmaster is found dead. When local Minnerva is accused of the crime, her friend and new resident Daphne Brewster decides to investigate to prove Minnerva’s innocence. Readers of cozy mysteries will enjoy this new series.

The Potting Shed Murder is for fans of classic Agatha Christie whodunits set in the English countryside, except with an undercurrent of social commentary. Sutton deftly weaves an exposé about English-classism with a great murder-mystery. Every character had a unique complexity that made them all stand out. I highly recommend this book.

I loved this! There are so many amazing cozy mysteries but ones with black protagonists are almost never given the praise they deserve. You can’t help but fall in love with Pudding Corner, despise Marianne, and root for Daphne at every single turn. Can’t wait for the next one, I hope this becomes a long series!

A new voice in the cozy mysteries!

Where do I begin? I so love the idea and description of leaving a busy city behind to move the countryside for a slower and more quiet life. I would love to live in Pudding Corner, and frequently the description of the town and the residents made me feel like I was there. I just curled up with a great drink and enjoyed!
The small town gossips, the social ladder, the traditions , all were explained in a way that helped you understand village life.

Daphne is delightful, and the way she was able to find her place, and find an interest while also integrating herself into village life . (while falling into a murder.!) ..was seamless.

What I appreciated about this one is that it didn't shy away from addressing the different perspective of being a person of color in a new space and how you may be received and perceived. At the same time it showed how being confident in yourself and giving and expecting respect can totally change the experience.

I am already anticipating grabbing my blanket and a cup of tea to read the next installment. Well done!

Firstly, the names of the people and places in this book are so outrageously cozy and British. It deftly opens with the most tongue in cheek, hilarious satire of a cozy small town England mystery. Needless to say, I loved it from the first page. Secondly, I, of course, immediately googled to see if Pudding Corner was a real town name. (Pudding Norton seems to be the reference for other nerds like me). How in the world is that a place name? Anyways this book hit right on the money for a cozy mystery. The cast of characters is adorable and funny, and the wit that starts at the beginning carries through to the end. If you love a book that doesn’t take itself too seriously, then this is one for you!

Daphne has moved from London to the village of Pudding Corner. She is busy planting beans when the local headmaster is found dead in his potting shed. When Daphne’s friend Miinnerva is suspected, she must find out what happened.

Daphne Brewster, her husband, and her kids have moved from London to a charming village. She has started a business working with restoring furniture. Her kids have made new friends. And she has also. She has bonded with on of the "travelers" from the edge of the village.

But the village harbors secrets. It also harbors people with secrets. The local school master is found dead. Are there any suspects? In fact, there are many of them. Daphne wants to get her new friend off the hook. Can she find the real killer?

With its rural English setting and cast of intriguing characters, this is a charming story. I highly recommend this book for lovers of cozy mysteries and English countryside murders.