3.5*
Miss Hortense is a Jamaican nurse who has been living in suburb of Birmingham for over 40 years. This novel provides an interesting view of the Caribbean community that immigrated to Britain in the 60s. Miss Hortense knows everyone’s secrets and when members of the community begin dying of both natural and unnatural reasons she pays attention and investigates. This novel has all the ingredients for a cozy mystery series. However I found the dialect difficult and there were too many characters to follow. It was a debut novel so I would try another in the series.

Miss Hortense has been quietly living in her picturesque English village since she immigrated from Jamaica in the 1960s. She's a retired nurse, but throughout her life was involved in an investment plan for Black investors, an organization called the Pardners. When someone is found murdered at one of the Pardners homes, Miss Hortense must work to clear things up. This is a delightful book -- cozy but with a little edge to it, and featuring a fascinating female sleuth.

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Omar

The recent murder of an “acquaintance” of Miss Hortense shakes up her life and those around the community of Bigglesweigh, while unearthing a series of murders that occurred thirty years ago and were never solved.

A Murder for Miss Hortense was an interesting and entertaining read. Miss Hortense is a sixty-something-year-old woman, a retired nurse by day and an investigator by night. For the last 30 years, she has helped the black community of Bigglesweigh get justice for crimes committed against them, even when the authorities don’t seem to take them seriously. Even with all her hard work, Miss Hortense was shunned by the community after a case went wrong and her friend died.

At the begging of the story, the book takes a moment to explain Miss Hortense and the Pardner’s background, while also telling a bit of the history of Jamaican immigration to UK during the Windrush Era.

This story has many characters, some of them are close friends and allies of Miss Hortense, such as Miss Blossom, who gossips and brings information from the Pardner to Miss Hortense, and Mr. Fitz, who helped Miss Hortense investigate cases many years ago and even now. Miss Constance, the current Pardner Lady who opens many questions with her death. Then there is Sonia, a strange woman who shows up at Miss Constance’s house and finds a second mysterious dead body. Many characters have motives to kill for wealth, revenge, or just evil.

At first glance, you will think that it is just one mystery: why did the Lady Pardner die, and was it murder? But as the story goes on, it unfolds into a bigger mystery linked to the past. Most of all, I liked the character of Miss Hortense; she understands that she would not make everyone happy but also knows that justice is necessary. She has sharp eyes that see more than a regular person, and her way of thinking reminds me of Sherlock Holmes; she is just missing a Watson.

Another thing that I liked about A Murder for Miss Hortense is that it comes with recipes for the meals or dishes Miss Hortense made during the story to help think and process the information she was gathering.

Given the revival of the unresolved case, we get to see flashbacks of how the Pardner was formed, the life the members had in the 1960s, and the events that led to the death of a member of the Pardner and the shunning of Miss Hortense. I think these flashbacks were added at the right moments throughout the narrative and provided the necessary background information

A Murder for Miss Hortense was a fun story, it was exciting to learn what happened to Miss Constance and who was responsible for the unsolved case. If you like mysteries, this is a story that you must read.

Book review: 3.75/5 ⭐️
Genre: murder mystery
Themes: community, murder, race, judgement
📖 Read if you like: Miss Marple, Miss Austen Investigates, The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder

A murder mystery within a Pardner in an immigrant-based English community solved by ex-nurse and amateur sleuth Miss Hortense. She is fierce, to the point, and determined with a tenacity driven my loss and trauma. The plot itself was complex jumping between time and characters to complete a narrative of being black in England while racism and death were commonplace. The community is made up of relatable and flawed people with a storyline full of lies, secrets and tragedy. From a serial killer to a money laundering scheme there was a lot going on, keeping readers on their toes and several tandem mysteries playing out at once.

In the 1960s a group of black residents who couldn’t open up a bank account decided to start Pardner. It is a savings system in which a group of people agree to deposit a fixed amount regularly with the collection rotating between members. As the Pardner expands, it becomes a pillar of the community and the financial backbone. Miss Hortense was a founding member and leader of the Pardner, but was unceremoniously kicked out. Her nemesis Constance takes over her place as the Pardner thrives and her own wealth accumulates. Decades later Constance is found dead in her home, quickly followed by an unknown man with a note that will link back to a series of attacks on women thirty years prior. Having to dig up old hurts and long buried secrets, this series of murders will unlock a veritable treasure trove of community secrets.

The Jamaican colloquialism certainly takes some adjustment if you haven’t heard it yourself in any frequency. It took some time to get into, but the busy body Miss Hortense soon captured my attention. Sticking her nose in everyone’s business and relentlessly asking questions, she is a no nonsense investigator and no one is safe from her eye including her friends and fellow investigators, the priest, and the other Pardner members. It managed to both be a thriller and cozy at interchanging moments with an interesting discourse on an immigrant community.

Thank you to KDPG and Netgalley for an e-copy of this book for review.

A Murder for Miss Hortense by Mel Penner (Pantheon, June 2025) is the first mystery in what apparently will be a series that features Jamaican immigrant Miss Hortense. Penner is an award-winning playwright who was born in London, where she was raised by an extended family which included her Jamaican grandparents who moved to England in the 1950s as part of the Windrush generation. The Windrush generation refers to individuals who migrated to the UK from Caribbean countries between 1948 and 1971, invited by the Commonwealth to help rebuild Britain after World War II. It’s clear that much of the story’s authenticity comes from her grandparents’ immigrant experience.
The story starts a few days after the death of Constance Brown, a social antagonist of Miss Hortense. A dead man is found in her house weeks later, a stranger in the close-knit Jamaican community of Bigglesworth. Flashbacks slowly reveal the history of the community, how they collectively defended themselves against the long-term residents who resented the immigrants. One very sore point was banking, as traditional banks denied them access to services. Miss Hortense took the lead in establishing the Pardner, a group of eight members who contributed £5 each week to a communal fund, and one member took the collected money each week. Thus, every 8 weeks each member received £40 or £240 in a year. In 1965 it had the buying power of nearly $5500 in 2025.

Another function of The Pardner was to investigate crimes against their community, as the British police refused to take them seriously. Miss Hortense proved herself an able detective but during the course of one investigation, a member of the Jamaican community died. Miss Hortense was held responsible and was removed from the Pardner. Constance took her place, as she had been anxious to do.

Despite her semi-ostracization Miss Hortense continued to live in the house she saved her Pardner money to buy and to work as a nurse in a suburb of Birmingham until she retired. Upon the death of Constance and the discovery of the body in Constance’s house, Miss Hortense is pulled back into an earlier Pardner investigation because the community knows they need her more than ever.

The dialog in this book is entirely Jamaican dialect. I had a hard time understanding it in places, others I gathered the meaning from the context. The story line moves back and forth from the early 1960s to the late 1990s, disrupting the flow. The concept is original and interesting but it was a slow read.

Similar to Kia Abdullah’s thrillers which describe the treatment of Middle Eastern immigrants in England.

A Murder for Miss Hortense by Mel Pennant is a richly layered and refreshing take on the amateur sleuth mystery, anchored by a heroine as sharp as her perfectly pressed lace curtains. Miss Hortense, a retired nurse with a no-nonsense attitude and a talent for reading people like books, is a captivating force—wise, witty, and utterly fearless. Set against the backdrop of a close-knit Jamaican British community in Birmingham, the novel deftly blends cozy mystery elements with deeper themes of community, betrayal, and long-held secrets.

Pennant's debut shines in its atmospheric setting and character depth. The mystery unfolds at a deliberate pace, allowing readers to sink into both the plot and the cultural richness of Bigglesweigh. The exploration of the Pardner network and its complicated past adds gravitas to the story, giving Miss Hortense’s investigation emotional stakes that linger well beyond the final chapter. With elegant prose and a vibrant, unforgettable lead, A Murder for Miss Hortense is an impressive and thought-provoking start to what promises to be a standout series.

While I really enjoyed Miss Hortense's character, I had mixed feelings about some of the others in the ensemble. This book had a lot of characters to remember, and it was difficult at times. I will definitely read more books if this becomes a series since I think, by the end of the story, it lays a good foundation for this village and it's community. It was just a little rocky starting off in this book.

This debut novel is a cozy murder mystery that weaves in some amazing detail and perspective on a Jamaican immigrant community in an English suburb. Miss Hortense was once a founder and banker of a Pardner system, which collected community funds to give back to its people to help it flourish. However, she was then kicked out by other members but still managed to have influence over the decisions made. When a member of the Pardner dies under mysterious circumstances, Miss Hortense takes the lead and uses her extensive investigative skills to look into the case. Slowly but surely more information than she could have ever anticipated becomes revealed about the Pardner and the community’s past.

I love a book that teaches me something. I did not know what a Pardner system was prior to reading this, and I come away feeling all the more glad to have read it. It did take a while to get into as there was a lot of setup with so many characters, but about a third of the way through it started to pick up. With how many characters and plot twists that were thrown in, I sometimes found it challenging to keep track of. But there’s so much potential especially in Miss Hortense, and I loved how formidable she was.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pantheon for a digital advance copy of this book! All opinions are my own.

I’ll pretty much read any cozy mystery. I love a series and I’m LOVING these older main characters thriving in cozies lately. Unfortunately, I often find with book one in a series there are far too many character and introductions, like the author needs to throw everything at the wall to get the series off and A Murder For Miss Hortense certainly followed that recipe.
I started reading this book physically, but the dialect was really hard for me to understand. I kept re-reading, which was making it really drag, so I switched to audio. The narration was much better, especially because the dialect is important to really connect with this Afro-Jamaican community and all their goings-on. While Miss Hortense was a busy-body, the people of Birmingham certainly closed ranks about their own issues and solving their own mysteries.
I found the pardner system fascinating and while keeping track of all the characters felt impossible, I could picture the whole vibe of this group and I enjoyed getting to know Miss Hortense even while most characters (even our main elderly lady) were not terribly likable.
I feel like authors always narrow down their ideas as a series continues and I’d probably enjoy the next in the series. I like unique premises, locations, casts of characters, and sleuths.

As a story about a British Jamaican elderly Miss Marple, this seemed promising. I liked the aspects where Caribbean culture takes center stage (the pardner, dominoes) but a mystery shouldn’t be boring. This was a letdown for me.

Miss Hortense is a retired nurse now in the third act of her life. She is a corner stone in the Jamaican community in Bigglesweigh in the UK. Friends and enemies alike show up on Miss. Hortense's doorstep asking for help and spilling secrets for the majority of the years Hortense has been there. The story beings with the reader gaining the knowledge that although Miss Horstense was once "The Pardner Lady," her position as such is no more.

A “Pardner “ System is a simple savings system whereby a group of people agree to save a set amount on a regular basis usually through a verbal agreement. Each person in the group will receive the "pot" of money in turn. As an American, suffering from a sad education system, I didn't know much about the Civil Rights issues outside of the US. I knew the UK population of People of Color also faced similar hardships and racism, but I was unaware of the specifics or what a Pardner system was. Thankfully, there is quite a bit of information on the topic and time period online and I gained even more information from a museum exhibit in the UK from 2023 on this very topic. Once I had a bit more of an understanding, I continued the novel.
Miss Hortense is a woman on a mission in the book and I love her so much. She's a very smart and very observant woman who knows exactly what kind of people surround her. The murders spanning decades was just wild and I felt like I was reading a murder mystery master class! I could not guess what was coming next and I adored it. Miss Hortense knows all the dirty laundry and she has kept so much of it to herself that it was vindication when we learn the why and how. I look forward to more from Mel Pannant, and hope this series continues. I felt like there was a lot more Bigglesweigh has in store for us.

Miss Hortense was a founder of the Pardner, a cooperative financial loan system used by Jamaican immigrants in 1960s Britain because banks wouldn't take their business. This group supplemented banking with solving mysteries. Something led to her being kicked out of the Pardner. Years later, the past resurfaces as someone looks for "the Pardner lady" as a current member of the Pardner dies under suspicious circumstances and a man dies.

I had to read this book twice - it's a convoluted plot and the first time out I missed things and failed to keep the different timelines straight. However, in the final analysis I enjoyed it, largely for the characters and for the insight into the immigrant experience in the UK as well as the language used - a kind of Jamaican patois.

I liked that this was a mystery but it fell a little flat for me. I don’t think the character Miss Hortense was fully fleshed out and I don’t think the mystery was fully developed. I liked the premise and the humor throughout the story though.

Miss Hortense moved to England from Jamaica in 1960 and settled in Bigglesweigh, a Birmingham suburb. She was one of the founders of the Pardner network, a group of Black investors wanting to see their community grow and flourish. Miss Hortense got kicked out of the group but her eyes and ears remained open. When a man is murdered, the past may play a part and Miss Hortense will put her sleuthing skills to the test.

At first glance this book might appear to be a cozy mystery but there’s much more depth. The author injects bits of humor when possible but the heart of this story deals with some heavy subject matter. It’s a showcase of how the immigrant community is often left to fend for themselves with no outside support. How crime in a Black neighborhood isn’t taken as seriously or given the same resources as say a wealthy, white neighborhood.

The mystery itself was complex and hard to follow at times and a few too many characters to keep track of but there’s so much potential here if the author chooses to turn it into a series. Miss Hortense is a fascinating woman and I’m interested in seeing her solve more mysteries..

3.5 stars out of 5

Miss Hortense, a strong and outspoken character, was a delight to read. The dynamics between her and Blossom were particularly intriguing. However, the sheer number of characters and the abrupt shifts in time made it challenging to maintain focus. I found myself frequently rereading sections to ensure I hadn’t missed anything. Additionally, the Jamaican dialect was at times so difficult to decipher that I often struggled to understand what the characters were saying. Despite these challenges, I thoroughly enjoyed the grand reveal scene with everyone present.

My review is voluntary and all comments and opinions are my own.

Nice debut novel set in the Afro-Caribbean community of England with a community investment pardner as the catalyst for the main characters in the 1960s -2000. Very slow start but picks up around 30% in and the main character Miss Hortense is a feisty amateur detective with an excellent denouncement. Thanks to NetGalley and Pantheon for an advanced copy for a honest review.

A wild ride!

Miss Hortense is quick witted, observant and wonderfully deductive. Her community is better off because she’s in it, even if they don’t want to believe it.

A Murder for Miss Hortense is complex and moves between past and present to tell the story of Caribbean people in a foreign land trying to carve out better lives despite economic hardship, racism and murders.

I enjoyed Pennants ability to fold the reader into the story with her use of language, humor and Jamaican colloquialisms. A great read for lovers of whodunnits.

A Murder for Miss Hortense by Mel Pennant completely won me over. From the very first page, I was hooked by the charm, the wit, and of course, Miss Hortense herself. She’s clever, bold, and honestly one of the most refreshing sleuths I’ve come across in a long time. The mystery kept me guessing, and I found myself smiling at the sharp writing and unexpected twists. If this book is any sign of what’s to come, I can already tell Miss Hortense is going to be one of my new favorite characters. I didn’t want it to end!

I really wanted to like this book. Miss Hortense is an amazing character, and very clever. But between the dialog in dialect and the dozens of characters, I couldn't keep up. The plot alternated between events forty years in the past and those of today, and even after reading the expose at the end, I still don’t understand it.

I'm unfortunately going to have to pause reading this one and wait for it to hopefully come out on audio. Dialect heavy books are really hard for me to read but I love listening to them.

I didn't get very far but the story was compelling and the characters seemed very interesting! I can see this story will have a bunch of secrets to uncover and twists and turns.

Already have it on hold at the library!