I loved this sequel to one of my favorite new mysteries, The Murders in Great Diddling. I think one could read this as a stand-alone novel without missing much, although the first book is well worth reading. This one takes place at a writers' retreat. As before, the author did a wonderful job bringing the cast of both recurring and new characters to life. Not only is the book a clever murder mystery, but it also gives a great behind-the-scenes view of writers and the book publishing industry. Once again, our protagonist, Berit, collaborates with the local police, and readers are able to observe the dynamics in the police department. Unlike many other crime novels, the police are shown to be intelligent, and the main investigator appreciates Berit's insights. Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read an advance copy of this book. I look forward to the next installment of this wonderful series. Highly recommended!

This was a fun little mystery, and I enjoyed my time with it. The writing is solid, the characters are relatively well-drawn, and the plot kept me engaged enough to keep reading. The middle part was maybe a bit too long. 3.5 stars.

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

Enjoyable, but very long, mystery set at a writers’ retreat. The book starts off strong, but starts to bog down and become repetitive at about the 50% mark. Murder motivation isn’t very strong and the epilogue kind of sappy. The protagonist becomes less sympathetic as the book goes on