As the owner of a Swiss Mountain dog how could I resist a book with the wonderful Bracken as one of its characters. A cozy murder mystery set on the North Yorkshire Coast. It had all the elements you could expect- secrets, lies and a killer hidden in plain sight. I’ll be looking forward to the next in the series. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this novel in return for an honest review.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing/NetGalley co-op for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. This is a first in a new series. It is set in Yorkshire, and is a cozy murder mystery. Its a quick fun read, and grandma knows best. Answer is the money. Appears to be a beautiful setting. For me, there were unanswered questions. It's a family bookshop affair. I guess we need to read the next book to find out answers. 3 stars

Thank you NetGalley for this arc!!

I absolutely love this author and everything she writes. I cannot WAIT for the next book

The book features the viewpoints of two characters. First is Ryan who has returned two his hometown many years after the death of his husband. Second is Ryan's gran who is lively and full of spunk. Also added in is the viewpoint of a totally different storyline his a chat group. The book does features two main plotlines. What should be the main one feels more like an after thought. The characters added good, and while his book was not great, I Silk give the next installment a try.

I was very excited to start this book, started reading it but I couldn't come in to the story. I liked the characters so far but unfortunately I didn't finish this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this book to review.

This was a fun cozy mystery novel, and I enjoyed it a lot. I am looking forward to reading more by this author.

A Whale of a Crime by Mona Marple is the first A Yorkshire Coast Cozy Mystery. The characters are developed and relatable. I like that the point of view alternates between Ryan and his feisty gran, Iris. It allows readers to get different perspectives. I really appreciated that at the beginning of each chapter it stated whose perspective it was in (no guesswork needed). Ryan’s support dog, Brecken, is adorable, and he is helpful to the investigation. The story had a good premise. The mystery was interesting. There were several suspects as well as misdirection. A big deal was made about an item (an excessively big deal), and I thought it would be an important part of the whodunit. I was surprised when it did not amount to a hill of beans. The book ends with a cliffhanger which makes me curious about what shenanigans Iris and Ryan will get into next time. A Whale of a Crime is a cute cozy with a seaside bookshop, a Whale Watch Weekend, residents with secrets, a boat and a body, a clever canine, an energetic gran, missing money, and troubling truths.

Lots of great stuff going on in this story. Wow! I really found d myself enjoying this one.
I couldn't pit the book down it was so good! The guessing game was great!
Lots of twists and turns that surprised me.
Just awesome. Best cozy I've read in a while
5 stars for keeping my interest. I highly recommend
My thanks for a copy of this book. I was NOT required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine.

During the kick-off of the Whale Watch Festival, one of the sponsors gets clobbered. Seven people were also present on the beach, one of them is a killer, the others saw or heard nothing.

That’s the mystery Ryan and his nan, Iris, are set on solving.

But there are a lot more mysteries:
- Why did eight people most of whom can barely stand each other have a picnic on a beach?
- Why had none of these people, that live in a sea side town, checked the tide or weather report? In stead, the group gets surprised both by the tide and a strong fogg rolling in. (Iris later even mentions the tide is predictable. Yet she was one of the people that needed to be picked up off a beach by the coast guard because the paths we closed off by the water.)
- Why did Iris the observant not notice that one of their troupe picked up a glass ornament that was later found next to the victim?

The story’s insistence that Iris is a great observer (and successful poker player) and knows all about the tides, got very annoying, because from the scene at the beach it is pretty obvious that she is not. She’s also not a very nice person. It’s all right that she wants to do her own thing, but when the owner of a dog tells you not to feed his dog (because of the dog’s health), you do not feed his dog. You do not slip it pork scratchings under the table so that the owner does not see.

The resolve of the murder mystery is rather unsatisfactory. There’s hardly any sleuthing. The five possible suspects (for obvious reasons Iris doesn’t consider herself or her grandson a suspect) all act rather nervously and when Iris points the finger at one of them, they confess. After that everyone else starts to confess their secrets. That should have been the other way around: first all the secrets come out, then whoever was most keen to keep their secrets is the murderer.

With the murder solved at 75% of the book, that left an excruciatingly long wrap up of the story, many elements of which would have worked better if they’d been dealt with - at least to some degree - during the investigation. The many secrets, the connection Lila made to the past, the romance that was thrown in because a cozy must have romance. It all would have worked better if the author hadn’t waited until the end to throw that in.

Also, the story would have worked better for me if Ryan hadn’t been mourning the loss of his husband for ten years. Because at best, that would make him about 29-30 and leaves a rather small age gap with his nan.

The book could have done with a brisker editor. Or an author that kept better notes.
In chapter 4 Ryan’s husband is named Jason Pitt-Kennedy. In chapter 8 it is Jason Kennedy-Mills.
When Iris and Ryan first go to Hutch’s pub it’s quiet for a Saturday evening. An hour (and a couple of chapters) later it’s Friday evening.
In chapter 11 Iris notes that Ryan makes the tea too strong. In chapter 13 Iris accepts a cup of tea “strong enough to stand a spoon in — exactly as she preferred it”. Makes you wonder if Ryan produced fluid tar rather than tea.

This book was everything I wanted a cozy mystery to be and then some! I can't wait to see where the series takes us next!

I had a really hard time getting into this book which is disappointing to me cause I really enjoyed how it was written. We get the perspective of both Ryan and his grandmother which was different for a cozy mystery but enjoyable. They seemed to care for one another and I liked having the two different individual perspectives around the story. I liked the Message Board chapters as well, it was new to me. I just didn't really care about the characters. It was hard for me to connect with them and even though I enjoyed that they each shed light on the other some stuff should have come from them themselves.

3 1/2 stars. I enjoyed this. Ryan and his gran, Iris, tell this story in different chapters, which both gives different pov of the events and insights into their characters, which is definitely helpful with Ryan who is somewhat quiet and self-contained due to dealing with the death of his husband ten years ago which still results in him having panic attacks. Luckily he has the adorable Brecken, a support dog, and happens to be very observant which helps during the mystery. I thought the characters had depths and look forward to seeing them in future books.

The mystery was solid with plenty of suspects. The only real complaint I had about the mystery was Iris makes such a big deal about this small boat that has washed up onto the beach. She wants to know who it belongs to and believes it has something to do with the murder. But the actual explanation at the end is very minimal. It just didn't make sense to make such a big deal about it. It didn't even lead to dead end clue.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Oh wow, I really enjoyed this book especially the showdown! Gran was such a hoot and cracking me up with how she was sleuthing and eventually got the answer to whodunit. And she wasn’t shy about confronting someone, but at least it was at a public event where she could cleverly get people started talking. I felt really bad for Ryan since he seems like a lost soul wandering the world hoping he can eventually get closure for Jason’s death. It’d be awesome if Gran was the one who eventually solved that mystery, and I’ve got no doubt she’s capable! No matter what happens, Ryan’s among loved ones now he’s home.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book made available from NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

First time reading this author. I enjoyed it very much. I like the characters (and really want to know the backstory on the 1). I also liked the coastal setting. The mystery kept me guessing. I hope there are many more in the series.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sorry, simply could not connect to this book. I got 58% through and found myself continually asking myself why I was still reading.

The blurb made for an interesting, light hearted cosy crime. What I got was a stodgy plot that couldn’t decide whether it was cosy like an MC Beaton or the more serious and hardened mystery- thrillers like an Ann Cleeves. The jumbled genre did not sit well.

It also often felt like I was coming in on a conversation half over. The minimal descriptive narrative made it feel like you’d understand it more if you’d been there for the whole thing. I thought I was, but sadly not. It was like the author and editor knew the storyline so well, they understood what was written, but a newbie to the book, like me, was left out.

And, lastly, and I admit this is more a personal pet peeve – the dog. Ryan had had her over ten years? His family knew how to read her body language, despite not seeing him in all that time? She would be an ancient, arthritic dog by that age. Big dogs don’t have long life spans, and due to size don’t age gently. I loved the concept of an emotional support dog, but this too was not thought out well. It really jarred with me.

All in all it came across like a younger author trying to write in a lot of life experiences that they, well, only knew of in theory, not practice. Tried to combine too many ideas into an unrealistic timeline.

Sorry, just not a book for me. Did Not Finish.

Thank you netgalley and publishers for this arc.

This is the first book of the series, but to me it read like the second. I felt like I was missing all kinds of back story on the characters. Didn't feel that they were developed really well in this one. The mystery felt forced and disconnected. The beach scene with Iris doing a play by play of the night just read off like these people have lived here for how long and we're ignorant enough to get stranded on a beach with the high tide? Solving the case came quickly and I don't feel like it gave a lot of clues to have the reader guessing the who dun it. It was a short quick read.

I adored this book and enjoyed it so much! As soon as I saw this cover, I was hooked. I needed a cosy palette cleanser, and it definitely delivered. I hope my chaotic image collage captures the vibes from the book. I needed Iris Kennedy's feisty whit and the overall whimsical humour to rinse away my worries. There was such a sense of warm small town community, pub gossip, and seniors badassery. The story also created such an atmosphere of tension and secrets, with a clever locked-island whodunit amongst all the whimsy. Secrets, serenity, whit, and whimsy. 💙 I will definitely be following this author for more murder mysteries!

Thank you to NetGalley, Mona Marple, and Victory Editing Netgalley Co-Op for this advanced readers' copy. Opinions expressed are my own.

First in a new series! 

This is a great first start to a promising new series - Ryan is a grieving widower who goes home to his small whale watching village and discovers a murder, blackmail, and possible secret's about his husband's death. 

Ryan is a likeable character that is very reserved in this book; I hope we learn more about him and his character broadens as this series develops. I really hope we find out more to the story of his husband, Jason's death, especially since he was a famous singer and theories are never-ending about how he died, even labeling Ryan a gold-digger, which I would say he absolutely is not. 

Iris, Ryan's feisty gran is awesome and I hope she keeps up her antics and sass throughout the series. I am interested to learn more about her past as a bookstore owner in the small village and how she became the strong woman she is in this book. 

There are many supporting characters in this book, with Ryan and Iris being the tellers of alternating chapters, but flows together very nicely. I am excited to see where the rest of the series takes the minor characters, like Harlow (Ryan's sister), his mom, and other villagers who, of course, were suspects during the murder. 

This was a fun book, definitely a beach-read, and you should put it on your TBR list right away. 

4.5*

"A Whale of a Crime (A Yorkshire Coast Cozy Mystery #1)" by Mona Marple (Katie Forrest) is a little bit different from what has become the norm for cozy mysteries but really felt like a cozy mystery by the end of it. This book is told from two different perspectives. Ryan, a younger adult man returning to Yorkshire to help his family after being in London and the passing of his rockstar husband. Iris, Ryan's grandmother, local busybody and bookstore owner.

It's time for an annual whale watching festival on the Yorkshire English Coast. Some weird stuff is going on with the fundraiser money and people involved with the festival and people are turning up dead. Ryan and Iris get involved because some of it may be too close to home for Ryan and the death of his husband.

I do have to say that i appreciated that each of the chapters were titled with whose perspective it was in. It was clear once the chapter got going but it can be difficult to transition between perspectives without a clear way of separating them. I appreciate keeping them chapter confined.

This was an interesting read. I like the locked room type mystery as well as the small village politics. I will read the next one to learn more about Ryan and Jason’s story.