The book had a great setting and was an interesting Halloween themed story. Susan was the only likeable character aside from Robert, her friend. Susan's daughter was tolerable, but the friends grated on my nerves for the entire book. They were meant to have a reunion but acted like they were still teenagers in high school.

A Halloween Murder is one of a series set on the Isle of Wight, featuring amateur detective Susan and her daughter Zoe. This had a very old-fashioned cozy murder mystery feel to me, and it would be the perfect book to read with a cup of tea in the days leading up to Halloween!

Susan is divorced and has relocated to a different part of the island. Her daughter Zoe is coming to visit, as she is having a mini reunion with some old school chums. Most of them are renting a space in a nearby castle, but Zoe and her friend LeeAnn are staying with her mum, Susan. The friends have some bad blood between some of them, and tensions abound. Then there is a death. Now all the friends are looking at each other with suspicion.

I enjoyed the character of Susan, and the mundane aspects of her life, such as frequently walking her dogs. It made me feel very placed in the setting. Susan has a man friend but there are complications, and that was also interesting. I love nordic noir and gritty murder mysteries, but every so often I enjoy reading a good old-fashioned cozy, and this certainly fits the bill.

This was a 3.75 read for me, so rounding up to 4*.

Thank you to NetGalley, Mary Grand, and Boldwood Books for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC.

This is book 4 in the Isle of Wight Murder Mystery series but it reads well as a standalone.

Susan is a retired teacher and amateur sleuth in her sixties, living in the fictional Bishopstone on the Isle of Wight. She is divorced with dogs but has the world's slowest-burn romance with Robert who also has dogs. When someone is murdered she starts investigating.

It's pretty clear the local police, especially DS Kent, are annoyed by her previous detective work success, but she doesn't care and does it anyway, this time involving her daughter Zoe as well. She has a very personal interest - it hits close to home as the murdered person was a friend and her daughter Zoe is a suspect.

The story takes a while to get going as there is so much info-dumping going on. First we get brought up to speed on the last book, then we need to learn a lot about this group of old school friends and band mates - Maxine, Gino Nick, Annika and LeAnne. Most of them stay at Carisbrooke Castle and as it is Halloween, there are spooky decorations and the Ouija board being brought out.

There is a lot of tension and bad blood between the friends and it did not ring true that they would go on holiday together, even if it was to honour a former music teacher of theirs. There is a lot of fighting over recent events, and everyone's lying and hiding secrets. Plus why is taxi driver Liam turning up all the time?

I found this pretty interesting with a good deal of evidence gathering, sleuthing and talking it all over with sharp as a tack Alice in the nursing home. However, I think I would have preferred less talking and more action, especially when Susan gets everyone together for the big reveal without the police present!

I loved the last, Christmas-themed one but this one, although interesting, was a bit too confusing for me, and I didn't like all the characters. Gino was very annoying! Also, is there any reason for this story to be taking place in 2017? Seems like a random choice. Still, I shall read the next one to keep up to date with everyone in the community.

3.5 stars

A cosy crime mystery set during Halloween featuring retired schoolteacher. When I requested the novel.I was unaware it was part of a series. However, I enjoyed the Is!e of Wight setting, leading about Carisbooke castle and there are plenty of twists and turns to hold the readers interest.

Thanks for the advanced reader copy from Netgalley! This was a cute beach read book. Spooky season and a quick read.

A great read - a locked castle mystery on the Isle of Wight. A well thought through mystery with believable characters.

Susan's daughter Zoe is returning to the Isle of Wight. A get t0gether has been planned for a group of old school friends who used to play in a band to reunite to celebrate the work of retiring music teacher. Most will be staying in the atmospheric Carisbrook Castle with Zoe & friend Leeanne staying with Susan. It is Halloween and Susan is invited to join the Ghost Walk at the Castle. All is not entirely well with the group and there are underlying tensions. The next morning Zoe is horrified by a phone call to say MAxine is dead and Zoe might be the last person to have spoken to her.

This is the fourth in the series and like the previous ones it is full of interesting characters, red herrings and a great setting. It kept me guessing throughout. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

This is the first book in the Isle of Wight Killings series I have read (this is Book 4), but it wasn't too hard to jump into the series (I've found cozies tend to give you everything you need to know from previous books). this is a fun mystery- with a group of friends meeting up and bringing all their past trauma with them, and adding a new person to the mix, that none of them know very well. Staying in a possible haunted castle? Let's add more fun to the drama, LOL. You know who is going to get murdered very quickly, and who will jump in and 'look into things'- it wouldn't be a cozy without a nosy main character! It's a charming series about an older character starting over and adding her family into the mix in these type of situations, adds more depth and solidity to the series, I'll be checking out the first 3 books when I get through my summer reading list, and you should too, for some fun summer reads!

Susan's daughter Zoe returns to the island alone for a retirement concert for a much-loved music teacher and a catch-up with old friends beforehand. The reader is aware of discord within the friendship group, setting the scene for an intense reunion. This story is a balance of psychological suspense and cosy crime. The friendship group consists mainly of unlikeable and unreliable individuals, but the crime needs the talents of Susan and Alice to solve it, rather than the island's police detectives. I like the complex characters, many of whom have motive and opportunity to commit the crime. I also enjoyed solving the investigation, which is unexpectedly complex with many false leads and twists. It's an engagingly atmospheric tale, set at Halloween in a supposedly haunted castle.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

When amateur sleuth Susan is invited by her daughter, Zoe, to attend the ghost walk with she and her old friends. Meant to be a fun week of adventures and catching up, things change when one of them dies. Was this a chance for reconnecting or the chance for a murderer to strike revenge? When Zoe becomes a main suspect, Susan must pull out her detective skills to clear her name. This was a first book for me in the series. I really enjoyed how the characters were developed. I could really relate to Susan. I really do look forward to reading more of this series as well as more by this author. I received a copy through Netgalley. A review was not required.

This book is part of a series by I felt it read well on its own. Susan, an older woman, is a good heroine. She is overcoming some issues and growing. The pace of the plot movement is good and consistent. The plot is complex and there are enough twists and red herrings I could not identify the villain early.

Grand's writing style is good and there is a good sense of setting. It would make for a good fall read with the mysterious atmosphere of the castle. It is good for readers who would like a cozy mystery with a Halloween theme.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. Mine is an independent review.

I have mixed thoughts on this book. I liked the peaceful cozy feel of the narrative but the story seemed a bit confusing. Enjoyed it but wasn't my favorite. Still a fun Halloween cozy...

“A Halloween Murder” is the well done fourth book in Mary Grand’s Isle of Wight Killings mystery series. In this book Susan Flynn finds herself in the middle of another mystery when one of her daughter Zoe’s friends is murdered and Zoe is one of the suspects. What I love the most about this series is the characters, starting with Susan who is rebuilding her life after a divorce (and hesitantly finding love again) and the setting – especially the castle that is at the heart of this mystery. The mystery is well done (if a bit sad) with plenty of suspects – so many people seem to have secrets - some red herrings, and plenty of twists and turns. I was pretty much surprised by everything that happened – well done by the author!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

When Susan’s daughter Zoe returns to the Isle of Wight for a reunion with old pals, she invites her mum along on a planned ghost walk at a local castle. But Susan’s instincts that all is not well turns out to be spot on. When one of the group is found dead, it is obvious someone within the group must be responsible. Susan has to clear her own daughter’s name and find the culprit before it’s too late .

The old friends harbour tensions between them and hold grudges from the past and more recently. But are any of them serious enough to lead to death? The people one went to school with are not the same as they were then, as life and experience takes its toll. Zoe quickly realises this and must look past the old friendships if she’s going to help her mother catch the killer.

I liked that Zoe took such a large part in this story. Susan worked well with her – and two heads were better than one in this case. An intricate story that kept me guessing till the end.

There’s just something so much cosier about British cosy mysteries and this is a great example of that. Set on the Isle of Wight and starting out on Halloween, this was a great read

My affinity for ghost stories, walking ghost tours and old building made this one the perfect setting. The mystery itself made it the perfect read! I’ll be looking for more from this author!

This is the first Mary Grand book I’ve read in the series, but I found it easy to pick up on the series so far. It was a really cosy story, lots of detail about Halloween at the start, and there were some lovely descriptions of the Isle of Wight. I live close by and have never been to the castle, so I will have to visit it. This book was a bit different than I expected – I thought the book would be more of a locked in mystery with a potential classic Halloween cosy ‘ghost’ storyline.

However, whilst this wasn’t the case, Susan carried the narrative really well. Her character added a feel-good aspect to the story. Zoe and some of her friends came off as being rather immature with their actions. I was having a hard time trying to age them, but suspected that they were in their 30’s.

As I disliked the majority of them, I suspected most of Zoe’s friends and went on guessing for a while as to ‘whodunnit’. I finally landed on the correct suspect, not the motive, though. I thought that part of the book had been really well planned and executed – I would never have guessed that!

Whilst more tropes surrounding Halloween could have been employed to add to the atmosphere of the season and just ever so slightly more investigative techniques – the characters were really easy to picture with very interesting individual stories that kept me reading until the end.

I would definitely read another book by this author, as it was so easy to get lost in the world they created. I feel like the author would also excel in writing in other genres, such as sagas and contemporary romance, because the characters’ lives really captured my imagination.

When a reunion turns deadly it's hard to believe that someone amongst their friends group could be a killer, but tensions keep running high as old grudges come out, and everyone becomes a suspect.
It had a great spooky atmosphere with the Halloween ghost walk at the castle, and the sense of foreboding.
I enjoyed learning more about each character and seeing what secrets they were hiding, as the suspicion grows and they start to accuse each other.
It had plenty of twists right until the end, so it keeps you guessing, especially with the motives pouring out.
I also liked the amateur detective mother and daughter team, as they work together to find clues the police have missed and to work out who had the most to gain from murder. It's a cosy murder mystery.

3.75⭐

Susan's daughter Zoe and her old school friends have gotten together for an exciting Halloween weekend which is spent inside the castle after hours, but with everyone holding onto secrets and when one of the group, Maxine accidently falls from the castle and dies, not everything is what it seems esp when she confided in Zoe just before that she finally knew the truth and she was left a warning.

This book was giving a mix of Poirot meets Murder She Wrote meets Midsummer Murders. It has small town, a spooky castle, a local resident who happens to solve the murder and everyone in the same room while the evidence is broken down and all the suspects have their motives revealed.

A great cosy crime to add to your spooky/autumnal TBR.

I read this as part of a Instabook Tour and received the ARC from NetGalley & Boldwood Books.

“A Halloween Murder” by Mary Grand the 4th instalment in the "The Isle of Wight Killings" series. I enjoyed this book it’s a fun mystery. I will definitely read this author again. This book is perfect for a Halloween atmospheric mystery. Set in a creepy castle on All Hallows' Eve, the story follows Susan, who's invited on a ghost walk by her daughter Zoe. However, the reunion takes a deadly turn when one of the group is found dead at the bottom of the tower.

The mystery is expertly crafted, with just the right number of suspects to keep you guessing. The twists and turns are plentiful, and I didn't see the culprit coming. The castle setting adds to the spooky atmosphere, making it a great fit for a Halloween story.

Susan is a relatable protagonist who's had to start over after her husband left her. She's built a new life, made friends, and discovered a talent for solving mysteries. Her character growth in this story is compelling, and I appreciate that she's not static – she's complex and multi-dimensional.

This book is a great choice for fans of cozy mysteries and Halloween-themed stories.

I requested and received an advanced readers copy from Boldwood Books and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my OWN.

This is the perfect book for a Halloween atmospheric mystery. Set in a castle on Halloween where Susan is invited on a ghost walk by her daughter Zoe who is spending the weekend with old friend. But instead of the happy reunion, there is plenty of tension running between the group. Then one is found dead, lying at the bottom of the tower. Accident, suicide or murder? Susan thinks it is murder and it has to be one of the group.

The mystery has just the right of amount of suspects that keep you guessing but it isn't hard to keep them straight. There were plenty of twists and turns in this story. I didn't guess who was the culprit. Plus, the castle makes a great creepy setting for a Halloween story.

I like Susan. She had to start over when her husband left her but she has made a life for herself, made new friends and found a startling skill for solving mysteries. But she has scars that effect the possibility of a new romance. She has to do some difficult growing in this story. But I like that. Characters don't have to be static in a cozy series.

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