Murder at the Village Fete

It was a very good book. Definitely not my favorite, but not my least favorite. Somewhere in the middle of the two. It was very cozy and would be a perfect fall or winter read. I have certain friends I would recommend this to who would really enjoy this.

Murder at the Village Fete is a charming 1920's cozy murder mystery with just the right amount of suspense and humour. The main characters of Evelyn and Tommy are charming and intelligent. A quick, lighthearted read, perfect for a winter evening. I'm off to read Book 1.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my review copy.

A quick cozy read!

I had not read the previous but did not face any trouble understanding the backstory. Well written with delightful characters, this is a well paced mystery read. The book had good amount of humour and suspense and I really enjoyed reading it.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for the copy.

Tommy and Evelyn Christie, the charming couple, are embroiled in murder once again when the local MP ends up dead on their property during their first soiree as Lord and Lady Northmoor. Overall, I was very happy with the mystery part of the story. Unlike some historical mysteries and cozies that are light on the detection part of the story this was packed filled. I just wish some of the secondary characters were fleshed out a bit more as they were in the first book. I do love the relationship between Tommy and Evelyn. They are a real team.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a free copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Murder at the Village Fete is the second book in Tommy & Evelyn Christie by Catherine Coles.

Not having read the previous book I had no problems getting into the story. All references concerning previous book have been clearly explained.

Tommy is a former policeman and soldier, now a Lord to the manor and Evelyn is his wife. They are happy and enjoying life but somehow manage to find themselves in murder, quite too often, This of course does not make the favorite with the local detective. Their friends and family however always urge them to take charge and solve the mystery before the detective.

This time, they are hosting a house party at Evelyn father's request as almost all guests are his friends, former coworkers who have at one point been suspected of taking a bribe. They were all cleared but someone is bringing up the matter again, by sending threatening letters.
When on of the formerly suspected is found dead it is up to Tommy and Evelyn to solve the crime before the murder strikes again.

This book had a lot of positive points- time setting after the WWII which I really enjoy to read about, There is a closed circle aspect, as the party is consisted of certain number of people and one of them is a murderer and isolated mystery as it is set at the country manor.

I liked Tommy and Evelyn, they are young, eager sleuths and even have some police experience. They are nice, generous and truly lovely characters.
The story was smartly presented, clues were laid out for readers to follow and solve, there were several red herrings to make things more interesting.
It is fast paced, easy to read and raises some very important issues, such as war malversations and domestic abuse.
I will be following their future adventures.

A fun read that I thoroughly enjoyed. The characters are well developed and the main characters Tommy and Evelyn, AKA Lord and Lady Northmoor are charming. Due to deaths in the family, Tommy and Evelyn Christie have had to give up careers in the police and to take up the responsibilities in accordance with their new titles. It’s three years after the end of WWI and the mystery surrounds an unscrupulous military arms contract that leads to several murders. Although Tommy and Evelyn are no longer in the police, they can’t resist investigating, especially since one of the subjects is Evelyn’s father, a retired MP.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

Likeable Amateur Sleuthing Duo...
The second Tommy and Evelyn Christie mystery set in a Yorkshire village. Lighthearted, cosy reading with a likeable amateur sleuthing duo. This time a murder at the village fete is on the duo’s agenda. Enjoyable, easy reading for little escapism.

I enjoyed this book although there are some spots that are slow. I liked the main characters and how they interacted with the rest of the characters. I was surprised by who the killed was although I enjoyed how they were caught. #MurderattheVillageFete #NetGalley

A jolly good read. After the first murder, there are ample red herrings to keep us guessing who and why..

The author sets the 1920's scenes in a warm manner. Slowly but surely we are drawn into the goings-on at his

Lordships country pile where we witness kindness and nastiness among many characters. We are aware of the

fallout after WW1 and how life continues, The book has it all - humour, love, revenge and murder..

Such a fun book to read! This murder mystery is light and clean and fun. There aren’t any gruesome details and extremely scary scenes to give you nightmares. Just a purely curious novel to satisfy your need for mystery. I enjoyed this book and would allow my teenagers to read it as well.
This review was in exchange for a free copy of the book.

A delightful and entertaining historical cozy mystery. I liked the solid mystery, the lovely setting and the likable characters.
It's the first I read in this series and it can be read as a stand alone.
Recommended.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Evelyn and Tommy Christie are a delightful (if recent) Lord and Lady Northmoor. Their status in life may have changed but not their value system. Their down to earth approach is most endearing to the majority of people they meet. But not to all of them. Their many experiences in solving crimes certainly stands them in good stead.

The murder mystery features a number of red herrings. While I was sure as to who the murderer was, I didn't quite work out why. A great twist. This is a very gentle, cozy murder mystery. I found it a most enjoyable. and a quick read.

I have read no others in the series but had no trouble understanding the role of the characters or the context.

My thanks to Booksgosocial, #Netgalley and the author for my advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review..

Such a great book! Cozy in all the right ways. I love the British estate setting, and I loved meeting the cast of characters through the village. The mystery was intriguing, and I like that it actually became two mysteries by the end.

I'm not usually a fan of non-contemporary mysteries, but I found myself drawn into the story from the first few pages. I found it interesting reading about the role of the Lord and Lady in the village.

Although I had not read the first book, I found it easy to follow the characters and their relationships. It's a nice and easy read. This was a very interesting mystery that kept me reading late into the night. I'll be looking for the next one in the series!

This is a delightful, cozy, English village mystery. I haven’t read book 1 yet, but I had no trouble getting into the story and I feel it does quite well as a stand alone book.

Tommy and Evelyn Christie have just recently come into the titles of Lord and Lady Northmoor. This has led to a lot of changes in their lives, including giving up their police jobs. The local MP, one of four men who were invited to visit the weekend of the fete, is found dead during the event. All four men, had some connection with a munitions scandal during the war. Of course the couple ends up working on the murder.

I wouldn’t say that this was great writing, as I thought that the story dragged a bit in places. However, I liked the characters of Tommy and Evelyn, and I really enjoyed the novel, and plan to read books 1 and 3 in the series.

Murder at the Village Fete is an enjoyable cozy read. I did not read the first book in the series but had no difficulty starting with the second book.

Tommy and Evelyn are former police officers recently elevated to the peerage due to deaths in Tommy's family and the impact of WWI. Evelyn's father has asked them to host a house party with his former Members of Parliament-they had all been involved in a scandal years ago and exonerated. However, Evelyn's father recently received an anonymous letter threatening him with blackmail and he believes the other men did as well and asked them to be invited to clear his name once and for all. When one of the MP's is found murdered, all believe it is related to the blackmail threat.

Although Tommy is asked by the local police detective not to interfere, he feels he can't stand by while his houseguests are threatened and murdered and is worried about his father in law. So, he and Evelyn investigate.

This is a well paced story with likeable characters.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was very cozy murder mystery set in the 1920s. I liked the main characters, I loved how they had police backgrounds which made them very going at doing lots of investigating and digging, and they were charming together. I enjoyed the different twists throughout the book that kept you guessing as to the identity of the murderer.
Overall it was a very enjoyable read.

In this second book of a series by Catherine Coles, Tommy Christie is getting used to becoming the 7th Earl of Northmoor. Tommy and his wife Evelyn, a former policewoman in the Great War, are hosting a party as part of the village fete which is being held in the grounds of Hessleham Hall. Evelyn's father, an ex-MP has asked his daughter to invite some of his friends and former colleagues to stay at the hall. The current local MP, Robert Billingham is among the guests staying, many of whom are making demands and generally causing problems for the Christies and their staff. Out walking their pedigree Gordon Setter dogs before breakfast, they come across a dead body lying face down in the stream, the water an interesting shade of pink...

Set in East Yorkshire, England in 1921 I thoroughly enjoyed reading Murder at the Village Fete and although I haven't read the first book, I had no trouble keeping up with the main characters and events. I liked that Tommy's experiences before and after WW1 influenced his moral standards. Evelyn's experiences with the police force meant that she was naturally inquisitive and unable to resist involving herself in the mystery. Both Tommy and Evelyn were very likeable characters, as was the mischievous Auntie Em (Tommy’s great aunt), who was prepared to speak her mind. The author's plotting was smartly done, and the mystery itself was compelling and captivating. It will be interesting to see how these characters evolve in future stories. I'm looking forward to reading book one Murder at the Manor as well as Murder in the Churchyard (book three).

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from BooksGoSocial via NetGalley at my request and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

I was very much looking forward to reading this book. Sadly, even though it’s downloaded, I cannot get the book to open to read it. I would loved to have read and reviewed this book.

Fun and light hearted read that transported me from a snowy northeast to a different place and time. Will be on the lookout for future installments.

A wonderful addition to the series and I can't wait to read the next one. I felt like I was slipping into a warm mug of tea perfect for a wintry morn.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this advanced copy which I received in return for an honest review.

This is an enjoyable, thought-provoking period mystery. Readers will find a well written plot with a fascinating setting. This is the second of the series. A dangerous and puzzling mystery unfolds as Tommy and Evelyn Christie are getting ready to host the village fete. The Christies have several important houseguests staying at their home for the event. On the morning of the fete one of them, a member of Parliament, is murdered on their grounds, Evelyn, and Tommy start to investigate alongside a capable but frustrated local police detective. The murder gets more involved and reaches back a few years to reveal a WWI munitions scandal that caused horrific casualties but made money for those involved. This type of situation has certainly been revealed time and again in the history of wars. U.S. Marine Corps. Major General Smedley Butler once stated: "War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." I appreciated that the author creatively included this terrible truth in her work.
Recommended for fans of British cozy mysteries, especially those set between the world wars.

All right, now I can say with a bold assurance no one who is a lover of cozy mystery will want to bypass this one. It was an absolute doozy to read. It ticked all the necessary boxes, intrigue, captivating, puzzling twist, a bit of romance and so much more.
The characters were very lovable, especially Davey. A captivating, intriguing, engaging, and entertaining read.

I did not know this was a part of a series when I requested it, but you do not need to have read the first book to read this one. This was definitely one of the cutest cozy mysteries I have read in a long time. It wasn't too corny, but it wasn't too serious as well.

a Cozy mystery with a great plot, one of my favourite kinds of books! I also really like the simplicity and intrigue of the cover.