The opening chapter in this book had me in stitches, so I knew I was going to be in a treat, this is book 1 in the Village Detectives series and I cannot wait to see what they get up to next.

Such a great bunch of characters, Juno was my favourite (especially her delving In to Dennis and his previous relationships), but I enjoyed all their interactions and how they came together to solve the crime. They are certainly an interesting bunch of amateur sleuths.

For me the setting of the book was one of my favourite parts and the quintessential Englishness of it.

A good start to a new series for Fiona Walker! Two main characters Juno and Phoebe, I loved Phoebe from the start, a crime writer she gave me 'down to earth' vibes but Juno I found slightly annoying, which once you met the mother and the 'pet names' I understood where the annoying trait came from.
The story itself did keep me intrigued, and the murderer did keep me guessing until the end. Phoebe is also writing at this time so is juggling solving a murder and writing.
Overall for me it was a good read as Fiona Walker is a great author.

The two main characters, approaching an 'older age', are interesting people with intriguing background stories: Phoebe Fredericks, a previous well known journalist, is now a reclusive murder mystery writer who prefers her own company, while resenting her celebrity film star husband who is all too often away (and probably up to no good with pretty, film crew young assistants).

Widowed Juno Mulligan was once a stand-up comedienne, who is relocating from America back to her native England where her mother lives in a quaintly charming English village and is becoming romantically involved with someone whom Juno believes to be a wife-murderer. Juno talks a lot - much more than she listens - so frequently steamrollers others into doing what she wants without much opportunity to protest or back out of her unwelcome plans.

I must admit, I didn't like Juno much, I initially found her irritating although I did warm to her by the end, and I did struggle a little with a rather slow pace in places. The main plot was good, although Juno's mother, as a sub-plot, also irritated and the similarity of names caused some confusion for me sometimes, (especially on a Kindle where it isn't easy to look back at previous scenes.) By contrast, I did like Phoebe... a lot!

I didn't guess 'who did it' but were there enough clues along the way to set a clear path to the eventual reveal? I'm not sure there were, but this is the first of a new series so maybe my concentration was taken up by getting to know the characters rather than anything else?

I'll certainly try the second in the series when it is published as it'll be interesting to see how the author develops life (and murder) in the village.

EXCERPT: Since her abrupt departure from journalism, Phoebe had turned to a life of crime, the corpses piling up.
Channelling her rage into writing detective novels under a pen name, she'd now plotted multiple dastardly deaths to vex her two amateur sleuths, a 1920s society hostess and her chaperone. Recently, she'd added dark 1980s crime thrillers to her oeuvre and was even toying with gothic Victorian mysteries to avenge her bloodlust. Her imaginary worlds were like holiday destinations now, into which she escaped to find peace by restoring order.
The books had been successful enough for her to scrape a living, a positive outcome from a period of depression so deep she'd almost lost sight of the surface, when career and medical crises had coincided, cash and marriage ones chasing them cruelly quickly.
Plotting a murder every six months or so had been terrific therapy.

ABOUT 'THE ART OF MURDER': Welcome to the beautiful English village of Inkbury. Tucked deep in the North Wessex Downs, its only claim to fame is the picturesque riverside that once appeared in a Richard Curtis movie. That is, until the murder…

Former stand-up comic Juno Mulligan has been suffering a serious sense-of-humour failure. Not only has she lost the love of her life, but she’s having to relocate to the (admittedly idyllic) village of Inkbury to watch out for her elderly mother, who she’s genuinely worried might be marrying a wife-killer.

She hopes that her old friend, disgraced-journalist-turned-novelist Phoebe Fredericks can help her crack the case of whether her mother’s perma-tanned, iceberg-smiled, three-times-a-widower fiancé is hiding a murderous past.

But before they have a chance, the local art dealer washes up distinctly dead in the village’s famous river. His lover is in the frame, but Juno and Phoebe suspect that there is a deeper secret… One that relates to Phoebe’s own past and Juno’s present.

Will the unofficial Village Detective Agency solve the mystery before the killer strikes again? In sleepy Inkbury, as they soon discover, living one’s best midlife can be murder.

MY THOUGHTS: Quirky characters, a small English village, a suspicious death - and we have Fiona Walker's entry into the cosy-mystery genre. Overall, it's not too bad, a bit OTT in places but still an enjoyable, humorous read.

There is a group of characters who are somewhat larger than life - Juno, her mother Judy, and Judy's boyfriend Dennis. Their constant use of cringeworthy pet names - Pusscat, Boppa and Doobee - grated on the nerves after a while. I liked Phoebe much better, although even she was an acquired taste.

The third member of the Village detectives after Phoebe and Juno, is Mils, the local pub landlord and bikie, who likes nothing better than pretending to be a corpse for Phoebe's entertainment.

The plot is quite slow moving and complex with multiple threads: the death of Si; Juno's suspicion that Dennis is a serial killer and that her mother will be next; the moving of Judy into a retirement complex along with the associated decluttering of her possessions; Phoebe's novel; and Phoebe's relationship with her husband. There's also a burglary at the local antique store, possible art fraud, Juno's impending grandmotherhood, and a dozen other little threads woven in.

Sometimes I found it quite overwhelming, and the main thread of Silas's death seemed to get lost in everything else that was going on. The police play a very minor role, in fact are hardly seen at all, and the mishandling of evidence that the Village Detectives found left me wincing!

If you like slap-dash comedy, then The Art of Murder is bound to appeal. Although I did enjoy this more than not, I do appreciate quite a bit more subtlety than is to be found here.

⭐⭐⭐

#TheArtofMurder #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: Fiona Walker is the author of eighteen novels, from tales of flat-shares and clubbing in nineties London to today’s romping, rural romances set amid shires, spires and stiles. In a career spanning over two decades, she’s grown up alongside her readers, never losing her wickedly well-observed take on life, lust and the British in love. The Art of Murder is her first foray into the murder-mystery genre.

Fiona lives in Warwickshire, sharing a slice of Shakespeare Country with her partner Sam, their two daughters and a menagerie of animals.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Boldwood Books via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of The Art of Murder by Fiona Walker for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

I was so very excited for this book but I had to give up at the 20% mark. I just wasn't feeling it.

Thank you for the chance to read it early.

Fiona Walker's The Art of Murder is a clever, witty, and enjoyable to read! Fast paced and kept me thinking! :-)

I have read and loved several of Fiona's books to date. There are still a few more of her books to read before I have read everything that she has written. Fiona's most recent release is called 'The Art Of Murder' and it is the first in a brand new cozy mystery series. I read the synopsis of 'The Art Of Murder' and it certainly sound like the sort of book I would enjoy. So without further ado, I grabbed my Kindle, grabbed a cup of tea and settled down for what proved to be an interesting afternoon of reading. I really enjoyed reading 'The Art Of Murder' but more about that in a bit.

I have to be honest and say that it took me a little while to get into 'The Art Of The Murder'. Part of the problem was that I was tired and finding it hard to concentrate when I started reading the book. Another problem I had was the fact that it took me a little while to gel with any of the characters. After a little while and as I got to know the characters a bit better, I found myself getting 'into' the story more and from then on found it rather difficult to put the book down for any length of time. I had my own theories as to what was going to happen and so I had to keep reading to see if I was on the right track or if I had wandered off in the opposite direction. The more of the book that I read, the more I wanted to read and the quicker the pages seemed to turn. I was so wrapped up in the story that I lost all track of time and just how quickly I was getting through the book. All too quickly I reached the end of 'The Art Of Murder'. I found 'The Art Of Murder' to be a gripping read which certainly kept me guessing and kept me on the edge of my seat.

'The Art Of Murder' is well written. Fiona certainly knows how to grab the reader's attention and draw them into what proves to be one heck of a story and then some. For me, the story hit the ground running and maintained a fairly steady pace throughout. Fiona clearly cares about her characters and this shines through in the way in which she describes them. She makes her characters seem just as real as you and I. I love the way in which Fiona makes the reader feel as though they are part of the story and at the heart of the action. Reading 'The Art Of Murder' felt like being on an unpredictable rollercoaster ride with several twists and turns along the way.

In short, I did enjoy reading 'The Art Of Murder' and I would recommend it to other readers. I look forward to reading much more of Fiona's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 4* out of 5*.

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'The Art Of Murder' by Fiona Walker.

An absolutely fantastic introduction to what promises to be an absolutely fantastic and addictive series!!!

I really enjoyed this fun, charming, emotive, crime packed page turning cosy murder mystery!!!! This book has been set in the stunning location of Inkbury, which Fiona ensured came to life in front of my eyes. She has created a fantastic setting for a crime series and portrayed life in a small village absolutely perfectly!! Fiona's amazing and evocative writing skills really has brought everything to life all throughout this fantastic book and I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment. The storyline is ram packed with crime, humour, friendship, drama and absolutely everything you could ask for in an absolutely fantastic page turner!!! There was no way I could finish just one chapter as even though I kept telling myself I would and then go to bed each chapter ended in a way where I just HAD to know what happened next and before I knew it I had devoured the whole book in one sitting in a few hours!!! The storyline was realistic which I always prefer as it makes it more enjoyable to read when you can see that it is something that could happen. It was a very compelling read and I would never have guessed who did what. An absolutely fantastic read filled with suspense, mystery, twists and much more. I must say I had tears streaming down my face laughing at some points which is always nice when it comes to any crime books as it lightens the mood and gives it a nice mix! This is one of those fantastic books that you could get completely lost in whether you are curled up on the sofa with a hot chocolate or laying on the beach with a cocktail. It really is a fun easy to read book filled with laugh out loud moments and you will get completely lost in the pages. If you have never read any books by this brilliant author then pick up your copy today!! Well done Catherine on a fantastic page turner and a great start to what is guaranteed to be an addictive new series!!!

Clear your schedules and pick up this fantastic and page turning book in this absolutely promising series!!!

I loved meeting all the characters who are a delightful mix of personalities with intriguing backgrounds and each one was very compelling. They very quickly became like friends to me and I adored watching their interactions throughout! Fiona's evocative writing skills really have brought each of these characters to life throughout this book and I am looking forward to continuing my new found friendship with them all! A great group of realistic, strong and unique characters that I have loved getting to know in this amazing book and that I cannot wait to meet again and again!!!

Congratulations Fiona on an absolutely addictive and unputdownable cosy crime book, an absolutely brilliant start to what promises to be a fantastic cosy crime book series.

Overall an intriguing, charming and laugh out loud start to a promising new series!

#TheArtOfMurder #TheVillageDetectives #FionaWalker #BoldwoodBooks #Boldwood #BoldwoodBloggers #theboldbookclub #BookAndTonic #RachelsRandomResources #rararesources
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I think that most of cozy mystery starts with the introduction of the characters and the setting. This can make the novel a bit slower and you get to know new characters.
This novel starts introducing us to Phoebe and Juno: both are woman who are facing changes in their life and career. Phoebe is writing mysteries and thriller; Juno is trying to understand.
We also get to know the setting and I think that the author did an excellent job in explaining how the average person will never be able to buy a house in a romantic English village.
A slow burning start, a bit melancholic and with some moments that are full of promises.
Something happens and our ladies starts investigating.
It’s not always easy to write a good cozy even if you are a seasoned writer like Fiona Walker. She succeeded and delivers an entertaining and solid mystery that surprised me and kept me guessing.
I can’t wait to read another story in this series and I liked both the ladies and the storytelling.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the Boldwood Books and Rachel’s Random Resources for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Welcome indeed to sleepy Inkbury a quaint, charming, idyllic English village - picture-perfect and full of all the necessary elements to create an artful, and entertaining murder mystery.

Former stand-up comic Juno Mulligan has returned home with her tail between her legs, to seek a re-start on life and to keep a suspicious eye on her mother - or rather her mother's new beau. While her mother may be smitten and somewhat swept off her feet - Juno and best friend Phoebe question his motives, not least because he is a widow three times over!

Alongside this, her friend Phoebe is writing a murder mystery of her own in a desperate attempt to avoid family bankruptcy, and a local art dealer is found dead in the village river.

Within a quintessential English village - and to a backdrop of many an artistic comment, the unofficial village detectives set about trying to find the murderer before they strike again - with a whole host of red herrings and dead ends along the way.

This book is perfect for fans of cosy crime and The Art of Murder is hopefully the first in series. My thanks to Rachel's Random Resources, the author and Netgalley for an ARC in return for an honest review as part of the blog tour.

The Art of Murder by Fiona Walker is an outstanding cozy mystery based in the idyllic village of Inkbury, a beautiful location famous for its glittering river, unspoilt and clear. That is however, until the local art-dealer is found bobbing about on the surface, very much un-alived

I utterly adore the protagonist Juno Mulligan. She left my eyes streaming and my sides aching and the relationship between her and her bestie Phoebe Fredericks is an absolute blast. They decide to get their heads together to investigate the fiancee of Juno's mother who they suspect has nefarious plans up his sleeve, but all is upended when the body is found in the river. Two fantastic protagonists, one body and potentially two villains? What will our intrepid heroines discover?

A briliant cozy that had the perfect balance of mystery and comedy, loved it!

Thank you to Boldwood Books and the author Fiona Walker for this delightful ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

Hartridge Court and its estate grounds is home to the once high flying film producer Felix and his wife, former journalist turned crime writer Phoebe Fredericks. Juno Mulligan, once a not terribly successful stand-up comic friend of her sister-in-law, has been in touch to say she’s looking for a home in the village of Inkbury now her mother has sold up and is moving into a retirement home. She’s just landed back from the US and has a problem she wants to talk through – she believes the three times widowed boyfriend of her elderly mother Judy is a serial wife-killer!! Soon Dennis De Lacy is introduced in all his awful sliminess as Judy prepares to announce their engagement. However, before the mismatched pair of middle-aged ladies can even finish a tour of the village together, the body of flashy art dealer Si Locke is pulled from the river. Pheobe agrees with the police that it was a tragic drunken accident but Juno immediately thinks of murder and insists on investigating. With some likely suspects on hand, how will the antisocial author and the unfunny comedienne fare in their quest to become detectives?
This cosy mystery is full of dreadful characters I’d have quite happily seen slain, if only to shut them up and stop them using cringey pet names such as Pusscat and Doobee. The two main sleuths are not immediately loveable and come with obviously complex back stories which I would have liked to have been better explained rather than the little confusing hints about them but they do get easier to understand as the story progresses. I did love pub joint-landlord Mil and his humorous attempts to pretend to be a corpse at every opportunity in an attempt to produce ideas for Phoebe’s stories. I did also like the dark way in which the rather dry Phoebe envisaged murder scenes for her work wherever she went. The story itself is quite slow moving and contains many references to people and songs from the 80s and 90s which may be lost on younger readers (there were some I didn’t even recognise and suspect were fictitious). The plot is suitably twisty (and quite confusing!) in places with an ending I didn’t see coming (always a good result although I’m not sure there were enough clues for the reader to solve it first), and with plenty of little threads left unresolved, there’s lots of scope for more stories and character progression to come. A promising start to a new series. 3.5*

Thank you Netgalley for sending me this book!
This is the reason why I love cozy crime books! It was, as the name says, a very cozy read.
A full review will come later

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book. This is the first book in The Village Detective series, set in the fictional village of Inkbury. It’s easy to visualise the characters and their antics. The characters were great, I got really invested in them and the story line was gripping. I look forward to reading more of this series and seeing what they become embroiled in next.

Inkbury is quaint, idyllic almost till you look beyond and see the usual human elements which are hidden at most times. Perfect setting for a cozy mystery.

Juno returns home, hoping for a new start in life. Larger than life and eternally optimistic that something better and importantly someone more interesting will turn up, she is taken aback at developments amongst friends and family. Phoebe is striving to write a best seller - a murder mystery to save her family from bankruptcy, her mother has found a flamboyant lover and to Juno’s suspicious mind, hell bent on doing away with her mother (three previous wives have died in sudden circumstances) and the sudden death by drowning in a shallow patch of the river of her friend Si, sends Juno into full detective mode drawing in her friend Phoebe and the local publican.

Suspicions fall on several (all wrong) people and our detectives are set on finding out who murdered Si before he strikes again. Between the stand up comedian Juno, the ‘cancelled’ and financially strained Phoebe and Mal the publican trying to keep his pub from going under the story is cheeky and full of disarming humour.

Juno Mulligan has gone from making people laugh to having live hand her more than a few situations that could put less people into such severe depression. They couldn’t even cope. However, Juno returned home to England to take care of her beloved mother and get back to herself. When our mother becomes engaged, wonder whether her mother is engaged to a serial killer connecting with old friends and following the clues, Juno hopes her mother won’t be another loss she has to suffer.

While this is the first in a new British cozy series by Fiona Walker, it’s not the first time we’ve seen Phoebe Fredericks. So those of you who are thinking she sounds familiar, you’re not losing it! This is going to be a great British crazy series that I am going to be following and reading for a long as Fiona Walker is writing them!

A cozy mystery, this one takes place in a small English village. Juno, a widow from the US, returns to her hometown to be closer to her aging mother, and along with her friend Phoebe, discovers a dead man. This novel contains the usual cast of quirky, original characters, and concludes with a (to me) surprise perpetrator.

I have read so many of Fiona Walker's other books and loved them, but this is the first mystery written by her and I was a bit underwhelmed☹ While the book contained all the prerequisites needed for a cozy mystery, it also had a slow reading flow to it and took too long to get through, unlike her other novels which I just devoured. It wasn't bad, it just didn't work completely for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I'm reviewing this via NetGalley, as part of a tour with Rachel's Random Resources.

This is the first book in The Village Detective series. I was hoping for a humorous cosy village mystery, as that tends to be one of my favourite flavours of mystery, if you like. This book was exactly what I hoped for.

It's set in the fictional village of Inkbury, and I loved how the author worked with the cosy village setting and brought it to life with beautiful imagery. I also really liked the protagonists, Phoebe and Juno. I found them very funny and relatable. In general, the story itself was humorous and entertaining, and I found myself smiling as I was reading. At times I felt the author had some very fun, quirky ways of describing the characters, to bring them to life for the reader. There were some pop culture references scattered throughout the book that I appreciated too. This book cheered me up, and I look forward to reading more from the series.

Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books, Rachel's Random Resources, and to the author, for the opportunity to read and review this.

I was delighted to read this book, as I still have my original copy of Kiss Chase, the first book featuring Phoebe Fredericks, from over 30 years ago. It has been reread so many times that it is mostly held together by sellotape at this point! I also like Juno, from her first story, ‘Snap Happy’, but it was always Phoebe I most related to. Reading this new book, feels like catching up with an old friend. It’s every bit as funny as ‘Kiss Chase’ and the engrossing murder mystery plot kind of reminds me of a cross between the Agatha Raisin tv series and Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books, both of which I love. This is the perfect, lighthearted Summer read for anyone looking for some fun escapism.

This is a very promising and entertaining start to a new cosy mystery series! And I really love that the main characters are older ’empty-nesters’ still living life to its utmost in as many ways as possible – it’s not a demographic we see as often as I would like!

Secretive Phoebe, vivacious Juno, and the prank-happy Mil make a great team and add a welcome dose of humour to the village murder investigations. And there’s plenty to investigate in addition to the recent death, from Juno’s mum’s suspiciously multi-widowed new boyfriend, to art theft break-ins and the plot hangs together really nicely – neither too simple nor too over-complicated.

My only small quibbles with the story were my disappointment that the ‘final word’ didn’t end up playing into the big reveal and final resolution of the mystery, and that I got a little bit lost amid the real and fake paintings and struggled to remember who owned what and what it was worth. But these really were minor aspects of the whole and didn’t impact my enjoyment of the book.

The pace of the plot is slow, but the build-up of character development and backstory is worth it and I never felt like it was dragging as I waited to see what dramatics Juno would indulge in next or whether Phoebe would let slip any more clues about her past. And how Mil would ‘die’, of course – that particular running gag really made me giggle!

I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more from The Village Detectives ‘Merde/Murder’ club in future and look forward to more secrets, silliness and general shenanigans from Inkbury’s most wildly imaginative residents.