Barbara’s Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Series: Exham On Sea Mysteries #7
Publication Date: 11/17/20
Period: Contemporary – Exham on Sea, UK
Number of Pages: 256

This is the second book I’ve read by this author and I enjoyed it as much as I did the first. The first book I read, Murder At the Lighthouse, was also the first book in the series and I was delighted to see how much the characters and relationships had grown between the first book and this one. The mystery is well-plotted and there are lots of red herrings dropped along the way – just to keep you guessing. It is a well-told tale set in a village filled with interesting characters. Oh! You might also want to buy some low-calorie snacks because all of the chocolate making and cake baking will surely add several pounds to your figure before you are finished reading.

There have been lots of developments in Libby Forest’s life since the first book and I will definitely go back and read the other books as I get a chance. Some of the notable developments between the first book and this one are:

• Frank, the baker (and Libby’s boss), is dancing a jig because he’s retiring. He’s sold the bakery and the new owner is expanding and moving to a new building.
• Mandy and Libby will be supplying the cakes and chocolates for the new café.
• Libby has finished her cookbook and has even written another one.
• Max and Libby are engaged and their wedding will be within two weeks
• Max and his son Joe are less estranged than they were thanks to Libby
• Max and Libby have a private detective business and have investigated a number of cases.
• Libby’s son, Robert, has married and is expecting Libby’s first grandchild
• Libby’s daughter, Ali, has left England and is living in South America.

Max and Libby are as excited as they can be about their upcoming wedding. It is only two weeks away and the planning is well in hand. But, of course, the best-laid plans …

Libby’s daughter, Ali, calls about coming home for the wedding – causing them to push the date back by a week – AND – secretive Max gets a call from his ex-wife, Stella. Without telling Libby about the call, Max goes to meet Stella to learn why she thinks she needs his help. You know things are only going to get worse when, after Stella leaves, Max discovers a dead body. OOPS!

Stella’s need for help stemmed from some anonymous email threats she had received and when local villagers began to receive threatening emails containing nursery rhymes, Max knew they all had to be related. But how? Stella isn’t from Exham, has never lived in Exham, and has no ties to the village whatsoever. Are Stella’s emails just a coincidence that happens at the same time as those in the village?

When a second body is discovered at the same place as the first, more questions arise. Why would that man be in exactly that same spot? Are the murders related to the email threats? How are the two bodies connected? Are they connected? Can Max and Libby solve the mystery before there are more bodies found? Can they protect themselves from the killer? OH! My! Goodness! You’ll just have to read the book to find out the answers to all of these delicious and tantalizing questions.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and I hope you will as well. I’ll admit that I had some questions about why a mature (50ish) woman like Libby would continue with the wedding plans when Max is still secretive – especially after her disaster of a first marriage. I’d have wanted to have a very serious talk about trust and honesty before I went that route – so I’m assuming that since Libby is a smart woman, they would have had that talk – just off-page. I am looking forward to the next book in the series, Murder at the Abbey,which will be releasing soon.

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7Barbara’s Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Series: Exham on Sea Mysteries #1
Publication Date: 9/23/15
Period: Contemporary Somerset, UK
Number of Pages: 186

I have been reading more and more cozy and historical mysteries of late, so I am always on the lookout for a new series to love. I believe I have found both an excellent author and series. I am really not a fan of those female sleuths who are just Nosey-Nellies. The ones that are in-you-face and expect anybody and everybody to answer their much too personal questions, while thumbing their noses at the inept police at the same time. I was so very happy to see this book didn’t follow that format. The writing is excellent, the mystery is well-plotted and excellently paced, and the characters are well-developed and very likable. I will definitely be reading more books in this series.

After the death of her misanthropic husband (who she does not mourn), Libby Forest decides to leave London and move to the small Somerset village of Exham On Sea. In Exham she can have a job, write her cookbook, open a patisserie, and all of those many other things she wasn’t allowed to do while her husband, Trevor was alive. She’s loving her small cottage, her wonderfully re-done cook’s kitchen, and the new friends she has made in the village. All is right with her world – until she takes her neighbor’s dog for a walk on the beach and discovers a body …

The victim is a former villager who had prospered in America. Nobody had seen her in over twenty years – why was she back now? Why did no one know she was here? When Detective Sergeant Joe Ramshore immediately decides it was an accident, Libby just can’t believe it. Something just isn’t right about all of it. The murder is the talk of the village and as Libby learns more about the woman who died, she wants to know even more. As she learns more, she’s convinced it was murder and begins to investigate even more. Then, there is a second death and again, Ramshore decides it was an accident. Given the circumstances, Libby is sure it wasn’t.

During the investigation, we meet a lovely cast of characters. There is the handsome, mysterious Max Ramshore – estranged father of Detective Sergeant Ramshore. There is Fuzzy, the irascible marmalade cat who delights in NOT showing Libby any affection. Bear is a huge, lovable, usually good-natured Carpathian Sheepdog you’ll want to adopt. Of course, there is Frank the baker (and Libby’s boss), and Mandy the teenage Goth waitress at the bakery, and many others in the town. They are a delightful bunch and you’ll enjoy meeting them all.

It was fun watching Libby unraveling the clues and solving a murder that had roots twenty years in the past. You can even feel a bit of sympathy for the perpetrator – at least for the first murder – and we are left to just assume that the same person committed both murders. I will definitely be reading other books in this series.

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