The bluebell killer by Frances Lloyd.
A mutilated body was certainly not what the quiet, affluent town of Kings Richington expected to wake up to on a Sunday morning…

Crime, especially brutal murder, was not welcome or expected amongst such high-ranking residents as high court judges and MPs.
DI Jack Dawes is assigned the case.
Working alongside him are Detective Sergeant Malone, or “Bugsy” to his colleagues, and Detective Constable Pinkney, a fast-track graduate eager to get started in the fast-paced world of the police force.
A very good read. Liked the story. 4*.

This was an enjoyable read, very funny and well written for the most of it. Even though, there is, of course I would add, a detective that eats nothing but greasy buns as his tie will tell. I was also taken in by the speed of this book, nothing too slow or too fast.

However, halfway through the book I already figured out who the blue bell killer was, even though I couldn't quite make out the motive.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

This book was an odd one to me and I could figure out why however some characters made me laugh (Corrie), the story did grip me with perfect little town hiding the rotten underbelly BUT I found myself skipping the odd page here and there; which is never a good sign! I soon realised the problem I had with this book was that I had seen this type of story before- Midsommer Murders- the small community where a secret is lurking behind every perfect rose bush! High unrealistic but once I'd gotten over that I did find it enjoyable and easy to read! Therefore this book suits those looking for an easy almost cosy mystery set in a closed community- a perfect beach read actually!

I really enjoyed this book, it was well written and the story line was interesting and kept my attention all the way through to the end of the book. A solid 5 out of 5.

Agatha Christie meets Midsomer Murder, pleasant enough, but perhaps a bit unrealistic...a catering company run by one person,a detective who seems to be eating fatty fast-food half of the time, the rich and famous brainless housewife....
Still,it is a good read if you like "a village" murder story...

A mutilated body was certainly not what the quiet, affluent town of Kings Richington expected to wake up to on a Sunday morning…

Crime, especially brutal murder, was not welcome or expected amongst such high-ranking residents as high court judges and MPs.

DI Jack Dawes is assigned the case.

Working alongside him are Detective Sergeant Malone, or “Bugsy” to his colleagues, and Detective Constable Pinkney, a fast-track graduate eager to get started in the fast-paced world of the police force.

He soon finds out paperwork makes up a larger part of the job than high-speed car chases, especially when their headless corpse provides the threesome with no leads.

Pressure from above to tread carefully around the privileged residents of Kings Richington makes the job harder and frustrating.

How can Jack infiltrate their closed-off circles?

The answer comes from his wife Corrie, who paves the way into the lesser-seen world of Kings Richington through her catering service, Coriander’s Cuisine, caterer to their dinner parties, as well as the eternally chic Madame Gloria De Vere’s Académie de Danse.

Yet the more Jack and his team find out about the notoriously private residents, the murkier the investigation becomes.

Behind the glamour lies a Kings Richington rarely seen, all connected mysteriously to the intriguing Académie de Danse.

As the corpses pile up and blackmail begins, Jack is determined to discover the truth about these people and their real origins.

But will he discover it in time?

An easy read but it struggled to hold me - very middle of the road.

This book is an easy read, reminding me of Midsomer murders. Some good characters and quite amusing at times. A holiday read and more fun than a serious read. Many thanks to Net Galley for my copy. I reviewed on Goodreads and Amazon.

The Bluebell Killer had more intricate of a case than I had originally thought. There was a few times while reading I just wanted to skip ahead to find the ending, but it was definitely a fun read.
Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of this novel.