Murder at the Mill is the first in a new series to feature portrait painter and amateur sleuth Iris Grey, and if the rest of the books are as good as this I'll definitely be looking out for them!

The story starts on Christmas Day when a body is found, but we don't know who it is at first, the identity is kept a secret. Next, we go back to two months earlier as the various characters are introduced and we get to know them, who they are, what they are and why they're at the Wetherby's exclusive Christmas Eve party.

Iris is having marital problems and she's glad to get away to the seclusion of Mill Cottage, where she starts painting the charismatic Dom Wetherby.

There are so many secrets bubbling beneath the Wetherby family's glamorous surface, there are resentments and jealousies.

Iris thinks the local police are useless and is determined to find the killer, especially as they arrest the wrong suspects, and she wants to find justice for the victim.

I liked Iris, she's kind and likes wearing bright, shiny colourful clothes!

There are surprises and twists, with richly drawn characters, in a beautiful setting, a slow moving but compelling story, I enjoyed it immensely.

Iris Grey, an artist on the run from a crumbling relationship, finds refuge in a cottage owned by the Wetherby family in a small Hampshire village. However, living on the Wetherby's estate comes with problems, not least the body that's fished out of the river on Christmas Day... The suspects are plentiful and the police don't have a clue, so Iris is left to negotiate the tricky landscape of the family's secrets and lies.

This is quite a cosy crime novel - there's nothing here that will keep you on the edge of your seat or cause nightmares. It's well written and engaging, a light Christmas read that will entertain but won't stay with you once the last page is turned.

A warming village cosy - the perfect read on a rainy day.

Thanks Orion Publishing Group and netgalley for this ARC.

Takes a little while to get into but well worth it.

A good festive mystery book contains scandalously front and back of the people.

Iris Gray escaped to the Mill cottage in Hampshire village as she has been facing the collapse of her marriage. As she was asked to draw a portrait for Dominic Weatherby, who is a famous cerebrated crime writer, she starts to get to know the family of Weatherby. The day after she met people around their family at the Xmas party at Weatherby, Dom was found dead, dawned in the water as suicide. His step daughter, Jenna believes that his second son, Billy killed him, Iris was asked to sneak Billy to find him whereabouts on that day. As she tries to know what really happened, she begins to find out the scandals of the family and the truth.

The story is slow pace and a bit expectable. However I didn't get bored, many scandalous things are happening in the book and I was attached to find out all the secrets and lies. Sometimes people can't be deceived how they really are.

I really like Iris. She is well described, brave and attractive character. I enjoyed her successful career and romance.

I gave 3.5 stars.

Thank you Orion Publishing Group Trapeze via NetGalley for an advance reading copy of this book.

Iris Grey is a portrait painter, her marriage has fallen apart so she has taken herself off to live at Mill Cottage on the edge of the Wetherby Estate in Hampshire.

She is commissioned to paint the portrait of Dom Wetherby, a charismatic crime writer whose life comes to an abrupt end before she can complete the portrait. Iris is sure his death was not self inflicted and when it is ruled he was murdered, with the help from a member of his family, she decides to investigate further.

There are several twists regarding who the murderer is, while in the background another part of the story is emerging. Iris is a interesting character, she is slightly eccentric with an inquisitive nature, although asked to keep her nose out of the investigation she carries on regardless.

A good book which will keep you entertained on a cold winter’s night.

This is a great festive crime read that is in the style of the golden era of classic crime. I understand it is the first in the Iris Grey series and I really enjoyed reading it. Iris Grey's marriage to Ian Mcbride is in the process of breaking down after numerous attempts to have a child. So it is a relief for Iris to escape to her rented cottage at Hazelford village in Hampshire. Iris is a portrait painter, and has been commissioned by Ariadne Wetherby to paint her famous crime novelist husband, Dominic. The Wetherbys live next door at the Mill, projecting the picture of the perfect family. Dominic comes across as a larger than life character, good looking, used to getting his own way, a habitual flirt, entertaining and full of bonhomie. Ariadne is a sculptor, the ideal mother, a forgiving wife, a wonderful cook and homemaker, who loves and adores Dominic. As Christmas approaches, the Wetherbys hold their annual Chrismas Eve party to which the entire village, along with celebrities and the media are invited.

Iris cannot help but be curious about the Wetherbys. She meets the rest of the family and other characters that are connected to the family at the party. However, she is disturbed by the screams of Lorcan, the teenage son, as he discovers the drowned body of his father, Dominic. At first, the death is perceived as suicide, only for it later to be revealed as murder. To distract herself from her personal misery, Iris is persuaded by Jenna to delve deeper. A myriad of suspects emerge, from sinister Russians to whom Dominic owed large gambling debts, to scorned ex-mistresses like Rachel, who was dismissed as a producer on the TV crime series. There are resentful locals, and Ariadne seems to be just a little too perfect to be true, and her son, Marcus, is rushing around to prop up the perception of them as the ideal family. Graham Feeny, a Scottish barrister and family friend takes a shine to Iris who is attracted to him, finding him a balm to her wounded spirits as her marriage heads for divorce. DI Roger Cant finds Iris a pest, and refuses to take her ideas seriously. As Iris visits Oxford to track down the killer, she comes across vital information that helps her piece together the mystery of Dominic's murder.

The author has penned a wonderfully plotted and entertaining crime story that easily draws in the reader. It is full of numerous red herrings, and a great central character in the vulnerable and observant Iris, a woman undergoing a personal crisis as her world falls apart with the breakdown of her long marriage to Ian. As readers, we see her take steps towards a new, more independent identity as she immerses herself wholeheartedly to find out who killed Dominic and the secrets, lies, corruption, abuse and more that lie beneath the facade of the Wetherby family emerge. Alongside this, her career flourishes with the notoriety attached to painting the murdered celebrity novelist. I would recommend this intricate crime mystery as a terrific read for this time of year and I cannot wait to read the next in the series. Many thanks to Orion for an ARC.

Iris Grey is staying at Mill Cottage, in Hazelford, a Hampshire Village. Not only is she escaping from her failing marriage but she has also been commissioned to paint Dom Wetherby's portrait.

The Mill is the house where Dom Wetherby lives, a famous crime writer whose books have sold millions and have been made into television programmes. But now it is time for him to retire his most famous detective and his writing. The portrait is one of the gifts that his wife, Ariadne gives him.

Iris is drawn into the Wetherby family as she starts to paint Dom. She starts to see the real man and not the facade as she spends time with him.

Invited to their Christmas Eve party, Iris watches as Dom and Ariadne greet welcome and unexpected guests. There is history at this party, there is hate at this party and there is a story to tell.

When a body is found on Christmas Day floating in a nearby stream, it seems that the party may have been the catalyst for what followed.

Iris, intrigued by what has happened and encouraged by a Wetherby family member she starts to ask some questions and hopes to get to the truth of the matter.

This is a rather light cosy murder mystery. For me it took too long in setting the scene before predictably you got to the dead body. I found it meander for far too long once the body had been found and it had a slightly unbelievable element to it in the process of detection and the denouement. The clues were there, the red herrings obvious and whilst I worked it out fairly early on, it did nothing to make me doubt my theory.

As someone who has read many Agatha Christie who can pull a punchy story in around 200 pages, this book is in fact 200 pages too long. It is a pleasant diversion and was the perfect book for an easy read after a hard day.