A Tranquil Place…?
The third in the Miss Dimont series of mysteries, set late 1950’s Devon. Things were just becoming dull and boring for Judy Dimont and she was craving excitement, but still, she didn’t expect a shooting in this tranquil corner of the country. But, who’s the victim and what on earth can the motive be? As usual in this series a steady balance is drawn between cosy and lighthearted and underlying series issues. The underlying issues are more disturbing here than in others.

Having read the first two, i thought i would like this latest offering but it was a bit lack lustre and has become a pastiche of a pastiche with the author seemingly going through the motion. By all means it's not terrible and i'd recommend it if you had nothing to do on a rainy day with nothing else to read but there are better cozy crimes out there.

When a woman’s lifeless body is found in a chalet at the local holiday park in Temple Regis, the editor of the Riviera Express sends his chief reporter Judy Dimont to cover the story. She arrives to find that the woman was murdered, cause of death a single gunshot to the chest. As Judy starts to investigate, she’s drawn into a story that houses lies, deceit and revenge and a heartbreaking conclusion.

This book is a cozy mystery that is easy to read. The setting is very lovely, the writer’s description of Temple Regis made me want to pack my suitcase and go there immediately.

Unfortunately, I found that there were too many characters in the book and I struggled to remember who they were and how they related to the story. I also felt that it was too twee and fluffy and the ending was somewhat contrived. That said, it was an entertaining read.

Many thanks to Netgalley and HQ for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Very, very slow to get into. Didn’t really excite me even through to the end. Sorry, but not my kind of book.

Having read the first two books in this series, I was really looking forward to reading this one. Sadly, I was disappointed. Maybe it was me, but I just couldn't get into it. I thought the plot drifted, and the book lacked the cosy feel of the earlier novels.

I have been a fan of TP Fielden since the moment I first picked up a copy of ‘The Riviera Express’, which is the first book in the series featuring Miss Judy Dimont, who is a reporter for the local paper and she is also an amateur sleuth. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy of the latest book in the series ‘A Quarter Past Dead’ and the wait is finally over. I absolutely loved this latest instalment but more about that in a bit.
I absolutely love the character of Miss Judy Dimont. She’s sassy, feisty, determined, stubborn, nosy, isn’t afraid to say exactly what she thinks and she is most certainly quirky. Miss Dimont sounds like she would be a real hoot on a night out. What’s not to love about her? Judy is aided and abetted in her adventures by her trusty Herbert. Now you might think that Herbert is a man but no, Herbert is a moped! Miss Dimont has a fair few sleuthing successes under her belt. If Miss Dimont is on your trail, then you should be afraid, very afraid.
This has to be one of the most fun books that I have read so far this year. I don’t mean that negatively- far from it. ‘A Quarter Past Dead’ reminds me of the golden era of crime writing and to me that’s the era of Agatha Christie. The author’s writing style is such that you are drawn into the story from the first word and before you know it bam you are addicted to reading the story and you find it extremely difficult to put the book down. That’s what happened to me anyway. I was hooked on the book from the start and I think that this was in part due to the fact that meeting Miss Judy Dimont again was like reuniting with old friends. The author writes so realistically and convincingly that I really did feel as though I was Miss Dimont’s partner in investigating the crime she comes up against. I even found that I was interacting with the book. I know ‘A Quarter Past Dead’ is fiction but if I am swept away by the writing, the characters and the storylines then I tend to ‘live’ the story and I have been known to shout out the odd remark, the odd question and the odd rude word because of something I have read. Reading ‘A Quarter Past Dead’ soon became an addiction and I was an addict in constant need of my next fix. The book wasn’t exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it came everywhere with me and I sulked if I had to put the book down for any reason. I had mixed feelings about finishing this book. Don’t get me wrong I was pleased to finish the book because at least I knew how the story ended but I was enjoying everything about the book so much that I just wanted it to continue.
In short I really loved reading ‘A Quarter Past Dead’ and I would definitely recommend it, this author and this series to other readers and particularly to those people who enjoy historical/ nostalgic crime stories. I can’t wait to read what TP Fielden comes up with next. Here’s hoping we don’t have too long to wait. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.