I usually don’t read murderer mysteries but this one drew me in and I really love audiobooks so I gave it a go and I thought it was really good. I thought that the characters were well flushed out the story didn’t feel rushed and everything just fell into place and there was so many twists and terms that I really enjoyed and I plan to read more from this author going forward.

I really enjoyed this one as it was really in keeping with the popular style that’s doing the rounds at the minute of cosy mysteries. I sometimes find this style a little forgettable but this one has stayed with me and I have such fond memories of listening!

Bank holiday weekends are for coffee shops, tea and cake and a good book. It was such a treat to have a relatively chilled bank holiday weekend and enjoy some quality reading time.

I’m really enjoying Cosy murder mysteries at the moment and after watching The Mousetrap at the theatre last week I was totally ready to get my inner detective on again with J M Halls A Spoonful Of Murder.

I lost the audiobook as I changed devices, I will be more vigilant and carefull in future. The premise and everything was definitely very interesting, I'll be ordering the book.

I wanted to enjoy this so much more than I actually did. I really struggled to get into the audiobook, hence why I reviewed it so late as I ended up buying it on my kindle. I enjoyed it more reading it! I really struggled with the number of characters but once I got my head around it I enjoyed it

I tried a few times to start this one, I found myself zoning out (as this was an audiobook) and found the story just did not keep my attention. I have loved other cosy crime books in the past and was excited to give this one a try but unfortunately this one just didn’t measure up.

A cosy murder mystery that I liked but didn’t love, the pace of the story was slow and didn’t grip my attention.
The characters are likeable and the premise is good, but I couldn’t quite get into it.

Liz, Pat and Thelma are retired teachers from St Barnabus's school and often meet for coffee and a good natter on Thursdays at Thirsk Garden Centre cafe (a real place!). One day they bump into another former colleague, Topsy, who is obviously suffering from dementia. Topsy has an alarming tale to tell about people visiting her house and financial misdemeanors. When Topsy dies in what appears to be an accident the friends think there is more to it and begin to investigate.

I really enjoyed this debut novel though found the pacing to be a little too slow at times. There are a few sub plots and lots of characters and occasionally I became confused (a little like Topsy!). The author dealt with the subject of dementia very well. I really enjoyed hanging out with Liz, Pat and Thema and hope to meet them again in the next in the series.

The book is brilliantly narrated by the wonderful Julie Hesmondhalgh and I really enjoyed the interview beween Julie and the author at the end of the book.

Read it! A beautiful book that will get you! Don't put it down as it will entertain from start to finish

First of all, I really enjoyed the narrator and think they did an excellent job! Something about their voice added to the cosiness for me. This definitely fits well into the 'cosy mystery' category and will be a breeze to recommend to Osman fans as well as fans of The Marlow Murder Club! I also thought it had an interesting premise and was curious to see what would happen next etc. I did enjoy the characters and their determination, and there was a decent amount of humour within it to offset the more serious issues that are touched upon within the narrative.

However, this one did end up being not entirely my cup of tea as it took quite a while to get going and I often found my attention wandering.

I really thought I was going to love this book as I adore cosy crime/mystery books and I’m a huge fan of Richard Osman and his Thursday Murder Club series but I just couldn’t get to grips with the style of this book I found it really hard to read and found it was all muddled ( well to me it was anyway).

Saying that it’s a typical whodunnit with smatterings of humour and situations and characters that you can relate to and it’s set in Yorkshire my home county so that’s a bonus. You might enjoy it a lot more than I did if you like a cosy crime book.

Cosy mystery crime, a genre I generally really enjoy reading, a nice escape! So I really wanted to like this more than I did... The story centres around three retired school teachers Pat, Thelma and Liz who meet up weekly at the local garden centre coffee shop. One afternoon they bump into another former colleague, Topsy, who has dementia. It turns out Topsy has been the victim of fraud and when she is found dead ('mixed up her medication') the ladies take it upon themselves to investigate believing there to be more than meets the eye in the death of their friend.

Overall too descriptive (yet not on the characters as it was hard to tell them apart at times but maybe had I read instead of listened that might be better...), and a generally slow paced story that I was never completely engaged with. While the blurbs and reviews talk about this being 'for fans of Agatha Christie' it's not quite at that level and there's plenty of other good options in this genre I'd recommend over this one unfortunately.

The fact that this book was set in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, places I know, was enough to make me want to explore more. Overall it was well-written and the plot twists interesting however the pace seemed a little meandering and long-winded at times. Maybe that’s to be expected of a group of retired school teachers who meet every week at the garden centre. I also struggled a little remembering which character was who. We were introduced to everyone almost immediately and this may have been a little too much for me.

That said, it was a light hearted mystery and first novel and I would still check out further works by this author.

3.5
This is a cute little cosy mystery story that involves three friends who find themselves smack dab in the middle of a murder investigation.
Every Thursday, three retired teachers have their coffee o’clock time. These are weekly sessions at the Thirsk Garden Center Cafe. Here they chat, gossip, and just have girl time.
One week, however, they are catching up and eating a bit of cake when they run into an ex-colleague, Topsy. After a catch up they go their separate days. By the next Thursday’s get together, Topsy is dead.
The last thing the three women, Liz, Thelma, and Pat, imagined is that they would find themselves involved in a murder but they are absolutely positive there is more to Topsy’s death than what they are being told. Now, they are determined to prove it!
This was a good little story. It’s one that has entertaining characters, a good little murder mystery, and a great audio book if you like your books that way. The narrator brings the story to life, well all accept Topsy that is, and really adds to the all around experience. I recommend it, in either form, if you are a cozy mystery fan.

Unfortunately, this cosy mystery just didn’t grab, nor hold my attention and I was quite bored after only a few chapters. I did get a bit confused with all the different characters and where they fitted into the story and tbh, I didn’t quite understand who the thief actually was – probably because I wasn’t paying much attention. I listened to the audiobook and Ms Hesmondhalgh’s voice is quite distinctive and takes some getting used to.

This is a review of the audio version of A Spoonful of Murder by J.M. Hall narrated by Julie Hesmondhalgh. First of all I must say that I love the narration of this book! Julie really made it for me as she is perfect for this story. I found the book to be a slightly humorous but also sad, and really up to date telling of a story which we hear does happen to real people. A modern-day murder mystery with lovely believable characters.
I’m not sure that I think that the title or cover really do the book justice and would personally review those but safe to say I enjoyed this listen and would highly recommend to others.

I found this a little confusing at first with all the different characters introduced but when I got into it I enjoyed it. I liked the murder mystery storyline and it reminded me a lot of Thursday murder club. A good book but with a slightly obvious conclusion.

Maybe I'm not that big a fan of cozy murder mysteries like I thought, or maybe I tried to get into this when I'm not in the right frame of mind, but whenever I try to get into this, I always come away thinking "This story is trying too hard."

It doesn't feel effortless to read or audiobook like I did when I read/audiobook The Man Who Died Twice or The Windsor Knot.

So, simply not for me. I can see from other people's reviews that they had fun with this, and am thrilled for you all. But this didn't work for me, I'm afraid.

A perfect cosy crime read. Three would be detectives for the price of one. Loved the narrator who brought the story to life. Reminds me a little of the Richard Osman books.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to hear an ARC.

# A Spoonful of Murder

I thought this was a really interesting and definitely cosy community murder mystery. I loved the idea of the main characters trying to solve a murder while meeting up for their weekly cup of coffee at the local cafe. I thought the characters were well written, the dialogue felt realistic and the subplots were also really fun to explore in terms of interpersonal relationships and the added drama.

I haven’t read too much murder mystery, but I enjoyed this so much I will definitely be picking up some more books of the same genre! Thank you so much Avon Books for sending me a proof copy prior to publication.