Alice has had a bit of a whirlwind of a year- after meeting her partner and unexpectedly falling pregnant. Both Alice and her partner Joe decide to move from their busy London life to a small quiet village called Pentonville in the Cotswold to start their life as a family of three, well four with Helen the dog.

As they are new and Alice is 8 months pregnant, they decide to sign up to antenatal classes where they would hopefully get to meet new people in the area, what Alice didn’t bargain for was a very eccentric childbirth coach, one of the mothers to be to go into labour and a murder to happen all in one evening. Who is the suspect? Could it be one of the expectant mothers or their partners?

Rather than getting ready to nest, Alice finds unlikely friendship in Hen, Ailsa and Poppy as they investigate the murder and lots of secrets are revealed along the way. Can the foursome solve the murder before the last three give birth?

This book was a really good read and much funnier than I had expected it to be. Would definitely recommend!

First I would like to say thanks to Netgalley for giving me early access to this book prior to release. All opinions on the book are my own.

This is the perfect new cosy mystery, if you want to lough out loud whilst reading. Our main character Alice, moves out the hustle and bustle of London for a quieter life with her partner Joe, only to get more action than she ever wished for when a murder is committed at her anti-natal class.

Alice's intrigue gets the better of her and her new found friends, who go out their way to ty and solve the case. But Alice and her trusty (slightly special) hound Helen get into all kinds of mischief along the way - lets not forget that Alice is 36 weeks pregnant.

Not going to lie, Alice comes across as a bit of a mess a lot of the time, for a lot of this book I kept wondering why her and Joe were having a baby as it felt like neither of them really understood what came with this responsibility. They also don’t really speak much to each other as Alice is out solving the town's murder so it is hard as a reader to get the family dynamic, other than being told they love each other its not really shown.

The murder mystery was pretty good, I did figure out where it is going but I didn’t solve the case till the very end, it was fun having the clues dropped throughout like little breadcrumbs. The comedy in this book is what kept me going - in some areas the pacing feels a little slow (which can be expected by it being a cosy mystery) and the roundup felt a little rushed. Like you literally don’t know who done it till 95% into the book.

But overall a good read and will most likely pic up the next one in the series.

Sorry, thought it was the second instalment in this series.
I already reviewed this one: This is the love child of a rom-com and a cozy mystery and I enjoyed it as the mix worked well.
Quirky characters, a mystery that kept me guessing and a lot of fun.
It's the first I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The blurb for this book intrigued me to request the ARC, which was kindly granted by NetGalley and the publisher.

What a fun read this was! The book was genuinely thrilling and funny throughout, Kat sets the scenes wonderfully and the characters are rich and true to life. I enjoyed the plot immensely, and look forward to reading the next instalment of this series.

I absolutely loved this book! The Expectant Detectives is a hilarious, entertaining and original detective novel full of heart warming characters. This has been one of my favourite books of the year and I really hope that the author continues writing book in the series!

I can’t tell you when the last time was that I’ve laughed so much through a book, especially one that includes a murder or two!
Whilst, I know giving birth it’s not a laughing matter, the descriptions of Hen giving birth at the prenatal class concluding with the sentence “Nativity 2: the reckoning.” had me laughing absolutely hysterically.

The main characters in “The Expectant Detectives" are Alice, her partner Joe, and a group of soon-to-be moms Alice and Poppy who become amateur detectives. Alice and Joe move to the village of Penton to embrace country life and prepare for the birth of their first child. However, their lives take an unexpected turn when Mr Oliver turns up dead and they find themselves “suspects” in a murder investigation.

Alongside her pregnant friends, Alice sets out to solve the mystery and clear their names, with the help of her troublesome but stunning dog, Helen who is always uninvited to the detectives meet ups.

An absolutely brilliant and hilarious read!! Probably one of best cosy murder mysteries I’ve ever read, I’m really looking forward to Dead Tired, the second instalment that’s due out later this year

As a mother of two I empathised with the main character in her pursuit of Mum friends, though I was thankful not to have had the added gauntlet of navigating a murder during an antenatal class. I really enjoyed this book as we follow our main character navigating a new location, new friends and potential murder suspects in the not so sleepy Cotswolds. As I also grew up near Reading - probably in a similar time frame - I enjoyed the references to Forbury gardens and other areas (though Reading does have a Starbucks or two now so it's elevated itself a little bit!)

I found the book well written, plotted and paced with an excellent dose of humour. I found all the other expectant mothers were just as fleshed out in their characters even if I didnt know them as in depth. I will absolutely be picking up the next book in the series.