The Ashram Assassin was my first book by Andrew Cartmel but it won’t be my last. I adored this cozy, slightly chaotic (in a good way) crime caper. There were moments I was laughing out loud and moments I was wondering what was going to happen next. The pop culture references were also fantastic, even if our protagonist being named after a character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer made me feel old!

Cartmel has created a brilliant protagonist in Cordelia, she’s funny, self-aware, smart and takes no nonsense. She is also rather relatable. That said all the characters in this book were perfect, even the killer! I loved that this one didn’t take itself seriously all the time and how self-aware it was, I have only taken the step into more cozy crime (if murder can be called cozy) and I have to say that The Paperback sleuth was a gem of a find.

If you enjoy a novel that isn’t too pretentious and wants to have fun while solving crimes, you’re going to love this. If you enjoy a more cozy vibe you’ll love this. If you like the occasional pop culture reference and a little bit of snark and sass you will love this. An instant high five for me.

Thank you so much to Titan Books and Netgalley for my copy to review. My review is left voluntarily and is honest.

The Paperback Sleuth is back!

Yes, Cordelia Stanmer, brother of the execrable Stinky, the Vinyl Detective's nemesis, is in print again. Not to mention, in deadly danger.

Of course Cordelia's much nicer than her brother (though I wouldn't let her into my library and turn my back) and three hundred pages spent in her company was just what I needed among the current gloom (and manky weather). In this story, she's managed to weasel her way back into the yoga ashram from which she was earlier banned for dealing weed - but only if she can track down a cache of rare books that were stolen from the Silverlight Yoga Centre. (No, Cordelia didn't nick them herself). There's a substantial amount of money on offer too, so she sets about the task eagerly - but soon the bodies begin to pile up, and close to home.

Like the Vinyl Detective stories, Cartmel gives us a great sense of place in this story as Cordelia ranges through Putney and Barnes dodging various perils and meeting up with a number of curious characters (there is a little crossover with the other series, notably in an episode that involves Agatha and Nevada). Apart from the detecting, there's plenty of book-hunting in charity shops, sales and also a focus on food with poor Cordelia constantly baulked in her quest for the fine product from the kitchen of Carrie Quinn, the Curry Queen.

Carmel also has a good eye for character, and from the yummy mummies who seem to represent the modern clientele of the ashram to a medley of more raffish characters who have hung on from its past. he's good at exposing the contradictions and pretensions of modern life (sorry, yes that sentence is my entry for Pseud's Corner, but at the same time, it's true) especially in this perplexing semidetached part of London where buying a shed in the 70s makes you a millionaire in the 20s. I don't think there';s meant to be any moral in all that, but at the same time, the complexity of life and the murkiness of motivation behind the most seemingly noble actions is laid bare.

In Ashram Assassin, at any rate, this complexity also masks the truth about the theft. Red herrings abound and the Sleuth needs all her wits about her, because the disappearance of the books is entwined with an unlikely history that is rooted in the ashram's past, and which threatens its future - as well as hers.

With sharp characterisation, witty dialogue and abundant surprises, Ashram Assassin is compulsively readable, perhaps (slightly) even more so than Death in Fine Condition, but, above all, simply fun.

Strongly recommended.