One of the trends I’ve seen a little of that I love is an older main character. Sarah is in her 60s and is widowed and making a fresh start by moving to a seaside cottage. It’s a beautiful setting for this cozy mystery. It really adds character to it. One of my favorite characters was Hamish, Sarah’s dog. Every cozy should have a pet front and center.

As an amateur sleuth Sarah brings her doctoring skills to the table, which was a new one for me. Sarah and her pal Daphne go off searching to find out who killed the pub owner. She’s in your face as she takes over where she feels the police have lagged at their job.

A lot of the book is setting up the story and the characters for the series and based up on the author’s other series, we are in for a treat in this new start.

Jilly Bond was an excellent choice for narrator. She really sounded like a 60ish British doctor and also did a great job bringing the other characters to life. I especially liked her incorporation of Hamish into the story.

Cozy readers itching for an older lead and an adorable dog will love Hamish and Merstairs.

Thank you to #NetGalley for this book. This was a good start to a series. I hope to read more from this author and this series. I think that the character development was good.

This is the first book in the Sarah Vane Mystery series. This is a cozy mystery and is narrated perfectly by Jilly Bonds however I don't know if it was my mood or the book but I had a hard time paying attention.  

Sarah Vane, retired doctor and recently widowed moves to a a part of Kent to live next door to her best friends house, with Hamish her dog only to find a body her new beach hut. Unwilling to leave the investigation to the local police they set out to solve this crime. 

Sarah's friend is hilarious and her dog Hamish has an obsession with a local chihuahua that was fun to watch however there were big chunks of the story that I just felt were flat and I found myself drifting - maybe this would have been better as a book instead of an audio through no fault of the narrator. 

I may try the second in the series to see if I like it any better. I feel like I must have missed something since so many people really enjoyed it.

Murder At an English Pub
Sarah Vane Mysteries #1
Alice Castle
Doctor Sarah Vane was recently widowed and looking for a place to start over; she moved to Merstairs. What appeared to be a quaint little town by the seashore, had dangerous undercurrents. Sarah moved into a cute but small cottage close to the sea. She enjoyed her new home except it wasn’t large enough for her stuff. Daphne, an old friend offered to store Sarah’s old boxes. When they opened the storage unit they discovered a trunk with a dead body inside. Gus Trubshaw, the pub landlord was suffocated. The police showed a lack of interest in the case so Sarah decides to investigate the case herself. There were several suspects, including Charles who owned the beach hut before Daphne, Mr. Grimes the director of the brewery, and Bill the scoutmaster. One of the suspects is found strangled. Could the two murders be connected?
This is the first book in a new series featuring Sarah Vane. The narrator Jilly Bond did an excellent job. This is a Cozy Mystery. I like the main character, Sarah Vane, she comes across as a No-Nonsense person. I like the citizens of Merstairs they all seem eccentric. A nice beginning to a new series.
\
Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for review.

The jury is still out for me on if I like cozy mysteries. I’ve tried a couple now and I’m left wanting a bit more. I fear that makes me sound like a psychopath. I promise I’m not! The story line of this book was good enough. Two friends, Sarah and Daphne, find a dead body of a local in a shed one of them just purchased. Sarah then decides to take the murder solving into her own hands and starts investigating and questioning all those she meets. I’m not sure there were any characters that I really connected with. They were there to tell the story and that was it for me.

Sarah Vane a retired doctor and recent widow moves to be closer to her best friend, Daphne. While settling Merstairs Sarah and Daphne stumble upon a dead body. Unwilling to leave the investigation to the local police they set out to solve this crime. This was a really fun cozy mystery. I loved the characters and setting.

Jilly Bond's narration was great. This was so good as an audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

What a cute and cozy mystery. A great read for people that enjoy Murder She Wrote. This was a great start to this new series where a new resident, Sarah Vane, retired doctor and recently widowed moves to a a part of Kent to live next door to her best friends house, with Hamish her dog only to find a body in the trunk in a beach hut. So, Sarah investigates the murder.

Narrator was great too, with great character voices of comfort making it easy listening. Really enjoyable

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookoutre Audio

Thank you Netgalley, Alice Castle and Bookouture Audio for the Arc of Murder at an English Pub.
Narrated by Jilly Bond

Dr Sarah Vane, retired moves to a quaint seaside down to be with her life long friend Daphne. When they stumble on a dead body, they can't resist playing detective and putting together the puzzle pieces to find the killer.

While I love a good cosy mystery I found that this fell a little flat for me. The narrative is slow paced with some medium paced throughout the book and while the characters felt real, I didn't gel with them at all. The character building was ok but felt it was a little lacking which is probably why I didn't care for them, even though they are likable.

Jilly Bond narrated this book and felt that's why I kept listening to the end. She definitely suits the cosy mystery genre

3 stars

I listened to this; the narration was absolutely perfect and the story was a total delight. What an unexpected p,erasure! A simple story, well told, full of characters and at the heart, a murder mystery to solve. It was like Ambridge but in a seaside setting. There’s humour too and it’s exactly the type of take to take your mind of day to day troubles and escape. I really enjoyed it.

"Murder at an English Pub" by Alice Castle is a delightful cozy mystery with a "Murder She Wrote" feel. It has a touch of "The Thursday Murder Club," though not quite as clever, but it remains a fun and quirky read.

The main character is a bastion of calm, composed and methodical in her approach to solving the murder. This is wonderfully contrasted by her sidekick, who brings a whirlwind of chaos and excitement to the investigation. Their dynamic is both charming and effective.

The narrator is perfect, adding to the story's charm - if you get a chance to listen to it, this is one I would recommend popping in during a nice summer evening walk.

Overall, this book is a great cozy mystery that keeps you guessing and entertained, perfect for fans of the genre.

Thanks to Alice Castle, Bookouture Audio, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to a free eaudio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Calling the subtitle's bluff---this book is not gripping or addictive. It is cozy, though, and felt rather like sitting at Grandma's kitchen table listening to her reminisce while plying me with sweets. Except the protags aren't my grandma's age (god rest her soul), they're my parents'.

Oh my god. I'm <i>old</i>.

Well, that puts a bit of a different perspective on it. The narrator sounded like a grandmother, not someone retirement age. In my opinion, anyway. So I'm imagining octogenarians sleuthing around with hearing aides and orthopedic shoes. Sigh. Narration matters, people!

No, Jilly Bond is truly a wonderful and talented narrator. She just sounded too old to my ear.

*narrows eyes* *re-reads blurb*

Actually, the blurb seems to almost avoid mentioning the protag's age. Only the word "retired" suggests a figure, and that could be easily missed. No wonder I was taken aback to hear a narrator sounding like a grandma.

Aaaanyway---this is a quaint and enjoyable narrative. There's not much tension or sense of danger. Sarah and Daphne had so much fun sleuthing it came off like a lark. Hamish and Tinker Bell stole their scenes to the point that I didn't much mind when we suddenly switched to Hamish's point of view. I wasn't sure what to think about Charles at first, especially as a potential love interest, but he grew on me.

If you enjoyed the show Murder, She Wrote or are a fan of Agatha Christie then this is the book for you!

I enjoyed this one. Sarah is a smart woman and her friend Daphne is a character. Sarah is retiring to Merstairs after the loss of her husband, she hasn't been through all his things yet her friend Daphne has allowed her to store the boxes in her new (messy) beach shed. Harmless, right? Wrong because in the shed they find a body and an adventure to figure out who did it.

Jilly Bond did a fantastic job in bringing this to life with her narration.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture Audio and the author for the opportunity to listen to and review this book.

Thank you Netgalley, Alice Castle and Bookouture Audio for the Arc of Murder at an English Pub.
Narrated by Jilly Bond

Dr Sarah Vane, retired moves to a quaint seaside down to be with her life long friend Daphne. When they stumble on a dead body, they can't resist playing detective and putting together the puzzle pieces to find the killer.

While I love a good cosy mystery I found that this fell a little flat for me. The narrative is slow paced with some medium paced throughout the book and while the characters felt real, I didn't gel with them at all. The character building was ok but felt it was a little lacking which is probably why I didn't care for them, even though they are likable.

Jilly Bond narrated this book and felt that's why I kept listening to the end. She definitely suits the cosy mystery genre

3 stars

I was so excited to read my first cozy mystery in years! The location sounded perfect, and the summary had me hooked. Unfortunately, the whodunit fell flat for me.

A retired widow, Dr. Sarah Vane moves to a quaint coastal town to be near her quirky friend, Daphne. When they stumble upon a dead body, Sarah can't resist getting involved in solving the crime.

The beginning of the book set up the story perfectly, but I found myself losing interest halfway through. It just wasn't my cup of tea, but that's not to say it wasn't well-written. And the audiobook narration was top-notch, too!

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the ALC of this book.

I was excited to listen to the audiobook for this first in a new cozy mystery series. I liked the narrator and thought she was appropriate for the main character and really brought her to life. I thought the characters were very interesting and the setting was wonderful. This book laid a great foundation for a wonderful cozy mystery series. I thought this one didn’t grab me the way I hoped, but I think it might be one of those situations where the first book in a series lays a foundation and the rest are better. I will definitely be hoping for and trying book two to test that theory. Retired and widowed Dr. Sarah Vane moves to a small coastal town where her good friend Daphne lives. Daphne offers to let her use her beach hut for storage and the two women go to empty it out and find a body tucked into a trunk. Sarah quickly realized that this must be murder (it’s rarely accidental to lock yourself in a trunk by closing all the outside the trunk clasps. Determined that her friend won’t be railroaded as a suspect Sarah decides they must investigate themselves. This is a fun book and I will be keeping an eye out for this author.

A really enjoyable listen. This cozy mystery is well written with some very English characters and a very interesting plot. The narrator does a really excellent job and I was fully engrossed in the story and didn’t guess ‘who done it’ Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me access to this audiobook.

Sarah has just been widowed and she’s moved to Merstairs by the seaside, to be near her childhood friend, Daphne. Sarah is a retired doctor and has Hamish the dog for company. Daphne has bought a seaside hut and Sarah needs some space to store her deceased husband’s clothes, sorting out the hut brings forth a shock.
Described as a warm, cozy murder - and this is just that. It’s gentle yet twists and turns and was rather engaging.
I enjoyed it and would listen to more.

I was charmed by the characters in this first installment of a series. Sarah (retired doctor turned accidental sleuth) is clearly going to start solving some murders in her new, quaint English village. I thought the narrator, Jilly Bond, did an excellent job with Sarah, as well as the many other characters coming in and out of her life.
I think this was a fun, cozy mystery and I'm sure I'll check out the second when it comes, but likely will enjoy the series on audio.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC. All opinions are mine.

Following the death of her husband, recently retired doctor, Sarah Vane, has moved next door to her best friend, Daphne, in the small town of Merstairs on the Kent coast. The two women have been friends since their schooldays, and both are delighted with the new arrangement. Daphne has recently purchased a beach hut and offers to let Sarah store some boxes there, but first it needs cleaned out a bit. While the two are working on it, they discover a body in a trunk, clearly murdered. Turns out the dead man was a mostly well-liked local bar owner. Sarah, of course, decides she has to snoop around. I’ll grant you the cops don’t seem incredibly competent, but Sarah barely knows the people in town aside from Daphne who isn’t a real suspect. I felt her reasons for jumping headlong into the investigation seemed a little weak.

The small town setting with quirky characters is a cozy mystery staple, but it was nicely done here. The town was described so well, with the breeze from the sea and the quaint cottages. The townspeople are an assorted lot and Sarah has a bit of a tendency to look down her nose at them. Daphne is a joy, but perhaps not as appreciated by Sarah or the town as she should be. We even have pets. Sarah has a Scottie called Hamish. Daphne has a massive orange cat called Mephisto, and another character has a Chihuahua called Tinkerbell.

The mystery itself was fine. Sarah jumps to conclusions a bit quickly but usually reevaluates before making a total fool of herself. In the end, she gets to the solution.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a good job. She differentiated the characters well and dealt nicely with the few spots where we get to hear Hamish’ thoughts. Hopefully, she will also narrate the next in the series.

Thank you NetGalley for sharing this adorable and witty murder mystery.
I was pleasantly pleased that this was not a thriller style murder mystery, but instead a wonderfully developed group of characters that were trying to figure out who was the murderer. These quirky individuals each had wonderful character development. And I loved the incorporation of the dog!