A cozy murder mystery a la Agatha Christie with a beautiful setting and a fun cast of characters. As always, you're drawn in running after one clue and then the next and then the next until it all comes together in the end neatly.

Another fabulously jolly outing with a side of murder for Val and Arbie. I enjoyed the first book, but think that this one was even better, now that the main characters have been introduced. I felt that some of the characters specific to this book could have been described in slightly more detail, to paint a more vivid picture, but this did not detract from the essential story. The denouement was quite clever and very satisfying, although I'm not sure about the final twist, and hope that the series doesn't go in this direction.

Second book in the ‘Val & Arbie’ mysteries
Set in 1925 Cotswolds, it has all the style and charm of the golden age era
Arbie arrives at the glamorous Dashwood House Hotel, but no sooner has he stared to relax, when one of the guests, part of an engagement party is found dead in the writing room
Surprise, surprise, vicar’s daughter Val Coulton-James, Arbie’s old friend is part of the engagement party, and the bride, familiar with the crime solving duo asks them to investigate
There are lots of red herrings, as the victim had no shortage of enemies, who is hiding secrets?
It was a bit of slow burner, you’re through a quarter of the book before the murder occurred, but keep with it as the pace picks up following the murder, even if there are quite a few characters to keep up with
Thanks @faithmartin_nov @hqstories & @netgalley for the fab cosy crime read

Another book in the trend of cozy murder mysteries.

It’s a good example though with a good dynamic between the characters which makes it very enjoyable.

The plot is well written and the mystery isn’t perfect which I always like as it’s a bit less twee.

The Last Word is Death is the second novel in the Faith Martin series featuring Arbie and Val, following on from Murder by Candlelight. The investigators are two jolly good sorts: the lighthearted and easygoing Arbie (who has written a successful book about ghosts) and Val, the sensible, clever (and attractive) Vicar’s daughter. Lifelong friends, there’s an easiness between them that makes for great dialogue, with gentle teasing and banter as well as affection. A delightful pair.

These are delicious cozy detective stories with all the right ingredients for a cracking good read.

In Murder by Candlelight, we had a lovely Cotswolds setting in the 1920s, a wealthy old woman found dead in a locked room and a rich cast of suspects.

The Last Word is Death takes us to a new hotel in the up-and-coming resort of Galton-next-the-Sea during an engagement party for one of Val’s friends. When a guest at the party is found dead, Val and Arbie are asked to investigate.

Both novels take lots of twists and turns, making them fast paced and satisfyingly intricate. But they are in essence classic, well choreographed cozy mysteries.

Martin knows the classic British mystery genre well, and it shows. The characters could have been lifted from an Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Peter Lovesey (et al.). They are akin to the lighter of such classics, light and funny.

Having now read two, I highly recommend the series and hope to continue to enjoy Val and Arbie’s further investigations in the future.

Note: The two novels can be read separately, but like most series you’ll enjoy them more by reading them in sequence.

My thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for giving me a free copy of this book. All my reviews are 100% honest and unbiased, regardless of how I acquire the book.

Arbie and Val are back! This time he is invited to visit a new swanky hotel which owners hope to be mentioned in the next instalment of The Gentleman's Guide to Ghost-Hunting and she arrives at the same place as one of the guests. Val is pleased she will be able to help him to stop dilly dallying and get on with his work and Arbie is dismayed he is expected to put some effort into something. And when the gruesome death occurs, it is Arbie who once again is forced to help to discover what happened. Full of delightfully modern bright young people and pleasantly old-fashioned dialogue this is a crime novel set in the interwar period, which is one of my favourite historical times. A lot of time is taken by setting up the scene and the murder does not occur until later in the book, but I enjoyed Arbie and Val’s plot line, and her determination to become his assistant. The only problem is that I did not enjoy the ending as much as I thought I would, because during the grand reveal scene Arbie did not really solve the mystery in full – he just explained who the culprit was but the details had to be added by others. Nonetheless I will be reading the next instalment of the series, I just hope Arbie brushes up his investigative skills.
PS. I listened to most of the book and unfortunately the narrator was NOT my favourite, mostly because he attempted to read all dialogues in different voices and some of them were just … So over the top…

My thanks to NetGalley and HQ publishers for a copy of “ The Last Word Is Death “ for an honest review .

I really enjoyed the first adventure with amateur sleuths/ ghost hunters Albie and Val and this second book was equally good .There were well written , amusing characters to choose from whodunnit and it kept me entertained and guessing right up to the end.Hopefully there will be more to come from the series soon.

I love Faith Martin's books and this one hooked me just the same, I read it very quickly and felt like the mystery was well done, fun and exciting overall.

An Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery with the aloof and reluctant Archie and his childhood friend and willing co-investigator Val.

It's 1925 and a newly opened country hotel invites Arbie to visit hoping for a glowing review in his latest travel guide. At the same time a wedding party arrives and before long chaos ensues after a shocking murder.

Before the first murder is solved, another guest is killed and it's Arbie with his powers of deduction who will solve both.

I really enjoyed this murder mystery even though it's not my favourite genre. I can see the relationship between Val and Arbie developing if the series continues and I'd definitely be keen to read more of their back story.

This is book two in a series, which does work as a standalone. I haven't read book one, but I would have preferred to have read the first before this one, as it does assume you know the characters.

Arbie is staying at Dashwood House, when a guest is found dead. The guest was part of a group visiting for an engagement party, that also includes Arbie's friend Val. The pair have history with crime solving, so they decide to investigate. Can they work out who killed and why?

I really liked Arbie and Val, I thought Arbie's bumbling ways were offset perfectly by Val. There were definite hints of Agatha Christie stories, I shall certainly look for more in this series.

The second book in the Val And Arbie Mysteries takes place at a luxury hotel in an upcoming coastal resort in the 1920s. Arbie's success with his first ghost-hunting travel guide allows him to stay at the resort and research the headless horse-riding ghost that haunts nearby. Arbie is hoping for plenty of relaxation and the bare minimum of work, but the appearance of his neighbour, vicar's daughter, Val and an untimely death means that he has to become an unwilling sleuth again. I enjoyed his historical cosy mystery and found it an engaging read. I like the dynamic between the amateur sleuths, the detailed characterisation and the setting, which make the reader invest in all the characters and the clever mystery.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

The body is found in the writing room, the victim part of a set visiting the seaside town for an engagement party, which happens to include Arbie’s old friend, Val. Familiar with Val and Arbie’s previous experience in solving puzzling crimes, the bride asks the pair to investigate. They quickly discover that the victim had no shortage of enemies, and many of the guests are up to no good.
The second outing for Val & Arbie & another well written cosy mystery. I do like both Arbie & Val & the dynamics of their relationship but do feel they aren’t equals – hopefully this will change as the series progresses. I enjoyed the book with its twists, turns & red herrings, there’s also a dash of humour. A light cosy mystery which I read in two sittings
I voluntarily read and reviewed a special copy of this book; all thoughts and opinions are my own

Arbie is invited to Dashwood House in Galton-next-the-sea for research for his next book. The village allegedly has a ghost and the hotel is in it's first season. When he arrives he is told that a party celebrating an engagement party will arrive in a day or two, as it turns out, his friend Val is in the party and she starts to chivvy him up to do some work.
When a guest at the hotel is found murdered, it takes a lot of effort on his part to find out what happened.
A good whodunnit, set in the 1920s.

THE LAST WORD IS DEATH is another cosy, charming murder mystery about a work-shy lad and his determined friend.

The comfortable dynamic between the leading duo is where Faith Martin really shines. She creates a detective pair that have plenty of quirks and chemistry and you want to keep reading for them as much as the mystery. Will Val bully Arbie into ever finishing his book or will he continue to avoid work at all costs? (The fact that I like a character who is unashamedly lazy is quite impressive.) They rub along well with plenty of gentle amusement so that you invest in them, which is key to sustaining a mystery series.

I really enjoyed the little diversion from the murder to ghost hunting. Val bullies Arbie into going to find the local ghost and it ends up being the perfect anecdote for his book - and also backfires spectacularly on him. It's a fun like side quest that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The mystery itself is an interesting one. While the dead girl is not exactly liked, the possible motives turned up are pretty weak. It's other people that seem to have the stronger enemies. So why her? It was an nice angle to the murder mystery and leaves it as a bit of a head scratcher,

I would argue the title of THE LAST WORD IS DEATH is not as clever as MURDER BY CANDLELIGHT, but that was a pretty hard act to follow. I do hope there are more of these to come!

Arbie and Val are back for a second installment of cosy crime, set in the 1920's.

I love cosy crime, so I was chuffed when I got a copy of the Last Word is Death. I've read a few Agatha Christie so like the tone of these type of mysteries. I hadn't read the first book in this series but that didn't matter. It was easy to get into the book without having the background.

Unfortunately, the voice of Arbie seemed too trite. It felt very Jeeves and Wooster 'Tally Ho' but not in a good way. I couldn't get over the narration so had to put it down. DNF at 5%.

I'm sure it will be a great read for some, just not for me.

This was the first book in this series, but it was relatively easy to pick up on the relationships between the characters and storyline. I liked the fact that the murder method in the story was a bit different from the usual. This added an extra element of intrigue to the plot. I didn’t guess who the murderer was in the story until late on, proving that the novel did a good job of providing misdirection. There were a lot of characters in the novel, and at times, I thought neither Arbie (our amateur sleuth) nor the inspector led the investigation until the end when Arbie conducted a Poirot style reveal.

There was a nod to the 1920s era in the fashions and attitudes. Arbie, in particular, stood out as an upper-class gentleman type, although Val came across as a bit of a prop for his theories. The ghost element could have been included in the main plot. Overall, an enjoyable novel once you get used to the narration style.

In this second novel, loveable Arbie Arbuthnot and Val, the daughter of a vicar, find themselves at the same hotel when a murder occurs.
Arbie is staying at Dashwood House, doing research for his next book in his best selling series, The Gentleman’s Guide to Ghost hunting, and Val is there for the engagement party of her best friend Beatrice, Val has been invited to be a bridesmaid.
The wedding party is entitled with hyphenated surnames ,extremely privileged, and most of the members have secrets based upon old scores to be settled, blackmail and plain old hatred.
The method of death is unusual. Arbie is reluctantly pressurised into searching for clues, and helping the police investigate the murder. Val has her eyes set upon being the assistant to Arbie to get her away from the small and boring village life she is subjected to.
All is resolved very satisfactory. There are clues present, but watch out for the red herrings, I went completely down the wrong path yet again.!
A very enjoyable murder mystery done in the Golden Age style, very Agatha Christie, but Arbie reminds me of a young Campion.
Val and Arbie make quite the team of investigators, and I do hope for further adventures.
My thanks to Netgalley and HQ Books, the publishers for my ARC, given freely in return for my honest review. Five stars from me.
I will leave reviews to Goodreads and Amazon UK upon publication.

It was such a pleasure to catch up with Arbie and Val at a posh hotel in the seaside town of Galton-next-the Sea. Arbie has been asked by Captain and Mrs Penderghast to write a review of the hotel and the mystery of Red-Dog and his steed, Stalwart.! What Arbie doesn't know is that Val will be turning up as a member of an engagement party for her friend, Beatrice. The scene is set with the engagement party and other hotel guests when a body is discovered in the hotel. Arbie is chevied along by Val to do some amateur sleuthing and investigate the mysterious death. All the sub plots tie up wit a dramatic reveal that I didn't see coming. It has the hallmarks of an Agatha Christie mystery.

This book doesn't quite live up to the nostalgic vibes that the first book had. However it was still a cosy crime novel. The names in the book sounded a little bit similar to each other which made it hard to keep up. Also nothing really happens in the first half of the book. Where I was hoping for more character development which there wasn't. The tense atmosphere from the previous book was also lacking. Despite these things it was still a good book, interesting characters, but I just wished it would have held my attention more.

2.5-3 stars

I really enjoyed the previous book in this series - Murder By Candlelight; it had everything I wanted from a cosy crime novel, but it had something else. There was this nostalgic about it, reminding me of the crime novels of Agatha Christie. And so I was really excited to read the sequel.

Sadly this one did not live up to its predecessor in my opinion.

My immediate issue with it was I couldn't keep up with the characters. There's a lot of them and quite early one. I only read the first book recently and yet I couldn't' remember if they were new characters or old, and I felt a bit lost. I think because a lot of them have quite similar stereotypical "posh" names, they ended up blurring together.

Nothing really happens for the first half of the book. This isn't always a bad thing necessarily, as it gives the author time to build up characters, build up tension and suspects and whatnot. But it didn't seem to me that the time had been spent well. It was just...it was just there. Nothing was happening, I didn't feel the development of characters or particularly tense. I was finding myself wanting to skip further along to see if it got going.

I hadn't read any of her books prior to Candlelight, and so I had no preconceived ideas, but I absolutely loved that and then she instantly became a writer to watch. But this sequel felt flat. Like she had used everything in the first book and so there was nothing left for this one.

It wasn't a bad book per se. It's still an interesting premise with some interesting characters (although the main characters of Arbie and Val are a little all over the shop), and it still has that nostalgic feeling. But it didn't hold my attention and it won't be one that stays with me much.