This is the second book in the Village Detectives Series which seems shockingly derivative of The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman.

The characters in this series, who live in the English village of Inkbury in the North Wessex Downs, don’t seem nearly as endearing as Osman’s characters however.

Juno Mulligan, widowed and randy, has moved to Inkbury after over 20 years in New York City, but she is making friends fast, and now has a bit of a reputation as a detective. In this installment, her long-time friend Phoebe Fredericks, who writes mysteries under the nom de plume Miss De’Ath, receives a death threat. The two along with the others in the Merde Squad, or Village Detectives as they agreed was preferable to call themselves, set out to find the culprit. (Ex-rugby pro landlord Mil Winterbourne and Pheobe’s handsome husband Felix round out the foursome.)

If I had not read all the Osman books, I might have found this more appealing, but instead I only found myself rating it much lower by comparison. Nevertheless, for those who aren’t familiar with the Thursday Murder Club books, I suspect they might find this cozy mystery quite appealing.

This cozy mystery is just divine.

I loved the humour and how the plot developed. It reminded of a mix of Wicked Little Letters and an Agatha Christie novel.

I read this book in one morning and did not put it down til the end. It's light reading but oh so good.

I just loved this book, I recently read the first book in this series and I loved it. I then got this book to read and review and I just loved it as well that I just couldn’t put this book. It’s just an amazing series with amazing characters and I truly can’t wait until the next book comes out.

I would highly recommend reading this book if you love a fabulous mystery with amazing characters with a cracking story.

I would like to thank Boldwood Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book early.

This was a great cozy mystery concept and worked in this series. I was engaged with the story being told and how everything flowed together to figure out what was going on. The characters felt like they were supposed to be there and was invested in what was going on. It had a humor to it and worked with what I wanted. Fiona Walker wrote this perfectly and continued the series in a way that worked.

This is a five-star read that will keep you guessing, there are some fantastic red herrings in this story, some that are obvious but some that are just genius. This is the second story in the Village Detective series, or VD as one of them likes to call themselves in branding. It builds on the first story, and gives us more details to the story and the characters but in all honestly if you missed the first, you wouldn’t be too lost, I am glad I did as it made me change my whole perspective on one of the main MC, as I wasn’t keen on him for the 1st story, and then he won me over in this one, but you will understand as you read who I mean. The twists and turns as Juno and Felix dash about to try and unravel who the stalker is, there is so much going on in this story that it could get convoluted, but the author manages to keep it all together and keeps you as a reader hooked and compelled to keep reading. I am excited to see what VD will be solving next.

Very cost, silly, fun little mystery will def read more stuff by this author, I love mysteries like this.