Alison JosephCritiques

1920's and Agatha Christie has settled in the English countryside with her family writing her next book. When she is pulled into a murder at the vicarage - Cecil Coates, a young man has been poisoned. Due to her successful writing her friends believe she can solve the mystery. But can she before another murder takes place and also unravel the secrets that the village is hiding
As a first book in a series it was entertaining, whether there will be more character development I wait and see; or whether Christie will move away where multiple murders is more plausible. than a small village.

In 1920's Agatha Christie is now divorced and living in London where she is invited by an old friend Patrick Standbridge to a variety show where during the show a body of one of the artists is found. Will this be a start of a murder spree, what was the motive. Is the murder to clever for their own good. Her musings about her own writing lead her to investigate.
An entertaining mystery with a writing style that I liked.
A NetGalley Book

Fast, easy read - what BookShots are all about! In this novel, Bridie Salter O'Connor and Finn O'Grady were once an item. That was before her sister, Maura, was brutally raped and murdered. When Finn became obsessed with tracking down Maura's murderer, he lost his job and left Ireland for England. Now, Bridie needs his help and calls him, terrified that her family is in danger. Finn returns and finds that there is evil trying to kill Bridie's family.
The ending makes you believe that there will be more adventures starring Finn O'Grady.
#TheExile #JamesPatterson #AlisonJoseph

Former detective comes back home to help former love deal with killings and supposed curse on her family.

Finn is self-exiled cop from Ireland who leaves into a self-imposed exile after a murder investigation goes bad. He returns when the sister of the victim becomes concerned that a fairytale is playing out, targeting her family. While Finn does not believe in "The Green Man", someone certainly is using the tale as a template for murders that are terrorizing her and her family. Local law enforcement is not happy to seem him back in town and animosity rules the day.

The ending has an unexpected twist, that's a plus side. Mostly though the story was steeped in stereotypical Irish ruffians, most who get what's coming to them. The ending might have been unpredictable, the fate of most of the characters however was not.

Finn O’Grady hasn’t been home in years, but when Bridie O’Connor calls, he returns to Kilmeaden, Ireland to find out why someone’s killing the members of her family. He's there to put a stop to the killing and to finally find justice for a long-ago crime that tore Bridie’s family apart and changed Finn’s life forever.

This BookShots tale takes the Celtic legend of the Green Man and spins it into a tale of greed, revenge, and redemption. Characterization is sketchy at best, but the strength of the narrative lies in Finn’s efforts to set things right. Readers are likely to find this quick read absorbing despite the early identification of the villains. There is, however, an unexpected twist late in the story that seems a bit disingenuous.

I have not come across this author nor her books about Sister Agnes Bourdillon before.
The sister is a well written strong character, sometimes doubting her faith and the murder mystery is exciting.
I shall look for more in this series.

As someone who has never actually read an Agatha Christie novel, I was nevertheless interested in reading this cosy crime novel featuring Agatha Christie herself as the (reluctant) detective.

I won't recap the plot as it's all there in the blurb, but it takes place in the village of Sunningdale the early 1920s, when Christie would have been in her early thirties.

The sense of time and place was quite immersing; I never 'forgot' about the period setting as I have done with some less-well written novels set in the not-too-distant past. We learn just enough about the characters' backgrounds and personalities to make sense of the plot without going into too much detail (it's a short novel). I did however experience a little confusion over who was who from time to time, possibly because often the characters were referred to as Mr/Mrs-, and sometimes by their first names, which is entirely consistent with the setting.

I did not guess 'whodunnit', and the reveal at the end took me by surprise. I did not have any suspects in mind, although I picked up on some suspicious behaviour near the end, and one clue that I was sure was a red herring turned out not to be. The explanation and backstory did make sense retrospectively.

There were plenty of references to Agatha Christie's life and novels, which mostly went over my head, but I'm sure they would add even more enjoyment to fans. I am certainly tempted to try some of Christie's novels now.

Overall I found this to be a light, easy read. Nothing groundbreaking or very exciting, but certainly comforting and satisfying.

Note: I received this book free (no strings attached) from the publisher, Endeavour Press, as part of their online Historical Festival.

3.5 stars
After the Great War Christie’s husband, Arthur came home and life has returned to what’s now considered normal. Christie’s writing career is in its early stages but she has gained a bit of notoriety. When a visitor to the vicarage is poisoned everyone expects Agatha to rise to the occasion. It does her absolutely no good to stress the difference between real life and fiction so she’s reluctantly drawn in.

There’s a plethora of books out now featuring famous historical people, literary and otherwise, as protagonists. Some are hits and some are misses. MURDER WILL OUT has enough potential to be listed as a hit.
Agatha, Arthur, Rosalind, and Stokes have settled into village life. Arthur is spending a lot of time in London. All Agatha wants is to work on her new novel, though it’s beginning to feel a bit like pulling teeth.
Sylvia Ettridge’s visit with news of a death at the vicarage puts paid to Agatha’s plans. Despite her protests of not being qualified to investigate she’s drawn into the investigation.

On first starting MURDER WILL OUT there’s a strong feeling of melancholy. Whether this was pervasive in England at the time, perhaps an acknowledgement of all that had been lost and wasted, or emanates from Agatha regarding her marriage is up for grabs. As events progress the feeling lessens, becoming more hopeful and spirited. As Agatha is drawn deeper into the mystery and investigation the idea of Miss Marple is born along with a hint of the future Poirot waiting in the wings.
Will Agatha’s creative mental processes be up to the challenge of working out the who and why of an actual vs fictional killer? Will the police resent or appreciate her inserting herself? What will Arthur think? You can discover the answers to these questions and more by reading MURDER WILL OUT.

Ms. Joseph’s skillful weaving of Christie facts into the fiction gives MURDER WILL OUT an authenticity and sense that it could, indeed, have happened this way. My only problem with MURDER WILL OUT lies in the solution. All the clues and details are not available to readers. Any good puzzle, cozies and other mysteries included, make every piece available to the solver. Where’s the fun in a puzzle with missing pieces? Hopefully the next installment of Ms. Joseph’s series remedies that problem by giving readers a fair chance to solve the mystery right along side Agatha.
Reviewed for Miss Ivy's Book Nook & Novels Alive TV

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This is a read reminiscent of the Isabel Dalhousie series by Alexander McCall Smith. Sister
Agnes is intelligent, quirky and altogether delightful. This is a story that is filled with itself, instead
if veering off to prove that it is one thing or another. There is mystery and a more than a little detective
work to be sure, but mostly it is a well told tale.

Sister Agnes is, of course a nun. But that she is a nun is incidental to the fact that she is Agnes, who has
been though difficult times and found her way through them. She is eminently sensible and yet the furthest
possible thing from dull. She runs a Hostel for troubled young people and plenty of trouble there is! But again
the trouble runs through the background ant the story takes precedence. What a good story it was! I will certainly
be following this series, if any new ones become available. If you are interested in reading this series, there are books that come prior to this one available for kindle, no later ones at this time.

I very much enjoy Alison Joseph's books, where she links thriller/detective plots with musings about faith, life and love, through her central character, Sister Agnes. This book, which tackles cults, scientific atheism, the nature of love and faith, is no exception.