closed-circle-mystery, cosy-mystery, family-drama, family-dynamics, family-business, small-town, amateur-sleuth, England, law-enforcement, murder, murder-investigation, first-in-series, siblings, twins, poisons, travelling-cook *****

I was able to pick this one up on sale. It was a find for me because I have read many of the others in series but never got around to reading the first Jenny Starling. Jenny is over six feet tall that is reiterated quite often in this one but becomes less repeated in later books despite many male characters apparently threatened as much by her height as well as her brilliant deductive reasoning (and her excellent skill in the kitchen. Jenny is able to detach herself from those who hire her as a caterer or temporary cook yet able to observe all and listen to household gossip and help law enforcement without making a big deal of it. I'm glad that I read this one as it shows the impressive improvement with each successive book.
Charlotte Worthing gives a smooth and well differentiated performance as narrator. ( )

Jenny Starling, freelance cook, has been engaged to cater for the joint 21st birthday party of Alicia and Justin Greers. On her arrival at their home she finds that the police are on the grounds at an accidental death. But on the night of the party the police are back when at least one of the guests dies in suspicious circumstances. Inspector Mollineaux believes he recognises Jenny from somewhere, but finds she becomes invaluable to unmasking the killer.
An enjoyable mystery, a good solid start to a new series. I look forward to reading more in the series. ( )

An enjoyable cozy murder mystery. It was an easy read and kept my interest throughout. I like Jenny Starling, the main character. ( )

The Birthday Mystery is the first in a series of cozy(ish) mysteries featuring cook Jenny Starling as an amateur sleuth.

Jenny is hired to cater the 21st birthday party of aristocratic twins Alicia and Justin Greer. However when she arrives she discovers that a young man has been killed on the premises of the Greer home. The death is thought to be accidental and the party proceeds. But another death during the evening shocks everyone, and as the cook, Jenny is aghast when she learns that the victim was poisoned. She soon sets out to help the police solve the mystery, and in the process secrets are uncovered.

Hmm, I have mixed feelings about this one. It started promisingly – Jenny seemed a likeable enough character, and it appeared to be an intriguing mystery, with enough suspects to keep the reader/listener (I listened to the audiobook) guessing, and plenty of red herrings. However, the constant references to Jenny’s physical characteristics soon became annoying; she is described at the beginning of the book as being 6’1″ in height, and probably slightly overweight, but the author rather patronisingly points out that despite this, Jenny is very attractive – this in itself was somewhat insulting, as if saying that it is unusual for an overweight person to be attractive. Still, okay, it’s not unusual for a writer to give a physical description of their character. But it felt as though Jenny’s appearance was being pointed out constantly. She was frequently referred to as being “Juno-esque” and I felt that the only reason to labour the point was that it became plot relevant somewhere down the line. It doesn’t.

Secondly, while it is a staple ingredient of cozy crime stories to have the main character as someone assisting the police who in all honesty has no right to get involved, in this case it lost it’s charm. Jenny seemed to forget that it wasn’t her job to investigate at all and took it as her right to solve the crime. To add insult to injury, she later reveals that she has known for ages who the perpetrator was – THAT’S WHEN YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO TELL THE POLICE!! Instead she kept the info to herself. Sigh. The last part just consisted of Jenny’s exposition to the police, as to the who, how and why of the crime. Frankly it was all a bit ridiculous.

Overall, while the book held my attention for the first two thirds, it ended up annoying me at the end. I also felt that it was not cozy enough for a cozy mystery, and not thrilling enough for a full-on thriller. It seemed somewhat caught in the middle. That said, it is only the first book in the series and maybe some of the kinks might be ironed out in subsequent stories.

This audiobook was narrated by Charlotte Worthing, who did a perfectly decent job. ( )

Jenny Starling is both highly rated and highly sought after. She is a traveling cook and her current job is to cater the twenty-first birthday party of upper-class twins, Alicia and Justin. As soon as Jenny arrives, however, she is greeted by the police. Sadly, a young man has drowned in a pond and the police have to determine whether or not it was an accident.

Nonetheless, Jenny goes right to work. Shockingly, however, a guest suddenly dies. This suspicious death has no shortage of guests because they had all gathered together for a toast. When it is determined that not only poison is suspected, but that it may have been in one of Jenny’s recipes, she is determined to get to the bottom of things. Yes, she wants justice, but she also has a reputation to uphold.

Jenny has the uncanny ability to assess a situation and discover clues that truly baffle the police. She makes a great amateur sleuth. As a matter of fact, there are five books in this Jenny Starling series, and I read each and every one of them all in just a few days. I adore Jenny and how she manages to solve these murders, no matter what the circumstances are.

Formerly published as Birthdays Can Be Murder under Faith Martin’s pseudonym, Joyce Cato.

Many thanks to Joffe Books and to NetGalley for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion. ( )