Murder in Yummy Mummy-land.
This book has entertained me through several hours of driving and housework. It was well written and well paced and I loved the picture the author painted of up-market Dulwich, with its Yummy Mummies and valuable real estate.

Beth Haldane is a young mum whose husband had sadly, died young. She has one son, Ben, still in primary school, and has just landed herself the job of archivist at the prestigious secondary school, Wyatt's. Her boss turns out to be a lecherous old man, unpopular amongst the other staff and seemingly lacking in social graces.
When events lead to her becoming the prime suspect in a murder, she decides the police need a bit of help, before she finds herself behind bars and her young son loses his mother.

I liked that Beth's motive for becoming a sleuth, was believable. I also identified with her as being a little out of the 'cool' group and a bit insecure. Her friend, Kate, was a great sounding block for her investigations and a good friend too.
There's a bit of a potential romance, but given that this is the first of a series, there is plenty of time for that to develop, or not.

Well read by Alex Lee, who did a good job on both male and female characters.
I look forward to reading/listening to further episodes in this series. ( )

Beth Haldane, single mom getting by on freelance work, has landed the job of assistant archivist at swank local school Wyatt's. With her training mostly in journalism, she's not sure she's really up to it, but she was honest in the application process, and they've hired her. In addition to stabilizing their financial situation, she hopes it will eventually mean her son, Ben, will have a better chance at getting into this excellent school when the time comes.

She's hoping for a really good first day of work.

Instead, her new boss proves to be as creepy as she had hoped he wasn't really, and, in a mixed blessing, escorts her to the archivist shed and leaves her to go, he says, to a meeting. He doesn't return. At lunchtime, she heads out to meet the school's admin, Janice, for lunch, and stumbles over her boss's dead body. There's a knife, and a lot of blood, and a handkerchief over his face.

It's a really awful first day of work.

We get introduced to the town of Dulwich, the major figures at Wyatt's, and Beth and her friends. It's an upscale town, and Beth's family has a long history there, but her own grip on the proper socioeconomic standing has been a bit tenuous since her husband, James, died. She's a little to practical, not quite focused enough on squeezing every possible educational advantage into her son, who is fairly bright, but a reluctant reader who needs some help.

This is the first of a series, and while the mystery here is important and compelling, especially when the burglaries make Beth feel more directly threatened, I think the main point here is to introduce the regulars.

Including, of course, the handsome Inspector York.

Oh, hadn't I mentioned him before?

It's an enjoyable story, and seems like a solid start to the series. Recommended.

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher. ( )

Excellent Crime novel.
Great characters and plot.
Can't wait to read the next one. ( )

Ah, small towns. Everyone knows everything about everybody. Except when they don't.

Murder in Dulwich means secrets in Dulwich and secrets mean that someone needs to investigate. In Alice Castle's new London Murder Mystery series, that someone is Beth, mother, journalist, odd-jobber and, suddenly, amateur investigator.

-- What's it about? --

Meet Beth Haldane, thirty-something single mum. She's delighted to land a job as an archivist at local posh school, Wyatt's, but her first day is rather spoiled by her discovery of a dead body. Worried that she will be the prime suspect, Beth determines to discover the real culprit, despite investigating police officer Harry York's repeated warnings.

As she speculates wildly about the dead man's life and steadfastly procrastinates doing the job she was hired to do, Beth seeks to discover the dark secret lurking at the heart of Wyatt's. Is it all a conspiracy? Will she be silenced? How on earth did the editors make the previous editions of the school paper so frightfully boring? Beth will find out the truth, even if it costs her the job...

-- What's it like? --

Amusing. Cosy. Gently entertaining. Beth is very likeable, which is probably quite important in a cosy crime caper like this one. When she persists in "investigating" by, basically, chatting to people who might be involved and reading a few bits of paper, the fact that she discovers anything at all is verging on the ludicrous (a yoga session gives her what may be a vital clue), yet somehow she does and the tone of the narration renders this all so delightful that readers can just set aside issues of plausibility.

'The trouble was that the thought of going back to the little archive office...was horrible, to say the least. She'd just have to hope that she'd be stopped by that nice police constable before she got that far. Then she could just hang out in the main reception area, with other people safely around, and see what she could glean. All right, it was a little sketchy around the edges, but it was definitely a plan. Sort of.'

I liked Beth's confidence and her concern for her son. The mystery itself was sufficiently engaging and the final solution was brilliantly in keeping with the focus on Dulwich expectations and pretensions.

-- Final thoughts --

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, though I wouldn't have minded fewer references to Dulwich attitudes and expectations. I also wasn't convinced that Beth would have ever become the prime suspect, which she claims is her main motivation for investigating...but I did believe that she was just irresistibly drawn to solving a mystery she felt so personally connected to.

Convincing characters, gently comic writing and a nicely-paced mystery with a fitting dénouement. I am very much looking forward to reading the next book in the series, tentatively titled 'The Girl in the Gallery'.

Many thanks to the author for providing a copy of her book in exchange for an honest review. ( )