Published by Dialogue Books
Publication date - 4 April 2024
Source - review copy
Welcome to the sleepy village of Pudding Corner, a quintessentially English haven of golden cornfields, winding cobbled lanes ... and murder.
Daphne Brewster has left London behind and is settling into her family's new life in rural Norfolk, planting broad beans in raised beds and vintage hunting for their farmhouse.
But when the local headmaster is found dead in his potting shed, amongst his allotment cabbages, the village is ablaze: Who would kill beloved Mr Papplewick, pillar of the community? Daphne soon comes to realise perhaps the countryside isn't so idyllic after all...
When the headmaster's widow points her finger at Minnerva, Daphne's new friend, Daphne vows to clear her name. Sneaking into the crime scene and chasing down rumours gets her into hot water with the local inspector - until she comes across a faded photograph that unearths a secret buried for forty years...
They say nothing bad ever happens in close-knit Pudding Corner, but Daphne is close to the truth - dangerously close...
After a road rage incident involving bank robbers causes Daphne Brewster to lose her grip on her final straw, she and her family move to the quiet village of Pudding Corner. The worst that can happen in an English village is mixing up your stocks and your sweetpeas right? Apparently not when the local headmaster is found murdered on the allotment.
When Daphne's new friend Minnerva is accused of the crime she becomes determined to find out the truth. Between setting up her new vintage home ware business, conjuring fancy dress costumes from thin air and being befriended by her new neighbour, there's always time for a little murder investigation…
I loved the setting of this book. There's something about small village life that is full of characters but big on secrets, just the right ingredients for a murder. Who has the motive to kill Mr Papplewick. His wife, the woman she accuses of being his mistress, one of the sisters who runs the village shop, and the village, with iron fists, the parent who has been foiled in her plans for her offspring to attend private school or someone else?
Daphne knows she shouldn't get involved but she's determined to ensure Minnerva isn't accused of something she hasn't done. Minnerva is already slightly ostracised by the community as she lives in a commune with her young son, Silverus. Daphne feels the hurt this can cause to the pair and wants to stand up for them.
There is a lovely cosy feel to the mystery, think Midsummer Murders but with more gardening. Daphne is not only looking into the killing but adjusting to village life after moving from the capital. She learns that problems are left behind, they just take a different form. There's all the ingredients for a gentle crime novel - a limited group of suspects, a small, picturesque location, secrets, lies, betrayal and some gentle humour.
This is a great introduction to a new amateur sleuth and I look forward to reading more about the Brewsters and their family and friends.
You can buy a copy of the book here.
(This is an affiliate link. You can also purchase The Potting Shed Murders from your local independent bookshop.)
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