My Review (4 stars out of 5)
This is book 4 in the Iris Woodmore Mysteries series and is the first I’ve read by this author. When Iris and her pals, Millicent and Percy, are in Devon for a wedding, Iris is a bit put out. It’s her father who’s about to be married and Iris thinks it’s way too soon for him to be moving on after the death of her mother. The thought of digging the dirt on her dad’s wife-to-be, gives Iris something to concentrate on. However, while out for a walk on the beach, she and her friends discover the skeletal remains of a man.
Billed as a period cosy mystery, the book’s cover and the setting, place it firmly in the 1920s. The story is appealing enough and while there are occasionally a lot of characters to keep track of, there are some nice distractions and a few red herrings in the tradition of Agatha Christie. Having said that, the comparison with Christie (by some reviewers) is perhaps a little out of place, as the plot doesn’t have anything like the same level of development about it as the Queen of Crime’s novels.
Nevertheless, it’s an enjoyable tale that kept me reading right to the end.
Author Bio
Michelle Salter writes historical cosy crime set in Hampshire, where she lives, and inspired by real-life events in 1920s Britain. The first book in her Iris Woodmore series, Death at Crookham Hall, draws on her interest in the aftermath of the Great War and the suffragette movement.
Social Media Links
NB This post first apeared as part of the Blog Tour for A Killing at Smugglers Cove, via Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources.
Colin Garrow 