Every once in awhile you read a book you wish you had written. This is one of them. Great Diddling lies somewhere in the English countryside between the Father Brown tv series, the headquarters of the Thursday Murder Club, and Cabot Cove.
Berit Gardner, an author of Swedish extraction, has come to live in the tiny, crumbling country village of Great Diddling. But she likes that it is a nondescript, humble place. It means she can finish her novel uninterrupted. Her editor, anxious to have the manuscript as soon as possible, sends her own niece to Diddling as an assistant (spy) and keep Berit on track.
Always up for a distraction, Berit accepts an invitation to a garden tea party at the local manor house. The hostess, Daphne Trent, is anxious to welcome the noted author to town, and is also hopeful the open invitation to the villagers will bring together new residents and old. What she doesn’t expect is an explosion will tear apart her beloved library and kill her nephew.
This is more excitement than Great Diddling knows what to do with — and it’s a perfect excuse for Berit to ignore her manuscript and help the authorities gather clues. Ultimately, the town will turn the publicity from the outrageous explosion into a boon. They launch a combination book and murder festival (honestly, not sure why a picturesque English town hasn’t done this already) to being in tourists, prop up business, and rally the community together.
Hatred, uncertainty, fear, love, a desire to protect — everything that makes people interesting, and that we do our utmost to hide. Yesterday it had all been suddenly, violently revealed. She had to admit that the murder itself fascinated her. Curiosity had always been one of her biggest driving forces, and faced with a real-life, genuine mystery she felt a powerful longing to work out exactly what had happened. ~ Loc. 931
Berit leads the narrative throughout, with observations from parochial detectives, her assistant, and the lady of the manor. The writing is sharp and keen-eyed. Best of all, there is plenty of dark, and light, humor, along the way. It doesn’t shy away from the shadowy business of murder but it also finds a great deal to celebrate about the eccentricities of humans.
My thanks to Sourcebooks for the review copy. Read via NetGalley.
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (August 13, 2024)
Language: English
Paperback : 432 pages
ISBN-10: 1728295769