It’s that time of year when it feels like the world and their wife are all in Harrogate for the Theakston’s Old Peculiar crime writing festival. All the while, I’m at home, curled up on the sofa reading cosy mysteries. The 24th adventure from Helena Dixon’s historical crime series sees her sleuthing pair, Kitty Bryant nee Underhay and her husband Matt head to… Harrogate!
Visiting the Yorkshire town to visit with Matt’s parents, Kitty and Matt find themselves tasked with looking into the disappearance of a man who happens to be the brother of Inspector Lewis, the police inspector regularly annoyed with the detective pair’s prolific problem solving. When their quarry is found dead after a cycle race, Kitty and Matt find once again wherever they go, murder follows.
I enjoyed this latest instalment, watching Kitty navigate investigation alongside juggling family politics with her in-laws, and the series is showing no sign of running out of steam. Have the couple found a new nemesis to make their lives difficult? It was fun to see a different side to Inspector Lewis too, beyond his role in the police, and I can’t wait to see where the story goes next.
Cosy, intriguing, and with the quality detailed period research we’ve come to expect from Helena Dixon, this latest episode of Kitty’s adventures can be read as a standalone, but it’s well worth following the whole series.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Helena Dixon is the author of the internationally bestselling Miss Underhay cozy mystery series. She is a Black Country girl living in Devon. Married to the same man for over thirty-five years she has three daughters, a cactus called Spike, and a crazy cockapoo. She was the winner of the RNA Romance Prize in 2007 and the RNA Love Story of the Year 2010.
ABOUT THE BOOK
A stream of bikes speeding along the road in the annual cycle race. And one in a ditch upside down, wheels still spinning… with a body lying next to it. Can Kitty Underhay get to the bottom of this?
England, 1938. Kitty Underhay is enjoying a stroll in the Yorkshire town where she and her husband Matt are visiting his family. As she stops to take in the rolling hills, she suddenly sees a most unexpected sight. There’s a bike in the ditch just along the road… and the cyclist is dead.
Abandoning her plans for a picnic with Matt, the pair start to piece together what happened. But there’s more than meets the eye to the man now pushing up daisies. The victim is no stranger; it appears he has unexpected Devon connections. Why is he here? And who is behind his murder? Has his ex-girlfriend hit the brakes? Or could it be the woman he was courting in secret? And the other cyclists aren’t faultless either…
But just as Kitty and Matt set the wheels in motion and the investigation picks up speed, there’s another murder, shaking up the quiet country town further. Then Kitty and Matt realise that they too have been marked by the killer, and the duo need to unearth the connection between the two murders immediately…
Can Kitty and Matt catch the killer before they get to the finish line? Or will it be game over for both of them by the end of the race…?
Fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey or Verity Bright will adore this totally charming murder mystery. The perfect treat for cozy crime fans!
What readers are saying about Helena Dixon:
‘I LOVED this book!… Just perfection. If I had to sum this book up in three words it would be WOW WOW WOW.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
‘Fantastic… I absolutely loved… Unputdownable… Absolutely addictive… Kept me turning the pages late at night!!… I LOVED it.’ Bookworm86, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
‘I could not put this down!! I read this in one sitting. I need more than 5 stars for this book! I absolutely loved it!’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
‘Perfection!… I will be reading Helena’s books for life!… I always go to them when I’m having a good or bad day or in between days lol. Bravo!!!’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Leave a Reply