This cosy seaside village may seem picture perfect, but there are sketchy secrets hiding in plain sight…

Having left the big city behind, Sarah Vane is fully embracing her calmer life in the quaint coastal town of Merstairs. With more time for hobbies, she joins a very popular life drawing class at the local tea shop. But when their usual model, the ever-punctual Mr Williams, doesn’t turn up, Sarah’s worried. He’d been complaining of a cough just last week so she decides to check up on him.

Arriving at his crooked little cottage, it appears the front door isn’t quite shut. Stepping inside, Sarah is shocked to find Mr Williams slumped in his armchair. Casting her eyes down to his coffee table she sees a generous slice of Victoria sponge with one perfectly sized bite taken from it. Is this a case of death by cake?

As Sarah hunts around the cluttered cottage for clues, she finds that Mr Williams had a rather peculiar hobby. It seems that he was an avid collector of ladies’ delicates, and from the looks of it, all the washing lines of Merstairs have been raided. But could his quirky collection really be a motive for murder?

But then the case takes a darker turn when another elderly resident is found dead after eating a slice of red velvet cake. Sarah starts to wonder – why would anyone target pensioners with a sweet tooth? And in a village known for some of the best cakes in the county, can Sarah find the culprit before another life is taken?

A delightfully cozy, utterly compulsive and gripping murder mystery, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Betty Rowlands and Katie Gayle who are looking for their next addictive read.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Sarah had been terrified, when she’d first heard about the Men of Merstairs, imagining a cut-throat gang at the least. But, as she had rapidly discovered, they were people who’d need satnav and a guidebook to fight their way out of a paper bag. And then require extensive counselling afterwards.

Seastore was Merstairs’ biggest and newest supermarket, and was built in a blocky, unchallenging style that suggested the architect had only just finished playing with Lego and didn’t really see why they should stop now.

At this point, they’d had more false starts than an under-fives egg and spoon race.

My Review:

 

This was a fun and entertaining cozy featuring some snoopy seniors who just can’t seem to leave a mystery unsolved or pass up a piece of cake with a cup of strong tea. Ms. Castle laces her stories together with lashings of clever wry humor and populates them with knowable, amusingly detailed, and authentically quirky characters. I am already looking forward to the next installment.