Review (#giftedbook): A Spoonful Of Murder

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for this free digital book in exchange for an honest review! This book will be out 3/17/22.

This is a charming and enjoyable cozy mystery from J.M. Hall! It gave me Thursday Murder Club vibes with the England setting, main characters of a certain age, and of course, murder. The similarities were fairly strong–even one of the police officers was named “Donna” just like in TMC It took me a bit to really get into the story but I was invested by the end. If you have paid attention so far, I’ve become a huge fan of novels with main characters over 50.

The “sleuths” in this story all felt very real–they had insecurities, reservations about “investigating” and relatable pasts–Pat, Thelma, and Liz are all retired teachers which was fun. I can’t say that I definitely felt attached to any particular character but I was interested in them throughout the story. I’m not sure if this is the first in a series or not, but it felt like it! I thought the mystery was crafted well–there were a couple of subplots that all tied into the main plot line and served to add depth (and red herrings) to the story.

Also, the chapter titles were entertaining!

I would read another book by this author, particularly if there is another book with these characters!