I was sent a copy of the book for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.
Today I am on the blog tour for Poison At The Village Show by Catherine Coles. Thanks go to Rachel’s Random Resources and the author for allowing me to be a part of this tour. Please do check out the other stops.
About The Book
With the war finally over the residents of Westleham village are trying to reclaim a sense of normality and the upcoming village show is proving to be a popular event!
Newcomer, Martha Miller, has high hopes for the village show. Since her husband Stan left for work one day and never returned, some of the villagers have treated Martha with suspicion – why would a good man like Stan simply up and leave? Was it something Martha did?
All Martha knows is that she’s hoping that she can win people over and hopefully they’ll but her delicious homemade plum gin, too and she’ll be able to make ends meet.
But as glasses of Martha’s gin are passed around, disaster strikes. Alice Warren, Chairwoman of the village show slumps to the ground after taking a sip. It’s clear she’s been poisoned!
Martha is shocked, but not surprised, when fingers of suspicion once again point her way. Determined to prove her innocence, Martha sets about trying to find the real culprit. But who would kill Alice and why?
Ably helped by the new vicar, Luke Walker, Martha quickly tries to get to the bottom of this mystery. But with the villagers closing ranks it quickly becomes apparent that the only person with a motive is Martha herself….
Will Luke and Martha discover who is behind the poisoning before it’s too late?
My Review
I love a good cosy crime and this was a great introduction to the author and series. I love the character of Martha and I felt awful for her upon finding out about her husband Stan – he ‘left for work’ one day and never returned. During the book, I hoped we might find out what happened and there was some investigation into this but I guess it will follow on into the next book.
She is now living with her sister Ruby and is struggling to afford life in general. She grows her own food and makes her own gin, some of which was kindly donated to the village show. However someone soon drops dead – not long after drinking some of her gin! Martha knows she is not to blame and, with the help of the new village vicar Luke, tries to find out who the culprit actually is. I did not expect who it was at all!
I really like Martha, Ruby and Luke and I can’t wait to see more from them!
About The Author
The daughter of a military father, Catherine was born in Germany and lived most of the first 14 years of her life abroad. She spent her school years devouring everything her school library had to offer! Catherine writes cosy mysteries that take place in the English countryside. Her extremely popular Tommy & Evelyn Christie mysteries are set in 1920s North Yorkshire. Catherine lives in northeast England with her two spoiled dogs who have no idea they are not human!
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Pick up your own copy on Amazon here {affiliate link}.
Thank you so much for your review, and for being part of the blog tour 🙂
This sounds like such a sad and emotional story as she tries to prove she is innocent, I really want to read it now to find out who is the real killer and hopefully the villagers apologise
Oooh I like the sound of this book. Like you I love a good crime to solve! Fantasy or mystery/crime are my go to niches for books!