Death in Dulwich - BookWyrm

Paperback, 217 pages

Published May 30, 2017 by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

ISBN:: 978-1-5470-4033-9

(1 review)

Thirty-something single mum Beth Haldane is forced to become Dulwich’s answer to Miss Marple when she stumbles over a murder victim on her first day at work.

To clear her name, Beth is plunged into a cozy mystery that’s a contemporary twist on Golden Age crime classics. But can she pull it off? She already has a bouncy young son, haughty cat, a fringe with a mind of its own and lots of bills to pay, as she struggles to keep up with the yummy mummies of SE21.

Join Beth in #1 of the London Murder Mystery series, as she discovers the nastiest secrets can lurk in the nicest places.

1 edition

Stephanie Jane reviewed Death in Dulwich by Alice Castle

Convincing and satisfying

4 stars

I am not a frequent reader of cosy mysteries, but I was particularly attracted by the striking monochrome and red covers of Alice Castle's London Murder Mysteries series. I'm very glad that I was! Having enthusiastically devoured Death In Dulwich during a single afternoon and evening, I am now looking forward to returning to Beth Haldane's company for The Girl In The Gallery.

Death In Dulwich owes its driving narrative to the unfortunate coincidence of Beth discovering, on her first day in her sought-after new job, that her new boss is no more. Spotting his lifeless blood-soaked body abandoned not entirely inappropriately behind a row of bins, is understandably shocking - all the more so when Beth deduces that she must be the prime suspect for his murder. I liked Beth a lot. A single parent after the untimely death of her husband several years ago, she has somehow managed …

I am not a frequent reader of cosy mysteries, but I was particularly attracted by the striking monochrome and red covers of Alice Castle's London Murder Mysteries series. I'm very glad that I was! Having enthusiastically devoured Death In Dulwich during a single afternoon and evening, I am now looking forward to returning to Beth Haldane's company for The Girl In The Gallery.

Death In Dulwich owes its driving narrative to the unfortunate coincidence of Beth discovering, on her first day in her sought-after new job, that her new boss is no more. Spotting his lifeless blood-soaked body abandoned not entirely inappropriately behind a row of bins, is understandably shocking - all the more so when Beth deduces that she must be the prime suspect for his murder. I liked Beth a lot. A single parent after the untimely death of her husband several years ago, she has somehow managed to afford to continue living in genteel Dulwich while raising her cute son, Ben. Beth and Ben are refreshingly normal and I loved that Castle didn't continually direct her readers to admire some brand-name outfit or aspire to fashionable home decor items. Beth is surrounded by people for whom appearance is everything - and having visited this part of London myself I could easily envisage every aspect of Castle's wickedly accurate descriptions - but she isn't blinded by that social anxiety herself. As readers looking through her eyes we get a good outsider's view.

The story itself is exciting and engaging. I appreciated that it always remains completely believable and Castle refrains from having Beth run around in silly escapades. There's a hint of romantic attraction that, again, feels realistic and although the denouement wasn't exactly what I had foreseen - and I had changed my minnd a few times on the way there too - it was convincing and satisfying. The excellent London scene portrayals briefly put me in mind of Helen Smith's Emily Castles Mysteries series. If you like those, give Alice Castle's London Murder Mysteries a try and vice versa.