Murder at the Cathedral (An Exham on Sea Mystery #4) by @FrancesEvesham #FridayReads #cozy murder/mystery

• Author: Frances Evesham
• Published: February 2016 by AinsleyAssociates
• Category: Cozy Murder Mystery
• 

The respectable ladies of the Knitters’ Guild plan a surprise for the cathedral city. The surprise isn’t meant to include murder…

Libby Forrest and her friend Angela Miles are enjoying coffee and a chat in Wells Cathedral café. Angela is a volunteer guide at the cathedral. They are unintentionally witnessing an argument between Libby’s lodger, Mandy and her boyfriend, Steve who is Angela’s nephew. As Mandy storms out Angela’s phone rings. There’s been a murder…..

Giles Temple, a historian, has been researching at the cathedral library and was found that morning by Dr Phillips, the librarian. Libby is determined not to involve herself in another investigation. She is busy organising her son’s wedding, her own business and her plans to set up a private investigation service with Max Ramshore. Not only that, she had found herself agreeing to marry Max as well and was getting cold feet about giving up her independence. 

Whenever Libby thought about Max her heart fluttered, but her head throbbed with questions. Would they tire of one another if they lived and worked too closely together? Could she give up her independence and walk away from the business she’d struggled so hard to grow, just as it was taking off? What about Mandy? Libby couldn’t let her apprentice down. She needed a few days’ breathing space, with time to think and no crime investigations, while Max finished his current assignment. Any inquiry into a suspicious death was best left to the police.

Libby’s curiosity gets the better of her, and along with the desire to help and support her friend, she couldn’t resist and is drawn into the investigation regardless of her other commitments, getting involved in a ‘yarn bombing’ knitting circle in the process.

These are enjoyable fun reads, written well and easy to read with eccentric and quirky characters I can’t help but like. Libby especially is engaging and believable. I learned something new too, having never heard of chained libraries before. The characters continue to evolve and the storylines are getting better all the time. And another great cover image. Everything necessary for a cozy murder mystery is included; unexpected twists, intrigue, some suspense and touching scenes, not to mention a bit of romance. I love the locale, especially as I’m familiar with areas where the action takes place. The plot held my interest to the end and, of course, last but no means least there’s Bear!

I chose to read and review Murder at the Cathedral based on an ARC supplied by the author/publisher.

About Frances Evesham

One day, Frances Evesham walked on a beach in peaceful Somerset and came upon a unique nine-legged Victorian lighthouse. Her first cozy crime story, Murder at the Lighthouse, was born.

Now, she writes mystery stories: the Exham on Sea contemporary cozy crime series set in a small Somerset seaside town, and the Thatcham Hall Mysteries, 19th Century historical mystery romances set in Victorian England. 

She collects poison recipes and cooks with a glass of wine in one hand and a bunch of chillies in the other, her head full of ingenious ways to dispatch her victims – in fiction, of course. 

She’s been a speech therapist and a road sweeper, and worked in the criminal courts seeing crime from all points of view: victim, prosecution and defence. Spending time in the dock and the witness box alongside witnesses taught her more about motive, means and opportunity than she could ever have imagined.

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