Calamity in Camberwell (The London Murder Mysteries #3) by Alice Castle #Giveaway #BookReview @rararesources

I’m delighted to be joining the blog tour for Calamity in Camberwell, the third of the London Murder Mysteries by Alice Castle, organised by Rachel’s Random Resources. 

My Review

Beth Haldane is missing seeing her friend, Jen, at the school gates. Jen was the only other single mother in Dulwich, until she remarried and moved to Camberwell.

Beth’s friends are trying to persuade her to start dating again, after eight years of widowhood, and have installed an app on her phone. Beth is decidedly undecided about the whole dating thing and uses all the delaying tactics she can think of. She’s also feeling guilty about organising after school tutoring for her son, Ben. She really just wants to give him the best chance of securing a place at Wyatt’s, the most prestigious boy’s school in the area and Beth’s workplace. 

Beth decides stop at Jen’s for tea and gossip on her way to pick up Ben from his tutor’s house, hoping to make it a weekly catch up. Agonising over Ben and the dating issue aren’t the only things Beth has to worry about as she begins to get the feeling all is not well with Jen and her new husband when she sees Jeff’s active profile on her dating app.

It couldn’t be could it? But yes, there, smiling out of her phone, was a big bear of a man with rumpled dark hair and a look of rueful amusement, all cuddly in a gorgeous sweater.

It was Jen’s new husband, Jeff.

What? Wait a minute. This didn’t make any sense at all. They’d just got married, for heaven’s sake. She’d seen them only, how long ago? A week, barely, and they’d seemed so happy.

It seems Beth’s tendency to find trouble is alive and well, although this story has a slower pace and Beth doesn’t immediately find herself plunged into a difficult situation. There’s more emphasis on characterisation and Beth’s contemplations about Ben—his schooling and how he would feel were she to start seeing someone—and why her thoughts keep turning to a certain policeman. But eventually her attempts to find out if there’s anything amiss in her friend’s life puts her right back in the middle of a dangerous puzzle, propelling her into DI Harry York’s orbit once more. 

I’m really enjoying Alice Castle’s writing—the skilfully descriptive prose and dry humour directed at the more well to do Dulwich residents. Another good mystery with a well defined, wonderful cast of characters. I was drawn into this immediately and, as with the previous books, it covers relevant social issues which are handled with care. It’s good to know there are more coming.

About the Book

Beth Haldane, SE21’s answer to Miss Marple, worries she is losing a kindred spirit when her friend Jen, the only other single mum in the playground, suddenly gets married and moves to Camberwell. 

Soon Beth has to face much more pressing fears. Has something gone horribly wrong with Jen’s marriage? What is her husband really up to? Why is her daughter leading Beth’s son astray? And where on earth IS Jen anyway? 

As Beth’s friends push her to start dating again, Beth turns to Met Police DI Harry York for help. But will they solve the mystery in time, or will it turn out that in south east London, not everyone gets to live happily ever after?

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Giveaway

Win a signed copy of Calamity in Camberwell (Open Internationally) 

Please click the Rafflecopter link.

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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About the Author

Before turning to crime, Alice Castle was a UK newspaper journalist for The Daily Express, The Times and The Daily Telegraph. Her first book, Hot Chocolate, set in Brussels and London, was a European hit and sold out in two weeks. 

Death in Dulwich was published in September 2017 and has been a number one best-seller in the UK, US, Canada, France, Spain and Germany. A sequel, The Girl in the Gallery was published in December 2017 to critical acclaim. Calamity in Camberwell, the third book in the London Murder Mystery series, will be published this summer, with Homicide in Herne Hill due to follow in early 2019.  Alice is currently working on the fifth London Murder Mystery adventure. Once again, it will feature Beth Haldane and DI Harry York.

Alice is also a mummy blogger and book reviewer via her website: https://www.alicecastleauthor.com