Mostly Murders

‘Gran,’ Maddie hissed, though she couldn’t help but laugh too. ‘You can’t say that.’
‘I’m eighty-two; I can say anything I like,’ Nor replied

Book 1 in the Maddie Penrose series. Maddie Penrose is suffering from burnout in her demanding job as a chef in the fancy London restaurant, Chez Lucie. Meanwhile, her eighty-two-year-old grandmother Nor is struggling to manage her Cornish farm and teashop on her own. The solution is simple, and Maddie packs her bags and goes to stay with her grandmother for a while, to help in the teashop and recover from her stress.

Maddie writes lists to calm her busy brain, and loves watching Agatha Christie reruns on TV. When Nor’s neighbour finds the body of a young woman on his farm, Maddie springs into action as an amateur sleuth, scouring the countryside for clues while writing lists in her grandmothers’ old recipe book, a fitting touch as Maddie sees sleuthing like cooking, as a series of steps to follow to combine seemingly unconnected elements into something coherent.

Murder in a Cornish Teashop has a lot of cozy tropes. There is a quirky grandma with lots of spirit, loads of baking and cooking, two cats named Crumpet and Toast, understated humour, idyllic surroundings, quirky locals, an attractive and sympathetic local cop, an emphasis on the difference between London city life and the Cornish countryside, various likely suspects who all have motives, and multiple deaths. If you love lists, the Cornish countryside and clotted cream, this is one for you.

Cozy mystery