Mostly Murders

The Domino Murders, that’s what they’ll call them. One murder leads to the next. A domino effect. Toppling people instead of pieces, Which means, like the detective said, there are more to come.

Book 1 in The Charity Shop Detective Agency series.

Fiona Sharp is a retired volunteer at a charity shop called Dogs Need Nice Homes. She works there with her friends Sue, called Partial Sue because she is partial to the use of the word partial, and Daisy, who is in her sixties and therefore a youngster compared to Fiona and Partial Sue who are both in their seventies. Their work at the charity shop is a peaceful affair, consisting of sorting through donations, having tea and cake, taking turns reading the latest crime novels and keeping an eye on their rival charity shop across the street, the Cats Alliance run by the obnoxious Sophie. But one day a donation box has an unpleasant surprise inside, and when one of their favourite customers is found dead with a domino in her hand, Fiona, Sue and Daisy channel their inner Miss Marple and form the Charity Shop Detective Agency.

The Charity Shop Detective Agency is a fun, cozy mystery with lots of heart. The humour isn’t the laugh-out-loud, shocking kind of funny, but rather a gentle, heartfelt, and clever kind of funny as our intrepid senior trio fumble and bumble their way through their unofficial murder investigation. They may be crime fiction fans, but as they get hoodwinked by an old man in a wheelchair, attempt to bribe a delivery guy with charity shop items, and try to use knockoff, twenty pence custard creams as a security system, the three realise that finding a killer isn’t as easy as the books make it seem.

Community is a key theme in this novel. The neighbouring shop owners and the fellow citizens in town are all essential for the story, not only as potential witnesses and suspects in the murder case, but also as a quirky, colourful backdrop to Fiona and her friends’ antics and the setting of Southbourne, a sleepy seaside town with a quaint surface and dark secrets lurking beneath the peaceful facade.

If you are in the market for a fun, cozy mystery with older amateur sleuths, eccentric characters, intense charity shop rivalry and a main character who is both strong and vulnerable, give this one a try. The highjinks and escapades of Fiona and her friends are so fun and memorable, and the novel as a whole is relaxing, comforting and very satisfying to read.

Cozy mystery