Many thanks to Net Galley, Quercus Books and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.
Elly Griffith’s The Stranger Diaries was one of my favorite books in 2019 and the author has brilliantly followed it up with an exciting and thrilling sequel The Postscript Murders.
Harbinder Kaur returns as the much-loved DS of West Sussex CID along with Neil in this murder mystery which is more of cozy fiction than a police procedural. Harbinder’s self-deprecating humor is spot on and her quirky and lovable character definitely brings a smile on reader’s face.
Joining Harbinder in this mystery set in the world of publishers, agents, editors and murder consultants are the three stooges Benedict a coffee shop owner and ex-monk, Edwin, a retired BBC broadcaster and Natalka a carer for the aged and a mathematic whiz whose razor sharp mind, in fact, hooks on to the discrepancies in the death of the 90 year old sprightly crime aficionado Peggy Smith. The trio’s antics as amateur sleuths are the most charming part of the story.
The story unfolds thru each of these characters and drama heightens as one death follows another, taking us thru the seaside coastal town and Aberdeen. The locations in the story have been described so wonderfully that one can’t help but feel enchanted and long to be a part of the scenic locales.
As the plot thickens with Ukrainian mafia, Russian spies, war activities of the past, the atmosphere intensifies before Harbinder can bring everything to a conclusion.
It was enormously witty and comical to see Harbinder’s parents and their ‘neither in India nor in England ways of adaptation and even the mention of akki roti and parathas.
Be ready, dear readers to be charmed by the still staying-with- parents, gay, Harbinder Kaur of Sikh origins who loves to play Panda Pop.
PS: thanks for the murders.
The death of a ninety-year-old woman with a heart condition should absolutely not be suspicious. DS Harbinder Kaur certainly sees nothing to concern her in carer Natalka’s account of Peggy Smith’s death.
But when Natalka reveals that Peggy lied about her heart condition and that she had been sure someone was following her…
And that Peggy Smith had been a ‘murder consultant’ who plotted deaths for authors, and knew more about murder than anyone has any right to…
And when clearing out Peggy’s flat ends in Natalka being held at gunpoint by a masked figure…
Well then DS Harbinder Kaur thinks that maybe there is no such thing as an unsuspicious death after all.
From the sleepy seaside town of Shoreham, to the granite streets of Edinburgh and the shores of Lake Baikal, The Postscript Murders is a literary mystery for fans of Antony Horowitz, Agatha Christie and anyone who’s ever wondered just how authors think up such realistic crimes…
PS: Trust no one.
This review is published in my blog https://rainnbooks.com/; Amazon India, Goodreads, and Twitter.