A surprisingly good light mystery with a delightful cast of characters. Having realised this is the second book in a series I bought and read the first one before this as I am a stickler for reading series of books in order but it is not essential. The main characters are DS Harbinder Kaur a female gay Sikh. Benedict a former monk and now owner of a coffee shack, Edwin an elderly gay retired BBC 4 TV producer and Natilka a Ukranian care worker with various other characters largely made up of crime authors with varying degrees of success. Peggy Smith is a 90 year old lady with a heart condition but seemingly otherwise well is found dead in her chair in Seaview Court Retirement home that also houses Edwin. When carer Natalka finds Peggy Smith dead in her chair, it looks like natural causes, but Natalka has her doubts, particularly when she finds a business card describing Peggy as a “Murder Consultant” and a card in a book with the words "we're coming for you". Suspicious, Natilka calls the police. DS Harbinder Kaur attends but initially the death is believed to be natural causes given Peggy's age but ever persistent Natilka, Edwin and Benedict believe Peggy was murdered and decide to investigate. Other authors with links to Peggy receive the same cards and then other deaths occur leading the amateur sleuths to continue to investigate. This was a lovely easy read not normally the kind of book I would read but I hope the series continues as I will surely read them Thanks to Netgalley UK and Queries books for allowing me to read this Arc book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is a new venture for Elly Griffths and my heart sank: an asian lesbian detective seemed like the last resort of a desperate author devoid of ideas. But Elly Griffiths betrays no loss of touch as found in her Max Mephisto and Ruth Galloway novels. Perhaps a bit Midsomer Murders meets the Thursday Murder Club but enjoyable nonetheless. I was, however, discomfitted that the heroine found herself discomforted.

The latest book from Elly Griffiths is everything you would like from one of the best crime writers in Britain today. Her story telling slowly grips the reader around the throat, and just reading one chapter rapidly turns into half the book a couple of hours later. This is a brand new, standalone book, and she has created likable characters, even if some may be rather flawed, but highly enjoyable. Set in Shoreham by Sea, where watching the bacon slicer in the butchers is considered excitement, there are a couple of murders. Starting with the death of a ‘murder consultant’ her carer who discovered her, dead in her chair manages to get her neighbour, and the local café stand owner involved. With the reintroduction of DS Harbinder Kaur we get an end of the pier show, of odd characters who work well together. As the intrepid bunch set out to investigate the murder of Peggy the ‘Murder Consultant’ and the death of a writer. The take a drive to a crime festival, in Aberdeen. It is in Aberdeen that things take a turn for the worst, and the plot picks up pace. Where eventually the killer will be revealed when they are all back safe and sound in Shoreham. Shoreham by Sea has never been so exciting!

This is a slickly pacey novel set, largely, in a sleepy seaside town. It shouldn't be suspicious when a woman in her nineties is found dead - she was sitting quietly, in an undisturbed flat, by a window - but her friends think they know better. Peggy Smith was not your usual sort of old lady, with her flat full of crime novels many of which name her in the acknowledgments, and a business card naming her as a 'Murder Consultant'. A mixed bag of people - a Ukrainian carer, an ex-monk barista and a fellow resident of Seaview Court called Edwin - set about investigating her life and death, roping in DS Harbinder Kaur along the way. There are a few more bodies, a lot of authors, the odd road trip and an awful lot of twists and turns. -- This is a crime which tends slightly towards the 'cosy' but not because there is no death, blood or danger. The cosiness in these books comes from the essential normalness of the characters: the joy comes from the fact that, like most normal people, they are all wonderfully individual and a little bit daft. There's plenty of humour among the corpses and a hefty dose of development among all the personalities involved. I hope we catch up with Edwin, Natalka and Benedict in DS Kaur's future cases but, even if we don't, they are probably real enough to have adventures without being in a book...

This has convinced me that I really do enjoy modern versions of Agatha Christie-style murder mysteries. Not entirely realistic as I’m sure no detective in charge of a murder case would be able to disclose to members of the general public the information that DS Harbinder does in ‘The Postscript Murders’. But Griffiths somehow makes this acceptable and ensures it contributes to the lightheartedness of this novel. The prologue really sets the tone and the unlikely mix of characters work well together to create an entertaining read that also reminds me of ‘The Thursday Murder Club. Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus (Hachette) for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.