Bunting, Books, Roses — and One Very Inconvenient Body
Summer has arrived in Bramblewick.
The bunting is up. The cakes are iced. The village gardeners are guarding their prize blooms with the intensity normally associated with international diplomacy.
And Clara Bellamy is hoping, just for once, that nobody gets murdered.
After the decidedly troublesome events surrounding The Crooked Bookmark, Clara's second-hand bookshop, she has been looking forward to something wonderfully ordinary.
The annual Bramblewick Village Fête appears to be exactly that.
There will be homemade cakes, preserves, second-hand books, flower displays, produce competitions, cups of tea and the traditional collection of village rivalries that everyone insists are perfectly friendly.
Clara has agreed to run the book stall.
Mabel Finch has entered the preserves competition while repeatedly announcing that she does not care whether she wins.
Monty has developed an unhealthy interest in the refreshment tent.
Everything is proceeding precisely as expected.
Until somebody finds a body.
Welcome Back to Bramblewick
The Body at the Village Fête is Book Two in The Bramblewick Bookshop Mysteries, my light-hearted British cosy mystery series set around Clara Bellamy and her wonderfully unpredictable neighbours.
This time the trouble begins with flowers.
The centrepiece of Bramblewick's summer fête is the fiercely contested Bramblewick Rose Cup, a competition capable of turning otherwise respectable gardeners into suspiciously determined adversaries.
Presiding over the judging is celebrated horticultural expert and former television personality Sir Julian Marlowe.
Julian is charming when there is an audience.
Away from the cameras, he is rather less charming.
Before lunch, he has insulted competitors, reopened old arguments and managed to remind several villagers exactly why they dislike him.
Then Sir Julian is discovered dead inside the produce marquee.
Suddenly, Bramblewick has rather more to worry about than who grew the best roses.
Everyone Had a Reason to Dislike Him
There is no shortage of suspects.
A gardening rivalry that has simmered for years.
A humiliation nobody has forgotten.
Secrets hidden behind immaculate flower beds.
Old grudges.
New lies.
And several people who would very much prefer Clara Bellamy to stop asking questions.
Unfortunately for them, Clara has never been particularly good at leaving questions unanswered.
Especially when the answers do not quite add up.
With Mabel enthusiastically providing assistance whether requested or not, and Monty continuing his own investigation into the disappearance of several sausage rolls, Clara begins looking beyond the bunting and prize certificates.
Because somebody attending the Bramblewick Village Fête knows exactly what happened.
And somebody is lying.
A Cosy Mystery with a Very British Setting
One of the pleasures of writing the Bramblewick books is putting murder somewhere it really ought not to belong.
A quiet second-hand bookshop.
A village fête.
Places filled with familiar faces, ordinary routines and supposedly harmless eccentricities.
That contrast is at the heart of the series.
Bramblewick might look peaceful, but villages have long memories.
Everyone knows everyone.
Everyone remembers something.
And practically everyone knows something they probably should have mentioned earlier.
Clara must sort genuine clues from village gossip while navigating competitive gardeners, suspicious residents and the increasingly unavoidable possibility that the murder has roots stretching far beyond the fête itself.
Naturally, there will also be tea.
Quite a lot of tea.
Clara Investigates. Mabel Interferes. Monty Looks for Biscuits.
Readers who enjoyed The Murder at Bramblewick Bookshop will find plenty that is familiar in Book Two.
Clara remains quietly observant, persistent and far more capable of recognising dishonesty than some people realise.
Mabel remains incapable of allowing an investigation to proceed without her contribution.
And Monty remains primarily motivated by food.
But The Body at the Village Fête brings a new mystery, new suspects and another collection of Bramblewick secrets into the open.
Behind the flower displays and homemade jam is a proper puzzle: motives, hidden relationships, misleading evidence and the uncomfortable realisation that respectable appearances can conceal decidedly unpleasant truths.
So pour yourself a cup of tea, find a comfortable chair and return to Bramblewick.
Just be careful when entering the produce marquee.
Someone has already had a rather bad afternoon.
The Body at the Village Fête
Book Two of The Bramblewick Bookshop Mysteries
Written by Robin Wickens
Available Only from Amazon: £3.99 or Free to Read.
If you enjoy traditional British village mysteries, eccentric characters, bookshops, humour and murder without graphic violence, welcome back to Bramblewick.
The kettle is already on.
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