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All my life I lived with my grandmother until her passing a year ago, and I was raised on a steady diet of Miss Marple, Murder She Wrote, and Rosemary and Thyme. These two facts combined mean that I have an extremely soft spot for the elderly, especially senior citizens getting in trouble and solving crimes, and that's probably the only reason I'm giving this 3 stars instead of 2. I loved the humour and camaraderie of this book. The ladies don’t take themselves too seriously -and their workmates are a constant source of support. By working together, mysteries can be solved, and the reputation of the school can hopefully be saved. The whole team of dinner ladies and friendly teachers make all the difference.
Dinner Lady Detectives Series by Hannah Hendy - Goodreads
MY THOUGHTS: There have been a few good muder-mysteries released this year featuring older protagonists. I was hoping that The Dinner Lady Detectives was going to join the group but it became evident very early on that this was not to be. I did try to persevere, but the dumbing down of characters was too much. I didn’t find humour in it. Mr Weaver the maths teacher from Summerview secondary school is missing , and unfortunately is found dead. The Dinner Lady Detectives by Hannah Hendy is a fabulous contemporary cozy mystery that is just perfect in every way! This is a debut book for Ms. Hendy and the start, of what I expect, will be a fantastic series and literary career.
This is, in my humble opinion, a very successful debut and definitely a series that I am looking forward to keeping up with. It is described as "a delightful, quintessentially British cosy mystery" and that's exactly what you get. This is the 4th instalment in the Dinner Lady Detectives series. And I feel it is the best one yet.
The Dinner Lady Detectives by Hannah Hendy | Waterstones
I liked the synopsis of this one. I do enjoy cozy mysteries and the setting in Dewstow, South Wales UK was intriguing. The dinner ladies, Clementine and Margery work together in the cafeteria of a school, serving the students in the lunch line (why do they say dinner)? A British thing maybe? Clementine and Margery are attending the school harvest festival when they see two of the male teachers having a disagreement and both disappear from the event. Margery and Clementine are a hoot. They live in a small village in the English countryside and are Educational Centre Nourishment Consultants (aka Lunch Ladies) at the local school. They are partners, and sleuthing partners end up being their second “day job” as they attempt to get to the bottom of, what they feel, is a mysterious death of their less than perfect coworker, Caroline. As they stumble their way into an investigation, we can see a few twists, turns, and a true mystery unfold. I was surprised a few times, and really enjoyed how the story unfolds. Margery and Clementine smell a rat when one of their colleagues is found dead in the walk-in freezer of the school kitchen and so begins their unorthodox investigation into her death which results in all manner of escapades. There are some very funny moments (the suspended school ceiling being a particular highlight for me 🤣🤣) amongst a great and engaging plot with excellent characters throughout.Margery and Clementine are enjoying a peaceful life together in the small, idyllic town of Dewstow, and eagerly awaiting retirement (and the next episode of Antiques Roadshow). But their calm life is shattered when their kitchen manager is found dead. The police are adamant that it’s an open-and-shut case of accidental death. But Margery and Clementine are convinced there’s something far more nefarious going on, and they take it upon themselves to investigate. As they inch closer to the truth, it becomes clear that someone will stop at nothing to keep the pair quiet. The Dinner Lady Detectives, Margery and Clementine Butcher-Baker find themselves twisted up in the suspicious murder of Mr Weaver. I read the premise and thought it would be such fun to read about lunch ladies solving a crime. There were a couple of scenes that were "Lucy & Ethel" funny so I'll give it three stars. The kitchen crew was not much fun as a whole and I did not connect with Margery and Clementine. The whole thing just seemed so haphazard and cluttered to me. I'm sure many will enjoy this more than I did. Just not my cup of tea. Margery and Clementine are dinner ladies, or to give them their official title 'Education Centre Nourishment Consultants' (really? is that what they're called now?!?!?!), and they are an absolute blast. Their relationship absolutely shines through from start to finish, it's beautiful and very authentic feeling.
An Unfortunate Christmas Murder: A charming and festive
This was a cosy, easy read with the right amount of mystery, and the right amount of humour. I was kept guessing throughout and couldn't put this book down. The perfect, bingeworthy book for snuggling up on the sofa with a blanket and a hot drink. To be fair, this was a much-needed palette cleanser after quite a few rather heavy books! It was light,, funny, quirky and had Richard Osman-style vibes - a cosy, autumnal read! I really did like the main characters, and the mystery was certainly fun to go along with! It is the fourth book in a series which did worry me slightly, as I haven’t read the others, but apart from spoiling the previous books (to be fair you can’t have a series without referencing past outcomes!) it worked as a stand-alone which I was grateful for! I feel that comedy is one of the hardest genres to write, because absolutely everyone likes to think they have a good sense of humour, and this is... rather rarely the case, at least when it comes to actually writing comedy. It's a particularly thorny issue when it comes to cozy mysteries, because you have to balance the quaint light-hearted comedy with the fact that, y'know... I don't want to spoil it too much for people who haven't read the book yet but I would definitely recommend. It was a lovely lighthearted read (even though there was a murder!) and I could easily have devoured the book in one sitting. It was a dark and stormy night. Lightning flashed and thunder rolled across the sky. Rain spattered a mysterious, hooded stranger who peered over thDewstow, small town that represents the safest place to live and how the neighborhood represents. Well, for a starter it showed that whenever gossip around and something can be held to be gossip, that certain person could spread the words all over. What is happening and can be seen clearly not only in the small town but what that character does, represent it all. Next, about the pond that Margaery and Clementine broke when they had a car crash was quite hilarious. That would be a problem in a small town with a talkative neighborhood which they had at that time. The hilarious pond which everybody hates but never bothers too much to talk about it represents what it would be like in a small town as Dewstow represents in this book. Also, this speedometer stuff on this small town is well-known that no driving fast in this town, you old lad. British Culture, showed everywhere throughout the book in the perfect amount of understanding as a non-English. Especially the iconic thing about British people love when it comes about "Tea" We also hear about minor characters such as "Mrs Melon" the Greengrocer and "Mrs Large" the small music teacher. It seemed like a game of Happy Families. Considering the two main ladies have the surnames Butcher and Baker, I think this was taken a little too far. Had me hooked from the start right until the end. It was just a lovely cosy read that felt like coming home on a cold and dark night . I loved it.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Margery & Clementine are fabulous. I adore them so much. They are hilarious, sweet, gutsy and adorable. The bond and love they have for each other, (and the representation), made my heart smile.
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