It is a welcome return to Anita Waller's Kat and Mouse series with the second in the quartet, Murder Unexpected. I thoroughly enjoyed its predecessor, Murder Indeniable and you can read my review here.
Kat and Mouse are back.
Church Deacon Kat and her friend Beth, known as Mouse, have
started a private investigation business in the sleepy village of Eyam.
Kat, whose estranged criminal husband, Leon, is on the run,
has a lot on her plate running the new business whilst heavily pregnant.
When a widow asks the sleuths for help, Kat and Mouse find
themselves searching for the birth mother of the widow’s husband. But when it
becomes clear that the widow isn’t telling the whole truth, Kat and Mouse are
drawn into a deadly chase where nothing is what it seems.
Meanwhile, Kat’s husband has come back to Eyam and has Kat
in his sights.
Can Kat and Mouse solve the case and escape the dangerous
Leon?
This time they might just be out of their depth…
My Thoughts
It feels as if we pick up with Kat, Mouse (Beth) and Doris just where we left off and the writing does not skip a beat. The strength of this series lies in the relationship between the three and their friendship. Their private investigation agency is now up and running and Kat's life has continued after her husband, Leon's disappearance. This is cosy crime but has a slight edge with some violent events. The plot is fairly complex and there are some unexpected twists near the end which are completely satisfying.
I particularly enjoyed the reappearance of DI Tessa Marsden. I love the fact that there is a senior female police officer involved and you do get to find out a little more about her in this novel. I hope that she has a larger part to play in the third one when it is published. The interplay between Kat, Mouse, Doris and the police has a wry side and it is quite amusing to see them one step ahead of the police on more than one occasion, waiting for the police to catch up. The community feel of the beautiful Derbyshire village of Eyam adds warmth to the story and helps to ground the characters.
In short: Cosy crime laced with humour and the odd poignant moment.
About the Author
Anita Waller was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire in 1946.
She married Dave in 1967 and they have three adult children.
She has written and taught creative writing for most of her
life, and at the age of sixty nine sent a manuscript to Bloodhound Books which
was immediately accepted.
In total she has written seven psychological thrillers and
one supernatural novel, and uses the areas of South Yorkshire and Derbyshire as
her preferred locations in her books. Sheffield features prominently.
And now Anita is working on her first series, the Kat and
Mouse trilogy, set in the beautiful Derbyshire village of Eyam. The first in
the series, Murder Undeniable, launched 10 December 2018, and the second in the
series, Murder Unexpected, launches 11 February 2019.
The trilogy has now been promoted to a quartet following the
success of the first book; she is currently working on book three, Murder
Unearthed. Book four doesn’t have a title, a plot, a first sentence… but she
remains convinced it will have!
She is now seventy-three years of age, happily writing most
days and would dearly love to plan a novel, but has accepted that isn’t the way
of her mind. Every novel starts with a sentence and she waits to see where that
sentence will take her, and her characters.
In her life away from the computer in the corner of her
kitchen, she is a Sheffield Wednesday supporter with blue blood in her veins!
The club was particularly helpful during the writing of 34 Days, as a couple of
matches feature in the novel, along with Ross Wallace. Information was needed,
and they provided it.
Her genre is murder - necessary murder.
Thanks to Anita Waller, Bloodhound Books and Emma Welton of Bloodhound Books for a copy of the book and a place on the event.
Catch up with these brilliant bloggers!
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