Hate Bale by Stephanie Dagg #Review #PublicationDay

On its Publication Day, we return to rural France for Stephanie Dagg's latest novel, Hate Bale which is described as a rural cosy mystery. I'd like to add that it has just a soupcon of romance as well.  

Grumbling guests and escaping piglets are precisely what Martha doesn’t need. She’s already struggling to run a holiday cottage and a rather large smallholding single-handedly. Since her husband Mark died, three years ago, her rural property in France, beautiful as it is, has become an increasingly heavy millstone around her neck.

So whilst she’s horrified to stumble across a corpse at the local farm supplies shop, it does at least distract her from her own woes. Best friend Lottie, the cheese to Martha’s chalk, swoops in to offer moral support, and encourages Martha to join her in some unofficial sleuthing. 

Meanwhile, police officer Philippe Prudhomme, a former fellow chess-player of Mark’s, undertakes a rather more professional investigation. 

However, despite everyone’s efforts the killer remains at large. And when more bodies (one and a bit, to be precise) come Martha’s way, it definitely feels like he’s closing in on her… 

There’s suspense, humour and excitement in this entertaining cosy mystery set in the French countryside.  

My Thoughts

 This is full of fun and humour- just right if you are looking for a read to escape into. Martha and Lottie prove to be entertaining sleuths as they track down the perpetrators of some fairly grisly murders which are all portrayed within this cosy mystery. Martha's approach to life makes you smile, as do the other locals and even the holiday makers who complicate her busy life. The author conjures up life in rural, provincial France which seems to have its own rules, incomprehensible to the city dwellers.

    With a menagerie of animals to tend to, Martha is just coming out of the fog of grief she has felt after the death of her husband and she is ready for change. As she stumbles upon one dead body after another, the French police's reaction makes you smile and I loved both the author's wry comments as well as the laugh out loud moments she has created. I am hoping that we can return to see what Martha does next- there is plenty of mileage left in these characters yet.

In short: An entertaining romp through some grisly finds.

About the Author

I'm an English expat living in France, having moved here with my family in 2006 after fourteen years as an expat in Ireland. Taking on seventy-five acres with three lakes, two hovels and one cathedral-sized barn, not to mention an ever increasing menagerie of animals, has made for exciting times. The current array of creatures ranges from alpacas to zebra finches, with pretty much everything in-between! Before we came to France all we had was a dog and two chickens, so it's been a steep learning curve. 

I'm married to Chris and we have three bilingual TCKs (third culture kids) who are resilient and resourceful and generally wonderful.     

I'm a traditionally-published author of many children's books, and am now self-publishing too. As well as being an author, I’m also a part-time editor and, with Chris, manager of three carp fishing lakes. My hobbies are cycling, geocaching, knitting and sewing.

You can read my review of Stephanie's Haircuts, Hens and Homicide here and Deck the Halles here.

You can follow Stephanie here: Twitter   |  Facebook 

                                                   |  Website

Book link: Amazon UK  

Thanks to Stephanie Dagg and Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.