Reviewed: 11 August 2024

The Murders in Great Diddling

by: Katarina Bivald

Berit Gardner - Book 1

Rating: (3.5/5)

A writer with writer’s block, a couple of murders, and a book festival in a small village in need of tourists

This story is not a quick cozy mystery resolved in a couple hundred pages, no, this is an intricate and intertwined story of murder, mystery, villagers coming together, and the how a writer overcomes writer’s block to write…a cozy mystery.

It seemed to me to lean more mystery thriller with a cozy tone. The prologue sets the stage. What’s it like to be so disliked that a village capitalizes on your death within a couple of weeks.

Book lovers would love all of the wonderful references. I really enjoyed the characters, though some times it felt like too many, because they were not the typical ones you’d find in cozy-ish mysteries. They were not all sunshine and light. The story while interesting and intriguing, is a slow burn. At one point, I thought I was almost done but I hadn’t gotten half way through.

Thinking through other book series, another thing that sets this one apart is that depth of the character backstories. In others, it is dripped through the series where here it is all presented, which also adds to the number of pages and slow burn. Once this was accepted, settled back for the ride. We got to see the characters evolve in this story instead of waiting for future books.

Books are at the center of this story and I loved it. Berit’s need to write the next one in her series. Daphne’s love of them so much she has them all over her home. The book festival the village puts together. The references and quotes to many authors and books. The discord between Daphne and Reginald over the family home being overrun with books. The attempted theft of books. And so on. It was wonderful.

I appreciate the author’s depth in the story but it did feel a bit long. I found that I had to go back over pages because I’d lost track of the plot when I put it down for a break. Despite this, I wanted to know who did it, not so much for justice for Reginald but more for how they managed to pull it off.

A good long read with lots of fun characters and a couple of murders to boot.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #PoisonedPenPress for the opportunity to read and share my thoughts on the story.

Happy Reading!

Release Date: 13-August-2024

Black cover with title in yellow text with a teacup saucer and book between Murders and In Great

NetGalley, Mystery, Female-Led

Plot Summary

The best stories are the ones we didn't know needed to be told

The small, rundown village of Great Diddling is full of stories—author Berit Gardner can feel it. The way the villagers avoid outsiders, the furtive stares and whispers in the presence of newcomers… Berit can sense the edge of a story waiting to be unraveled, and she's just the person to do it. In fact, with a book deadline looming over her and no manuscript (not even the idea for a manuscript, truth be told), Berit doesn't just want this story. She needs it.

Then, while attending a village tea party, Berit becomes part of the action herself. An explosion in the library of the village's grand manor kills a local man, and the resulting investigation and influx of outsiders sends the quiet, rundown community into chaos. The residents of Great Diddling, each one more eccentric and interesting than any character Berit could have invented, rewrite their own narrative and transform the death of one of their own from a tragedy into a new beginning. Taking advantage of Great Diddling's new notoriety, the villagers band together to start a book and murder festival designed to bring desperately-needed tourists to their town. What they couldn't have predicted is how the new story they've begun to tell will change all their lives forever.

Uplifting, charming, and laugh-out-loud funny, The Murders in Great Diddling by New York Times bestselling author Katarina Bivald is a celebration of the life-changing magic of books and the people who love them.