Hi friends! So today I'm going to be doing a review on "The Potting Shed Murder" by Paula Sutton. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Goodreads synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers so please keep that in mind!)
"Welcome to the sleepy village of Pudding Corner, a quintessentially English haven of golden cornfields, winding cobbled lanes... and murder.
Daphne Brewster has left London behind and is settling into her family's new life in rural Norfolk, planting broad beans in raised beds and vintage hunting for their farmhouse.
But when the local headmaster is found dead in his potting shed, amongst his allotment cabbages, the village is ablaze: Who would kill beloved Mr Papplewick, pillar of the community? Daphne soon comes to realise perhaps the countryside isn't so idyllic after all...
When the headmaster's widow points her finger at Minnerva, Daphne's new friend, Daphne vows to clear her name. Sneaking into the crime scene and chasing down rumours gets her into hot water with the local inspector - until she comes across a faded photograph that unearths a secret buried for forty years...
They say nothing bad ever happens in close - knit Pudding Corner, but Daphne is close to the truth - dangerously close...
There's death amongst the dahlias... A truly unputdownable whodunnit by Paula Sutton - otherwise known as Instagram's happiest influencer: Hill house vintage, the queen of cottagecore - an unforgettable new voice in cosy crime. Perfect for fans of Richard Osman, Janice Hallett and Richard Coles."
I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley, however all opinions are my own.
So the reason I wanted to read this book is because the description of this book sounded like it would be such a good read. I'm not going to lie, as much as I did enjoy the overall story, I just found myself a little bored through some of the book. All of the juicy bits of the book were so exciting and took me by surprise that when it come down to the "cosiness" of it all I just wanted more! I do understand that this is to show how unchanging this small village in Norfolk is supposed to be and to give us such a huge amount of information of the characters within but all I could keep my mind on was who did it? This however gave us multiple perspectives throughout the book, mainly focusing on Daphne's, and this was something I really enjoyed. I am also so appreciative of the author for putting who everyone is in the start of the book with a little description of each character because then if I ever got anyone mixed up (which I did because I'm really bad with names) I was able to go back to the start and just give myself a little reminder. I also found it really difficult to feel empathy with a lot of the characters because the whole village was honestly given off rich white tory vibes, and I found myself only loving 3 characters throughout the book. I did not expect the twists and turns that we were going to get throughout the book (and trust me there were a bunch of them!) and I actually found myself audibly gasping. It was also interesting to see how differently Daphne was treated by certain characters due to her being a POC, as well as Minnerva for her being a traveller. It definitely puts into perspective how nasty the real world can be. I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good cosy mystery book as it is such an easy read. However as much as I love mystery I think maybe cosy mystery isn't the genre for me.
My Favourite Characters:
Patsy: Okay so Patsy is one of the side characters but I actually adored her regardless of how nosey she was. I loved getting to learn more about her throughout the book and I loved the character growth we got with her.
Minerva: Minerva is such a gentle angel and I loved her so much. I just wanted to wrap her up and give her the biggest cuddle.
Daphne: Okay so yes Daphne is the main character but she's got a heart of gold and took no shit. I was rooting for her throughout the whole book!
My Least Favourite Characters:
Marianne: Marianne was the one who gave off the biggest tory vibes. I honestly hated her so much and whilst most of the other characters seemed to gain some redeeming qualities, she absolutely did not.
Augusta: Listen, I did end up feeling sorry for Augusta. It didn't make me like her any more though. She does seem to have a little bit of character growth at the end but it wasn't enough for me to forgive everything that she had done up until that point.
Timothy: Timothy had literally the smallest part in the story but I loathed him. I'm so glad we didn't get any more of him within the book.
I gave this book a 3/5 star rating on Goodreads!
This book is going to be released 4th April 2024!
What did you think of this book? Who were your favourite or least favourite characters? Do you have any books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!
Have a wonderful day!
Love, Doe!
No comments:
Post a Comment