The Perfect Cornish Murder by Fiona Leitch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Perfect Cornish Murder is the 3rd-book in Fiona Leitch’s Nosey Parker Mystery series. I love this series so much.
I read them a little out of order, so even though this is number 3 out of 7, it was actually the last one I had left to read, which makes me sad.
If you are unfamiliar with these books, let me give you a brief breakdown and perhaps inspire you to give them a go.
This is an Adult Cozy Mystery series that follows Jodie Parker, who resigned from the Metropolitan Police Force in London after a close call. She then returned to her native village of Penstowan in Cornwall, with her teen daughter, Daisy, and their Pomeranian, Germaine.
Jodie is now pursuing her love of cooking and has created her own catering company, which is starting to gain some traction in the local area.
Old habits die hard though, so any time a crime occurs in Jodie’s proximity, she’s gonna look into it. This has brought her into contact with charming DCI, Nathan Withers. This is one connection she’s hoping will continue to grow just as much as her catering business.
In this installment, a film crew has come to Penstowan and many regulars are getting involved in the process as extras, including Jodie’s daughter, Mom and best friend, Tony.
Even Jodie begrudgingly participates, swept up in all the hubbub. She’s hates her assigned costume and finds the set rather boring, but when things start going wrong, including the injury of their caterer, Jodie takes over that role and starts to feel much more in her element.
As more and more mysterious incidents occur on set, they delay filming, and rumors of a curse start to circulate. It’s not until someone ends up dead though, that Jodie actually begins to believe that may be true.
DCI Withers, never far away, arrives to investigate, but it’s Jodie’s work behind that scenes that could ultimately end up cracking the case.
Yet again I was absolutely swept up in this mystery and the drama of Penstowan. I have come to love this cast of characters so much over the course of these 7-books. I’m honestly hoping it never ends.
Every time I crack a new one, I can’t wait to see what sort of hi-jinks Jodie and friends and are going to get up to next. She’s such a good Mum and daughter. The relationship dynamics in these stories are one of my favorite elements.
This one was really fun too because of the whole idea of a film crew invading this small town, and all the high level people that were bandying about way outside their natural environments.
The mystery was well plotted and did succeed in keeping me on my toes. I definitely had theories, but it was fun watching all the pieces slot into place.
I also loved getting more with Jodie and Nathan. They were fairly new to each other at this point, so it was fun for me to get to go back and sort of relive how it all began.
If you love Cozy Mysteries, particularly those set in a village, or small town, that have humorous characters and happy vibes, you should definitely check this series out. It’s heart-warming, amusing and a great escape from reality.
I haven’t heard an announcement for an 8th-book yet, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this series continues for many years to come.
I will happily read each and every one!