Book Reviews

Book Review: A Deadly Night At The Theatre by Katy Watson

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today. I am bringing you my book review for the latest book in the Three Dahlias series by Katy Watson A Deadly Night At The Theatre.

Blurb/Synopsis:

MURDER IS WAITING IN THE WINGS . . .

Actresses Posy Starling and Caro Hooper both gained a name for themselves playing fictional detective Dahlia Lively on screen – but now they are back treading the boards in London’s theatre district, starring in two very different plays.

Their fellow Dahlia, Rosalind King, is in the city to catch their opening weeks, but she can’t help but notice some tensions between Posy and Caro. Perhaps because of Caro’s new friendship with her co-star Luke Burrows, who seems to have a history with Posy . . .

Before Rosalind can get to the bottom of what’s going on, Luke is found dead. Worse, his body is found in Posy’s dressing room – with Posy standing over him, covered in his blood.

The West End is in uproar, but the cast of the two plays have closed ranks. Posy needs her fellow Dahlias to prove her innocence – but first she has to convince them that she didn’t do it.

The play’s the thing… but when all their suspects are actors, how can the Dahlias tell what’s real, and what’s just theatre?

Whether you’ve read the whole series, or are discovering the Three Dahlias novels for the first time, this is the perfect murder mystery to escape into if you love Agatha Christie, Jessica Fellowes and Janice Hallett.

My Review:

This series follows Rosalind, Caro and Posy, three women of various ages who have at one time in their lives played the character of Dahlia Lively, all three of them are actresses. In the first book they get off to a rocky start at a Dahlia Lively convention where their host is murdered, and they have to work together to find out who the murderer is. As the series has progressed they have formed a friendship that has been fun to explore as they solve different cases together.

This next adventure is a little different. As the novel opens you become aware of tension between the three of them. I enjoyed this new element because I felt that it made the characters more believable, more real, and more human. After many books where their relationship is so strong it was interesting to see a few cracks appearing. I also liked the setting of two different stage plays and exploring how the different casts are separate and yet also linked to each other in different ways. I especially enjoyed the twists in this novel, if I had concentrated harder I probably could have guessed them before they happened but with the fast paced excitement of it all I was swept along and got to be surprised by them as they happened.

Have you read this book or any of the books in this series? What did you think of them?

Book Reviews

Book Review – A Lively Midwinter Murder by Katy Watson

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today. Today I am bringing you my review for the christmas novel in the Three Dahlias mystery series by Katy Watson.

I was so happy I managed to get a copy of this book at the beginning of December, just in time to read it as part of my Christmas TBR. It is the fourth book in the series I believe, just to say you do need to read these books in order to fully understand the story.

Blurb/Synopsis:

FIRST COMES LOVE . . . THEN COMES MURDER

A high society Christmas Eve wedding at a remote Scottish castle sounds like the perfect winter getaway for the three Dahlias and their partners – until a snowstorm hits, cutting them off from the mainland, and civilisation. Which, of course, is when the dead body of one of the other guests turns up in the snow outside the family chapel. A dead body wearing a wedding dress and a stolen diamond necklace…

The Dahlias were ready for mulled wine, roaring fires, and romance this Christmas. Now, they’re on the hunt for another murderer. And if their suspicions are right, it looks like the wedding may be off …

My Review:

I love this series of books, three brilliant female lead sleuths of all different ages. it is quite refreshing to see them working together. I have to say that one thing I was undecided in this novel if I liked it or not is that the partners of the three main characters had bigger roles in this one, which was nice to see to a certain extent because they have been largely ignored so far, however, I felt it took away from the story and there was more of an emphasis on the couples and it took away from the main mystery. It was like being pulled out of the story when these scenes happened, they felt out of place most of the time.

Saying that, this was still a solid book in the series. It was nice to see more of Libby’s character though I wanted to see her have a bit more spine and take direction of her own life more which I didn’t see but I can forgive that. I thought the mystery aspect was good, it had plenty of twists to keep you guessing but I did find the ending a little predictable, I am still going to continue the series though.

Have you read this book? What did you think of this book?

Monthly Wrap Ups

August Wrap Up!

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today. It is the end of August already and time to talk about what I read this month.

I will tell you that I shocked myself with how well my reading went this month, what with a trip to London and back I got a lot of reading in.

Helle and Death by Oskar Jenson – I did read this book, a review is coming on the 20th September

Love Letters to a Serial Killer by Tasha – I did read this. It wasn’t how I thought it would be and I will say that it wasn’t an enjoyable read for me, not like I had expected it to be at least.

The Troublemakers by Tamzin Merchant – I did read this

The Dogsitter Detective by Anthony Johnston – I did read this

Seven Lively Suspects by Katy Watson – I did read this

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid – As of the 21st August when I am writing this post I am currently reading this book and I should get it finished by the end of the month

Lightlark by Alex Aster – I started this book but I have DNF’d it for now because the part I read, the writing wasn’t working for me at the time and I am hoping to try and read it again at a later date.

So, for the first time since I started this blog I have completed a TBR and I’m quite proud of that. Not all of the books I read this month were ones I enjoyed but some of them I did which made it a successful month in my opinion.

How was your reading this month? Let me know in the comments!

Monthly TBRs

August TBR!

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today. It is August already, finally some of the summer weather is peeking out from behind the rain clouds. My Guide Dog is very happy about that, she loves sunbathing in the garden. What goes best with the summer? Reading, obviously. So it was time to decide on my August TBR and it was difficult because I have so many books that I want to read, but I did decide eventually on these books:

The Dog Sitter Detective by Anthony Johnston

The odd thing about this one is that I have already read the second book in this series (oops!) I didn’t realise when I got the second book that it was part of a series, read it, loved it and then realised it was a series so I want to read this one quite quickly.

Love Letters To A Serial Killer by Tasha Coryell

I have recently bought this and the premise sounds really interesting so it is high on my list to read.

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

This is another book I recently got after wanting it for a really long time and I haven’t been reading much fantasy at the moment so I am hoping to get back into it with this book.

Helle and Death by Oskar Jenson

This book is one I need to read so that I can mention it in my PhD theory work, I don’t think it would be a book I would pick up otherwise but hopefully it will be a good book.

The Troublemakers by Tamsin Merchant

I LOVE this series, it is a middle grade but the series is very sweet and magical and I am excited to read this next book.

Lightlark by Alex Aster

This one I happened to pick up because I saw it on social media a lot and thought it looked interesting, I like books that include games and trials so hopefully this book will be great.

Seven Lively Suspects by Katy watson

I have actually already started this book, I read 50 pages on the way home from a family trip and I already love this series so I am looking forward to keep reading this book.

Have you read any of these books?

What books are on your August TBR?

I hope everyone has a good reading month in August!

Monthly TBRs

July TBR!

Happy Friday bookish people! How are you all today? I hope you are all doing well.

July is a busy, busy month for me so I am hoping that I will be able to get a lot of reading done. I am having an operation on the 15th which means that I will not be able to do much for at least a week or so other than read which sounds perfect to me. Then at the end of July I am going to Carlisle for the weekend and in the back of the car I will be able to read as well so hopefully I read some great books, fingers crossed for some five star reads!

What are you excited to read in July?

My July TBR:

Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrews

A Feather so Black by Lyra Selene

The Jeweled Moth by Katharine Woodfine

On top of this though I have a list of books I would like to read while recovering and travelling because I am optimistic that I will get lots of reading done in July:

  • The Murder Game by Tom Hindle
  • The King’s Mother by Annie Garthwaite
  • Seven Lively Suspects by Katy Watson
  • The Suspect by Rob Rinder
  • The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz
  • Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
  • The Five by Haille Rubenhold
  • Hex Appeal by Kate Johnson