Meet Flora Steele – bookshop owner, bicycle-rider, daydreamer and amateur detective!
Sussex, 1955: When bookshop owner Flora Steele goes for a walk along the pier she isn’t expecting to spot a young woman’s body in the stormy waters below. And she’s shocked to discover the victim is someone she knows…
Convinced the death was not an accident, Flora persuades attractive local crime writer Jack Carrington to help her find out what really happened to poor Polly Dakers, a popular young woman with a complicated love life, who’d been at the heart of village life in Abbeymead.
Jack is reluctant to get involved in another murder case at first but even he can’t deny that Polly’s fall seems fishy. An argument at a party, a missed hairdresser’s appointment and a red woollen bobble found on the wooden boards where Polly last stood provide a trail of clues…
As they grow closer to solving the puzzling mystery, the unlikely pair stumble upon several surprising secrets about those closest to Polly. A number of potential suspects begin to emerge. But who really disliked Polly enough to kill her? Was it Raymond, her jilted first love? Harry, her latest beau? Or Evelyn, Harry’s jealous estranged wife?
As the investigation brings them closer to the truth, Flora is intent on unmasking the killer – but will her stealthy sleuthing lead her down a dangerous path?
An utterly delightful cozy crime novel set in the fictional Sussex village of Abbeymead. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Faith Martin and Joy Ellis!
It's such a pleasure to be sharing my review of Murder on the Pier today. Many thanks to Bookouture and Sarah Hardy for inviting me to take part in the book tour.
Back in the summer, I loved the first Flora Steele Mystery, The Bookshop Murder and so it was a real treat to visit the small Sussex village of Abbeymead again for Murder on the Pier. It's not necessary to have read the first book as each novel is a standalone mystery but with a number of returning characters, I'd say that it's definitely more rewarding to follow the series as it progresses - particularly to follow the relationship between Flora and Jack Carrington.
There's a tantalising will-they-won't-they aspect to their friendship; both have been hurt in the past and are determined to stay just friends - but the chemistry between them is undeniable and I'm sure I won't be the only reader totally invested in their relationship. Matters of the heart may have a darker role to play in proceedings too, after a fun day at the coast turns to tragedy when twelve-year-old Charlie Teague spots the body of a young woman under Brighton pier. Flora immediately realises the victim comes from Abbeymead too but while the police are quick to assume that aspiring model, Polly Dakers tragically slipped on ice or took her own life, Flora is convinced that Polly's tangled personal life means that somebody else was involved and that she was actually murdered.
Flora is a delightful character; her enthusiasm for sleuthing is so infectious even though it's clear that she doesn't always consider the full implications of her discoveries until it's too late. Before long she has a list of suspects and has persuaded Jack to help her again. I'm convinced that Merryn Allingham wants us all to fall for Jack and his ever-changing grey eyes! He's a writer who has been rather reclusive until meeting Flora but is now a kind, attentive friend who worries desperately for her safety but always agrees to help her despite his sense of foreboding. It's 1955 and Flora wants to be a strong, independent woman at a time when married women who had played such an active role in the war effort were expected to go back into the kitchen so her reluctance to appear weak and to need a man's protection isn't unreasonable.
However, it becomes increasingly evident that somebody wants to stop their investigation and although this may be a cosy mystery, it actually becomes quite tense as the pair try to figure out which person on their list of suspects is the guilty one. I must admit to figuring out who the murderer was before they did but that didn't bother me; the clues are all there and I enjoyed waiting to see if my suspicions were proved correct and how Flora and Jack would find out whodunnit.
The warm-hearted humour and excellent characterisation throughout the novel are particular highlights ensuring that I have become completely invested in the lives of the Abbeymead villagers. Readers will inevitably keep their fingers crossed for Flora and Jack to admit their feelings for one another but they'll also hope Kate finds happiness again, that Ted will be okay and that Charlie Teague will continue to be so irrepressibly enthusiastic about life.
I loved The Bookshop Mystery but I think I enjoyed Murder on the Pier even more - it's just so perfectly, comfortingly nostalgic but with a wry sense of humour which prevents it from feeling dated and with an intriguing mystery to solve, I was engrossed from start to finish and look forward to the next Flora Steele book with eager anticipation. Highly recommended!
Murder on the Pier is published by Bookouture and can be purchased from Hive, Waterstones, Amazon UK and Amazon US.
Don't miss the rest of the blog tour, details are below.
About the Author
Merryn taught university literature for many years, and it took a while to pluck up the courage to begin writing herself. Bringing the past to life is a passion and her historical fiction includes Regency romances, wartime sagas and timeslip novels, all of which have a mystery at their heart. As the books have grown darker, it was only a matter of time before she plunged into crime with a cosy crime series set in rural Sussex against the fascinating backdrop of the 1950s.
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