J.M. Hall (1)

Now available as of March17, 2022

3.5⭐️ rounded down.

As the story begins, we meet Liz, Pat and Thelma, former colleagues and retired teachers of St. Barnabus’s Primary School who meet up every Thursday at the Thirsk Garden Centre café sharing gossip and tidbits about their lives and families. On one particular Thursday, they bump into Topsy, another ex-colleague, former nursery nurse at the same school, and her daughter Kelly Anne. Topsy is in the early stages of dementia , a condition that has worsened since the death of her husband . KellyAnne is her only caregiver. While the friends appreciate KellyAnne’s taking care of her mother and sympathize with their situation, they also sense that there is something that is not quite right when Topsy shares some disturbing facts . This prompts the friends to visit her at her home. They come to know that recently Topsy has been the victim of financial fraud and has lost all her life savings. When Topsy is found dead in her home the following week Liz , Pat and Thelma suspect that there might be more to her death than meets the eye.

Though Topsy's death is attributed to her “muddling” her medication , the friends take it upon themselves to investigate both her death and the bank fraud which occurred prior to the same, all the while dealing with their personal family concerns. Added to the mix is Paula, Topsy’s cleaner and former employee at the school where Topsy and the ladies were employed who has nothing good to say about KellyAnne , Paula's stripper/call center worker son, a real estate agent with dubious intentions, a builder with a corrupt agenda and a bank employee who is definitely hiding something.

J.M.Hall’s debut novel, A Spoonful of Murder is a charming cozy mystery with three smart, inquisitive and determined protagonists, a good dose of humor and an interesting premise. The story touches upon issues such as elder care and financial exploitation of vulnerable individuals by fraudulent entities, both of which are important issues. However, the narrative does take a while to pick up the pace, and only does so after the halfway mark. I found the writing a bit long-drawn and repetitive in parts and it took a bit of effort to focus as I waited for the mystery to unravel. There are multiple red herrings and numerous sub-plots which are a bit difficult to keep track of and do distract from the primary track. Though my attention wavered at points I was happy with the way the story is ultimately wrapped up.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books, UK for the digital review copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.… (més)

Thelma, Liz, and Pat are friends who are retired but all still somewhat connected to their old school, St. Barnabus. They all become aware that various members of the school staff and administration have been receiving very mean anonymous letters. The head of the school, Kayleigh Brittain, although on the receiving end of several of these letters, pressures people not to contact the police about the situation. She doesn't want the negative publicity and thinks it will all blow over soon. As the three retired teachers begin to see the stress and strain the letters are causing in the community, they decide to do some investigating themselves. In addition to this, they are each also dealing with various personal and family problems that keep them up nights worrying. As they work to find the culprit behind the letters, they also worry that the person might step up their game (beyond some potentially related vandalism) and actually hurt someone.

I found the story quite interesting, but it sort of bogged down in the middle. Also, with the events happening in a school, there were SO MANY characters to keep up with! I had a hard time remembering who was who (a chart of characters would have been helpful). The story and setting (Thirsk, of James Herriott fame!) were charming and the pace meandered along like a visit to the garden center.… (més)

St Barnabus Primary School is part of the Lodestone Academy Trust and is run by a fearsomely efficient headteacher called Kayleigh Brittain. However all is not well at St Barnabus, anonymous letters have been sent to members of staff and are causing distress. One marriage has crumbled, another is on the rocks and staff are off sick, into this mess come the retired teachers, Liz, Pat and Thelma. Each has issues of her own with family but are are passionate about their local school and the impact of academisation as well as the letters.
This is the second outing for these three middle-aged sleuths and I had not read the first so it took a while to separate the characters. However the setting in Thirsk, with plenty of references to Ripon (and even Bradford) had me hooked and I found myself warming to the gentle pace and actually not very threatening plot. Everything is handled discreetly and the whole book is just as cosy crime should be - fun and light… (més)

In this second book in a series, retired teachers Thelma, Liz, and Pat combine forces to try to discover who is writing nasty notes to the teachers at the local school. In addition to this problem, there seem to be issues with the school accounts, a malfunctioning boiler, vandalism, not to mention secret liaisons. The idea of schools being operated as businesses are also explored. There are several mysteries to be dealt with, as well as the personal and family life situations of the three retirees.
The atmosphere of the story seems dark and brooding. There is no overt violence or any descriptive adult scenes in this book. A reader does not need to read the first book to find out what is happening in this one. However, there were a lot of characters to keep straight and some obscure references to the first book led to some confusion.

I received this book from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.… (més)