Mystery on Hidden Lane by Clare Chase Narrator: Eilidh Beaton
Series: Eve Mallow Mystery #1
Published by Bookouture on January 3, 2020
Source: NetGalley
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Length: 9 hrs 6 mins
Pages: 296
Format: Audiobook
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Meet Eve, an American far from home, a professional busybody… and an amateur detective?
Seasoned obituary writer Eve Mallow has a new to tell the life story of famed musician Bernard Fitzpatrick. A chance to spend a few days in the sweet little village of Saxford St Peter, walking the country lanes with her beloved dachshund Gus and meeting new people sounds like a dream. But it turns out that Bernard’s life was much less interesting than his death. On the day she arrives, news breaks that the charismatic cellist was the victim of a grisly murder. Could this quaint English village be hiding a dark secret?
As Eve starts to interview Bernard’s friends and colleagues, she finds that he’d ruffled a few feathers. In fact, from the keepers of the Cross Keys Inn to his own staff at High House, there’s barely a person in town who doesn’t have some reason to hate him… is one of the friendly villagers a cold-blooded killer?
Eve hoped Saxford St Peter would be the perfect escape from her busy city life. But there is darkness even in the most sunlit of settings. And when a second body is found, Eve becomes certain that one of the people she’s met must be the murderer. She has never done any detective work before… but is there something in her notes that can crack the case?
Mystery on Hidden Lane is thirst of the Eve Mallow mysteries, a series that is longer than I realized when I picked this audiobook up at NetGalley. Eve is an obituary writer (think feature length obituaries for magazines), which is a career I haven’t run into before. She also holds a job at a school to supplement her income, but she’s taken a small break from that to head off to the small village of Saxford St Peter to research recently deceased cellist, Bernard Fitzpatrick. On the day of her arrival, however, the police release news that the man had been murdered.
Turns out Eve is in the perfect position to investigate the case, especially when she thinks the detective in charge of the case is incompetent. Eve makes a good amateur sleuth. She’s naturally curious and has practice putting people at ease as she pumps them for information. She’s observant and does her research on both her subject and those around him. Eve also has an adorable little dachshund, Gus, who goes most everywhere with her and who she talks to regularly, which I can relate to. She fits easily and quickly into village life.
The mystery is well done. There are a lot of secrets being hidden in the town and Eve has several potential suspects. I was surprised by who the killer turned out to be.
I listened to the audio and the narrator did a good job. She brought out Eve’s emotions and thoughts well and kept the other characters. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and this one was fine, the narrator stayed out of the story’s way, if that makes sense. I’ll probably pick up the next one on audio at some point.
About Clare Chase
Clare Chase writes classic mysteries. Her aim is to take readers away from it all via some armchair sleuthing in atmospheric locations.
Like her heroines, Clare is fascinated by people and what makes them tick. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked in settings as diverse as Littlehey Prison and the University of Cambridge, in her home city. She’s lived everywhere from the house of a lord to a slug-infested flat and finds the mid-terrace she currently occupies a good happy medium.
As well as writing, Clare loves family time, art and architecture, cooking, and of course, reading other people’s books.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges: