I would like to thank Netgalley and HQ for an advance copy of Died and Gone to Devon the fourth novel to feature The Riviera Express Chief Reporter Miss Judy Dimont.

Temple Regis is a hotbed of politics in the late 1950s. The local MP is standing down after years of neglect and the seat is being hotly contested by three women. When his heir apparent, Mirabel Clifford is savagely murdered Miss Dimont is on the case, although new reporter David Renishaw is trying to usurp her position.

I thoroughly enjoyed Died and Gone to Devon which is a sly, humorous take on late 50s small town life. It is told mostly from Miss Dimont’s point of view with other voices and excerpts from newspaper articles and headlines playing their part. These latter show a keen understanding of the era and its concerns, even Fanny Craddock gets a cameo, but they are highly amusing to modern eyes. I love the cosy atmosphere created and the slightly subversive Miss Dimont. The antics of the Fleet Street press also deserve a mention as meeting every prejudice the public have of them and their cynicism is in stark contrast to the cosy reporting of The Riviera Express.

The crime element of the novel is cleverly done with a couple of murders and a historical puzzle of a socialite’s death, murder or suicide? They blend together seamlessly into a bigger whole. Much of it is guessable, but the author still has a few surprises up his sleeve, leaving this reader slightly stunned at one particular solution. While it is the main plot driver it somehow takes a back seat to the atmosphere and humour.

Miss Dimont is less than her sparkling self in this novel as she has worries to burden her. Her overbearing mother is pressuring her to leave Devon and return “home” to Essex and the new reporter, David Renishaw, is trying her patience in his efforts to upstage her. I love her backstory as something in intelligence, both in WW2 and the ensuing Cold War and the glimpses of her pre-war life add to the legend. Great stuff.

Died and Gone to Devon is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.