The Ship of Death by Vera Morris

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would!
Ship of Death is like a cosy mystery, but with a lot more balls. A Not-Completely-Cosy mystery, you could say.
This is Vera Morris' fourth book in the 'Anglian Detective Agency' series, but the first that I've read. And after finishing this, I definitely will be checking out the other three books in the series.
Set in the 1970s on the Suffolk coast (centering on Minsmere Nature Reserve), the Anglian Detective Agency are called in to try and prove the innocence of a local lad, Caleb Breen, who has been arrested for the murder of another local lad. It was obvious that they would end up besting the local police and solving a series of related crimes themselves - no more than I expected from the off. But the journey to cracking the crimes was less obvious and I enjoyed it a lot (even though I guessed whodunnit).
Cliches and tropes aside, there was so much to enjoy about this book.
Firstly, the setting. Since I live in East Anglia and know that area well – I was interested in the book mainly for the setting. But what I really liked was that the author named real places, so I could really picture exactly where the action was taking place. It made me chuckle that placid old Minsmere was the scene of much criminal goings on. And although the crimes weren't committed by Nature lovers, I could quite imagine a story where a Twitcher goes rogue and commits murderous mayhem in a hide!
A really enjoyable read and I give it five stars, even though some of it was a bit obvious.

* Thanks to Headline and Netgalley for the ARC.

Can The Agency Catch A Killer....?
The fourth in the Anglian Detective Agancy series and life is hectic. Can the Agency, after becoming embroiled in a murder enquiry, catch a killer before more bodies mount up? With engaging characters and a solid plot this is an entertaining murder mystery with plenty of twists and turns. A worthy addition to the series.