No shortage of suspects in this murder mystery!

Sam Dee moves to a beautiful Wiltshire village anticipating a quiet life; how wrong could he be? Making the acquaintance of his neighbour Maggie – referred to locally as Mystic Maggie – Sam gets an invitation to a party thrown by his old friend, Richard Ruta, who lives locally. Richard’s parties are well known and Sam invites Maggie along, although neither of them expected the host to drop down dead in front of everyone!

This is a good mystery in a village setting which, as we all know from watching Midsomer Murders, is a hotbed of gossip and goings-on! With a good cast of characters and plenty of twists and turns, this is one book which will keep you mystified until the very end. I have read Anna Legat’s work before and thoroughly enjoyed it but I has issues with this novel. There are multiple narrators which change chapter by chapter with no indication of who is in charge. I’m sure I missed some pertinent points as I struggled to work out who was talking each time. I’ve read this author previously and expected to be more entertained, but this definitely spoiled my enjoyment. Still a good read, but could be even better with just a little attention. 4* from me.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley and to Rachel Gilbey for my spot on this tour; this is – as always – my honest, original and unbiased review.

Wholly Engaging Whodunnit…
The first outing in The Shires Mysteries in which the reader is transported to the enchanting Wiltshire village of Bishops Well where Sam Dee has moved fully expecting a more peaceful and serene existence. Things are about to turn sinister, however, when a potentially suspicious death at a local party sparks a series of bizarre events. A wholly engaging whodunnit with a colourful cast of characters and a beautiful location. A fun and entertaining read and a promising start to a new series.

Barbara’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Series: Shires Mysteries #1
Publication Date: 8/26/21
Period: England, Bishops Well, Contemporary
Number of Pages: 207

Bishops Well is a quaint market town populated by some eccentric citizens. The author does an excellent job of painting a picture of Bishops Well for us, as well as fleshing out each of the citizens as they are introduced. Several of those citizens are directly involved in our murder investigation, and, of course, we learn a whole lot more about them. Actually, we have two murders to solve – are they related?

Our main characters are Maggie Kaye and Samuel (Sam) Dee who became neighbors a few months ago when Maggie divided her grandparent’s large home in two and sold one half of it to Sam who was moving to Bishops Well from London. Both characters are middle-aged and generally pretty staid. Maggie is a spinster; a busybody; a part-time school teacher; a bit larger and jigglier than she’d like; an avid gardener; and perhaps, an alcoholic given the amount of alcohol she consumes in this story. Sam is a recent widower who is still in deep mourning for his wife. He decided to retire from his law practice and move from London because he needed to be someplace where he wasn’t constantly reminded of his wife, Alice. Oh – by the way – did I mention Maggie sees dead people? Well, she does. They don’t communicate with each other in any way, but she sees them nonetheless. She even sees Sam’s dead wife.

One of the residents of Bishops Well is the famed movie director Richard Ruta and his current (third) wife Penny. Richard and Sam have been friends for a great many years, so it is nice to have a friend within the town. Sam still isn’t really ready for socializing, but Richard insists that Sam attend his sixty-eighth birthday party. Since Richard also insists on him bringing a plus-one, Sam invites his neighbor to attend with him. Little do they know that Richard will be dead before the night is over – and right before their eyes.

Maggie and Sam (particularly Maggie) can’t seem to keep their curiosity under control and are constantly butting in and asking questions. Then, there is a second murder. Someone in their village must be a murderer – or is it someone from the village?

I liked that the characters in this book were older, but, overall, it just wasn’t an exciting read, nor was it fast-paced. There were lots of red herrings and lots of people with motives for wanting to commit the murders, so you could be guessing until the end – but it isn’t likely. You’ll probably figure out who it was very early on, but you won’t know the full why of it until the end when it is revealed. I wasn’t particularly enamored with nor excited about either of the lead characters. I will probably read the next title in the series, At Death’s Door, and see where things go from there.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Death comes to Bishops Well plays by all the rules. At first I was confused by having a whole heap of individuals thrown at me to sort out into potential victims, possible suspects or would-be detectives, but that more or less goes with the territory. (I enjoy Agatha Christie but I hate the obligatory dinner party at the start with ten guests who we are briefly introduced to and then have to keep track of as we try to work out which one did it.) Legat soon establishes the individual characters who are clearly drawn and interestingly three dimensional. It was the characterisation that kept me going through the initial pages while everyone was assembled together until the big party where one person ends up dead and the others are all suspects.

There’s an interesting narrative twist as chapters alternate between the point of view of a slightly fussy solicitor and his bohemian neighbour who livens up the story by seeing ghosts. The reader needn’t worry, though: the ghosts never speak or interfere with the solution of the mystery which is eventually resolved in traditional Agatha Christie style. They do add an additional layer of fun to a tale that is punctuated by regular stabs of amusement, often at the expense of twee villages like Bishops Well. (It sounds a lovely place to visit but if I had to live there I’d be desperate to be the victim in the next of what promises to be a long series.)

I’m not sure it entirely works as a crime mystery. I can’t say why without major spoilers, but I found the ending unsatisfactory. I’m not sure that Legat’s heart was entirely in finding out whodunnit. She’s much more interested in the people and the fun she can have with their situation – ghosts and all. If you go with the flow (easy enough – she writes well) you’ll have fun too.

Sam Dee, still grieving the death of his wife Alice, has relocated to the quaint town (most definitely not a village, as explained) of Bishops Well. He had discovered the town while visiting his friend, the movie mogul Richard Ruta, whose country estate was nearby. Sam’s new home is half of a subdivided vicarage called the Priest’s Hole. Sam’s neighbor is Maggie Kaye and she sees dead people, For instance, she sees Alice sitting in the garden, waiting for Sam.

After this paranormal pause, Sam asks Maggie to accompany him to the party of the summer (in more ways than one) at Richard’s home. His three wives (two exes) will be there as will guests from the village and those from other facets of Richard’s life. His enemies are there too and before the evening is over, he will be dead. Maddie and Sam begin their own investigation, but are not in time to prevent more deaths.

There are a lot of things I like about Death Comes To Bishops Well. The setting is perfect. Anna Legat has a gift for description and makes life in a small town vividly real. I like all the characters and the carefully developed plot. What I didn’t like is the paranormal aspect and the way Maggie’s visions added to the investigation. However, I do think other readers will enjoy this series as it is very original. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Headline and Anna Legat for this ARC.

I really enjoyed this gentle murder mystery . It had all the necessary elements;the famous film director with a chequered past, murdered at his own birthday party; his wives, current and past, all with motives to kill him; the immoral politician, the father of a young girl who's suspicious death was written off as an accident and the quirky amateur sleuths Maggie and Seth. I particularly enjoyed the character of Maggie with her psychic abilities ,which lent gentle humour to the book. An enjoyable read

The quaint town of Bishops Well is steeped in history, gossip and folklore, but very little else. Nothing much happens until, that is, one of its most celebrated inhabitants drops dead at his own birthday bash. A film director, Richard Ruta defected from behind the Iron Curtain in the early eighties and instantly shot to fame and fortune with his iconic cult films. Now he is dead, and Maggie Kaye - reluctantly assisted by Sam Dee, her neighbour and Richard’s old friend - embarks on an investigation. The primary suspect is Daniel Nolan, the aggrieved father of a young woman who died by drowning at one of Richard Ruta’s previous bashes. But soon more suspects, and more bodies, begin to pile up sending ripples of excitement through the village (sorry, town!).
This is a quick-paced murder mystery, rich in setting and characterisation. Maggie and Sam’s sleuthing efforts are relayed vividly and with good humour. At some point the story takes Maggie and Sam (and the reader) out of the comfort zone of Bishops Well and into the outer confines of eastern Poland – amusing anecdotes flow from encounters with the locals and inadvertent clashes of culture. Maggie’s uncanny ability to bump into an occasional dead soul adds more intrigue, although that is delivered tongue-in-cheek, as is her slowly growing, guarded fondness for Samuel.
Death Comes to Bishops Well is a gripping mystery and a promising start to a new cozy series.

This book was not to my taste in that it had a dead person coming to life in it. Supernatural phenomena in books is not something I enjoy reading about. That's why I am only giving this book two stars.

From the very first pages, I knew I was going to enjoy this book. I wanted to move to Bishop Wells. The people were so human, especially Maggie. I loved her consideration of sitting in the back of Sam's car because the front passenger seat was inhabited by the ghost of his late wife! The whole book was full of humour as Maggie and Sam bumbled their way through their "investigation" into Richards murder. The story was peppered with unusual metaphors and plenty of suspense. I shall be looking out for more books by this author.

When famous film director Richard Ruth falls down dead at his own birthday party, the village....sorry, town of Bishops Well is agog. Especially when it turns out he'd been poisoned, and there is no shortage of suspects.

Richard's old friend Sam, together with Sam's neighbour "Mystic" Maggie are soon on the case in the face of a rising body count.

Looking forward to more adventures