Emma Davies introduces her new Adam and Eve Mystery Series with Death in Disguise. This book starts out with Francesca Eve catering a murder mystery birthday party for her friend Sara Smith. During the course of the party, Fran also meets Sara's son Adam, an intellectual introvert in his early twenties. The murder mystery that the guests were to solve involved the poisoning of a character who had been blackmailing the other characters. A couple of week later life begins to imitate art, so to speak, when the 'victim' at the party is poisoned in real life. Adam approaches Fran to help him prove that his mother did not have anything to do with the real murder.

Although the author did an excellent job of developing and fleshing out the characters in this book, I found the pace somewhat slow building and several times had to stop and go back when new twists were inserted that had me somewhat lost. As the plotline developed and it was discovered that many of the characters had secrets that could be interpreted in different ways, depending on how much of the secret an individual knew, the story became somewhat boring and predictable. By the end of the book, I was ready for it to be over with already. Unfortunately, the revelation of the culprit was somewhat of a let down as that particular character was more of a footnote as opposed to an actual part of the overall story.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Bookouture in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. I believe this is the first book I have read by this author. This is a cozy mystery, the first in a series. The book is based in England. I found the premise to be quite fun. The main characters Fran (a caterer and mother), and Adam a young interesting genius. Very different, yet they somehow connect. For me this was a cute story, with such unexpected partners. Fun and interesting. 3.5 stars I would read another by this author. It kept me interested until the end.

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'Death In Disguise' by Emma Davies.

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous

Publication date 9th February 2022.

This is the fifth book I have read by this author. It is also the first book in her 'Adam And Eve Mystery Series'. I have previously read 'A Year At Appleyard Farm', 'The Little Island Secret', 'My Husband's Lie' and 'After The Crash' and would recommend them all!!

I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis. I am a huge fan of Emma and if this book is half as good as 'A Year At Appleyard Farm', 'The Little Island Secret', 'My Husband's Lie' or 'After The Crash' it is bound to be an epic read!! The synopsis stated that 'If you love Clare Chase, M.C. Beaton and The Thursday Murder Club you’ll absolutely adore this unputdownable whodunnit.' I am a huge fan of Clare Chase so am interested to see if it will live up to this statement. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).

This novel consists of 28 chapters. The chapters are medium to long in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

This book is based in Shropshire, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 , UK 🇬🇧. The bonus for me of books that are partly or fully based in the UK is that I live in the UK and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book which makes it easier to picture. I have actually visited and stayed in Shropshire so am looking forward to seeing if I recognise any places mentioned in the book.

This book is written in third person perspective with the main protagonists being Francesca Eve and Adam Smith. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.

WOW!!! JUST WOW!!! EMMA YOU ARE JUST FULL OF SURPRISES AREN'T YOU? YOU CAN JUMP FROM GENRE TO GENRE ABSOLUTELY PERFECTLY AND WHETHER IT IS A ROMANCE OR WOMEN'S FICTION YOU SLAM DUNK IT EVERY TIME AND THIS BOOK IS NO EXCEPTION!!!

Another huge success by Emma Davies!!! This book is beautifully written and filled with vivid descriptions to the point where I can hear the sea crashing and smell the beach while curled up on the sofa reading. The cover and synopsis suit the storyline perfectly.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVED IT!!! BEST COSY MYSTERY EVER!!!!

I must admit that I had no idea what to expect when I started reading this but I will start by repeating that you Emma are a lady of many talents!!! The first book of yours that I fell in love with was 'My Husband's Lie' which was a psychological fiction filled with mystery and suspense, I then read 'A year at Applewood farm' which was filled with romance, I moved onto 'The Little Island Secret ' which was a gorgeous romantic holiday fiction and the last book I read by you was 'After The Crash' which was a romantic mystery. Yet here we have a cosy mystery and yet again you have outshone yourself!! Does your talent have no boundaries? This not just being a typical cosy mystery but one that had me laughing with tears on several occasions by Fran!!! Not many people can jump from one genre to another and even less do it well but you have done an absolutely fantastic job Emma!!!! Congratulations and I am looking forward to your next successful surprise!!

The storyline is absolutely addictive starting off with the perfect atmosphere for a cosy mystery being a murder mystery party!! A unique and perfectly fitting start for an actual murder mystery!! This is most definitely the best cosy mystery I have ever read!!! It was filled with murder, suspense, mystery, humour and rammed full of red herrings!! What more could you ever ask for in a cosy mystery? This book is perfect to read curled up by a fire or relaxing on a beach. There were so many different red herrings and different leads that Emma took me down and I enjoyed solving the puzzle along with Fran and Adam. I would never have worked out who the killer was so a MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS to Emma for managing to surprise me. I have read several books by authors who have only ever written mysteries and yet have worked out the whodunit by 50% in some which is a pet hate for me. However, you normally write romance novelsz and amazing ones at that, and yet managed to completely shock me!!! I also loved how everything was explained and tied up as another pet hate of mine is when a piece of the puzzle is mentioned then seemingly forgotten and never spoken of again. Emma, I absolutely LOVED this book which is an absolutely, perfectly explosive start to what certainly promises to be an absolutely epic new series!!! I would LOVE to see this book turned into a movie which is sure to be a huge hit. Keep up the amazing work and I cannot wait for your next success whether it's another romance or the second part in this fantastic series!!

Well, I must say I think that is the quickest that I have ever bonded with a character!! I absolutely love Fran!!! When it started and I realised that she was a 50 year old caterer I did not know what to expect but straight away her personality lit up like a lighthouse. She made me laugh until I had tears streaming down my face. I can't remember the last time a character made me laugh so much! The fact that this was a cosy murder mystery was even better as she definitely made it lighter than most I have read. She is such a larger than life and bubbly character who says it as it is, doesn't take any crud and has the most gorgeous personality. She is friendly, knows what to says who to trust and the fact that she swears now and again makes her my perfect cup of tea!! Fran is definitely the type of woman I would want by my side whether I wanted to laugh, cry or have a 5 course meal. The fact that she just walked into Nick's home, a stranger she had never met, and just started cleaning his kitchen and arranging his food was brilliant!!! I immediately clicked with her after the first few pages. I am happy to say that the same went with Adam who was nervous, funny and minced his words. They are complete opposites who made the perfect team. Again, neither knew each other previously yet they hit it off straight away and their second meeting was just perfect. When Fran answers the door to him after previously having just a ten minute conversation with him weeks before and goes on to shoving a spoon in his face to try food, it just couldn't have been more perfect!!! These two complete opposites couldn't have made a more perfect pairing and I cannot wait to meet them both again. They are most certainly the type of characters whose personalities stay with you for a long time and I've already started missing them... Hint hint Emma 😉

DO NOT PICK THIS BOOK UP INTOL YOU HAVE CLEARED YOUR SCHEDULES AS YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PUT IT DOWN! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ⚠!!

Yet one more HUGE CONGRATULATIONS Emma on the best cosy mystery I have ever read and I am impatiently waiting for the next success in this series!!

Overall an absolutely addictive, hilarious, fun, light hearted cosy mystery which will keep you up until 2am turning the pages

Genres covered in this novel include Murder mystery, Cozy Mystery and Crime Fiction amongst others.

I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as FANS of Agatha Christie, Clare Chase, Helena Dixon and anyone who loves an amazing cosy mystery and especially you reading this!! .

326 pages.

This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle via Amazon or free on kindle unlimited (at time of review) which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!

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The premise of the story certainly had me intrigued I have to acknowledge that the motive was an interesting one but felt a little off. Not much is mentioned of Fran's partner in the investigation, Adam, but this unlikely duo certainly do bring different skills to the table. It was an enjoyable read. There's quite a lot of the storyline given away in the summary.

While I made it to the end, it felt a little long for me and I don't think I will be following the two of them as Adam and Eve move forward.

With thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Well written cosy mystery thriller with two well matched characters

When a murder mystery party becomes a little too much like real life the caterer Francesca Eve discovers that the victim was not who they seemed to be and as she digs deeper she learns that friends that she thought she knew become strangers with secrets of their own

It's always a great pleasure to pick up from the start of a brand new cozy mystery series and this one was no exception to that. Meet Francesca Eve, a forty-year-old running a catering business from home in Shropshire. She has her first murder mystery party catering for Sara Smith's guests in Shrewsbury and the event goes well. Days later, Becky who was the murdered victim at the party, is found dead for real, apparently having been poisoned and Sara's son, Adam Smith, a software designer, 23, comes knocking on Fran's door asking for her help. Who killed Becky? A delightful mystery with some great characters, I can't wait for instalment #2. I definitely recommend this.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Bookouture via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Death in disguise by Emma Davies.
Adam and Eve mysteries #1.
Francesca Eve thought she was prepared for anything at the events she caters for in her pretty little Shropshire village. Missing canapes? No problem. Burnt brownies? A piece of cake… But a dead body? Now that’s a recipe for disaster.Francesca is nervous about catering her first ever murder mystery party, but it’s clear from the clink of champagne flutes and piles of empty plates that the evening is a roaring success. The guests look spectacular in their disguises, whispering and giggling as they try to identify who killed beautiful young Becky. But days later the game takes a sinister turn when Becky is found poisoned, and all the signs point to the culprit being a party guest.From the woman having an affair to the guest hiding her true identity, everyone had a secret – and it turns out that Becky knew them all. As Fran finds herself centre-stage in a real-life murder mystery, the finger of suspicion points at each guest in turn. And Fran starts to wonder, were any of these secrets dangerous enough to kill for?Then the body of a second guest is found, and it becomes clear a deranged killer is going off-script. It seems anyone who was involved in the game that night is in their sights, even Fran. Can she unmask the murderer before the final curtain falls?
A very good read with good characters. I liked the story. Great cover too. 4*.

Death in Disguise is a classic murder mystery, with two main characters Fran and Adam. Fran is a 40 year old caterer and caters at a murder mystery party, where she meets the 23 year old Adam the son of her employer. A week after she catered at this party one of the guest called Becky is killed. Adam asked Fran to help him to solve the murder of Becky.

I have never read a book from Emma Davies and I am so glad I did. I really enjoyed her writing style, it was easy and she knew when to give the right clue at the right time. I loved the relationship between Fran and Adam. There was no romantic relationship between them witch was something I was scarred about at the beginning of the book. They're relationship turned out to be a lovely mother and son/ friendship kind of relationship. I also loved how strong the relationship between Fran and het husband was, it was very nice to read about a nontoxic relationship.

The structure of this book was built as a classical murder mystery (witch can never go wrong). Every time you get little clues and you have to figure out together with Fran and Adam who did it. I always like to solve the mystery together with the characters of the book and with this one you could do that really well.

I really enjoyed the story and characters. it was a great murder mystery.

Francesca Eve was excited and nervous about catering her very first murder mystery dinner party. It’s evident that all the guests had a wonderful and memorable time. The guest dressed beautifully in their disguises, and acting their part in the game, trying to identify who killed Becky. But then days later Becky is found poisoned and all the signs point to a guest from the party. Becky knew each and every guest at the party, and everyone is hiding something. Francesca finds herself in the middle of the action, in finding out who poisoned Becky. Then the body of a second guest is found and it is apparent that each guest that participated in the game that night is in danger, including Francesca. I thoroughly enjoyed this cozy mystery. The plot twist and turns kept me on the edge of my seat. I am so happy to know it is just the beginning of a series, as I really enjoyed reading the adventures Francesca, she was definitely a likable character that the reader can really connect with. I can’t wait to read the continuation of this series. It is a must read for every cozy mystery fan, I loved it.

Thank you Emma Davies for such wonderful start to what is proving to be a great series. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from beginning to end. I can’t wait for the next installment in this series. I highly recommend it.

The first book in the Adam and Eve Mysteries is a cosy style mystery with two likeable amateur sleuths, many suspects and a twisty plot. Fran Eve meets Adam unexpectedly when she is catering a murder mystery party for his mother's birthday. They have a connection that develops into friendship when one of the guests at the party dies in suspicious circumstances.

The multigenerational sleuth team has a believable dynamic, both have skills the other doesn't, and this promises to be an exciting cosy mystery series. The guest list at the party is small, but they all have possible motives for the murder that reflects the murder mystery game they participated in.

I like the absorbing plot, cleverly crafted characters and the connection between the amateur sleuths.

I received a copy of this book from bookouture via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Death in Disguise by Emma Davies

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Francesca Eve thought she was prepared for anything at the events she caters for in her pretty little Shropshire village. Missing canapes? No problem. Burnt brownies? A piece of cake… But a dead body? Now that’s a recipe for disaster.

Francesca is nervous about catering her first ever murder mystery party, but it’s clear from the clink of champagne flutes and piles of empty plates that the evening is a roaring success. The guests look spectacular in their disguises, whispering and giggling as they try to identify who killed beautiful young Becky. But days later the game takes a sinister turn when Becky is found poisoned, and all the signs point to the culprit being a party guest.

The series title is clever, it took me a while to catch on seeing as the main characters are Adam and Fran (Eve). In a difference to everything I seem to have read recently there is no romance, but there is a well-plotted mystery. A very nicely written book; easy to read and very enjoyable. An unusual pairing makes a great introduction to the series.

Rating 4/5

Description (from cover): “Francesca Eve thought she was prepared for anything at the events she caters for in her pretty little Shropshire village. Missing canapes? No problem. Burnt brownies? A piece of cake…But a dead body? Now that’s a recipe for disaster.

Francesca is nervous about catering her first ever murder mystery party, but it’s clear from the clink of champagne flutes and piles of empty plates that the evening is a roaring success. The guests look spectacular in their disguises, whispering and giggling as they try to identify who killed beautiful young Becky. But days later the game takes a sinister turn when Becky is found poisoned, and all the signs point to the culprit being a party guest.

From the woman having an affair to the guest hiding her true identity, everyone had a secret–and it turns out that Becky knew them all. As Fran finds herself centre-stage in a real-life murder mystery, the finger of suspicion points at each guest in turn. And Fran starts to wonder, were any of these secrets dangerous enough to kill for?

Then the body of a second guest is found, and it becomes clear a deranged killer is going off-script. It seems anyone who was involved in the game that night is in their sights, even Fran. Can she unmask the murderer before the final curtain falls?

A page-turning cozy mystery packed with twists. If you love Clare Chase, M.C. Beaton and The Thursday Murder Club you’ll absolutely adore this unputdownable whodunnit.”

My Thoughts:

I am always on the hunt for new authors and new mystery series to read. I love reading series for some reason. I enjoy watching the characters evolve throughout series and come to love them as friends. A series that keeps me on my toes is one that I am sure to love and follow through the years. I was able to get an advance readers’ copy of this book from Netgalley and I decided to give it a chance. I was pleasantly not disappointed. Usually the first book in the series is my least favorite, but this one was incredibly engaging and interesting.

Fran is a caterer in a small English village. She has been hired to cater a local woman’s party and the theme is a murder mystery. Everything goes off without a hitch and when the victim from the murder mystery party, Becky, actually turns up dead poisoned by a mushroom days later, Fran cannot help but investigate. It seems everyone at the party had secrets and that Becky was blackmailing everyone. Everyone is a suspect and Fran doesn’t know who to trust. When the party host’s son Adam comes to Fran to tell her that something isn’t quite right with the entire situation, the two of them decide to investigate.

This book had many twists and turns and just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, the other shoe drops and nothing is as it seems. I just love a mystery that is going to keep me guessing until the very end. At the conclusion when the murderer is revealed, I was shocked as I really didn’t see it coming and I was impressed with the author’s ability to keep this reader in the dark until the conclusion. This was a delightful read in what I hope is to become a wonderful cozy mystery series.

Overall Rating: 4.5 stars
Author: Emma Davies

Series: Adam and Eve Mystery #1

Publisher: Bookouture

Publication Date: February 9, 2022

Pages: 357

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Get It: Amazon

Disclaimer: This book was given to me by the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for my honest review. I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.

I enjoyed Death in Disguise, which is the first book in a new series. It was a fun, page turner of a book that kept me interested all the way through and I look forward to more books in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

4.5 Stars
Francesca Eve is nervous about catering her first ever murder mystery party for a fiftieth birthday, but it’s clear from the clink of champagne flutes and piles of empty plates that the evening is a roaring success. However to avoid a guest who wants Fran to give a career talk to student, Fran finds herself hiding in the understairs cupboard where she meets Sara's son Adam. The guests look spectacular in their disguises, whispering and giggling as they try to identify who killed beautiful young Becky. But days later the game takes a sinister turn when Becky is found poisoned, and all the signs point to the culprit being a party guest. From the woman having an affair to the guest hiding her true identity, everyone had a secret – and it turns out that Becky knew them all. As Fran finds herself centre-stage in a real-life murder mystery, the finger of suspicion points at each guest in turn. Then the body of a second guest is found, and it becomes clear a deranged killer is going off-script.
This is the first book I’ve read by the author plus the start of a new series. It took me a little while to get into the story but once I did I was engrossed & loved it. I loved Fran the diminutive caterer with a supportive husband & teenage daughter & I also loved the brilliant Adam who had lots of quirks. If I’d read about their relationship in the blurb I would have thought it wouldn't work & I would have been totally wrong – I loved the dynamics of their relationship & how Adam blossomed. There were red herrings, twists & turns plus assumptions which made this a very good cosy mystery & I look forward to more in the series
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

I have read a book by this author before and remembered her name when this one came up. That and the beautiful cover convinced me to read Death in Disguise and I am glad I did.

The series title is clever although I took a minute to get it since the main characters are called Adam and Fran which does not have quite the same ring to it. When you realise however that Fran is Francesca Eve it all makes perfect sense. Fran is a happily married caterer and Adam is a young single man so there is no romance at all for those people who look for that in their cosy mysteries.

There is of course a mystery and it is a well plotted one. There are quite a few possible suspects and Fran and Adam work their way though them, eliminating them one by one through the process of checking out clues and alibis. Adam is a bit of a computer geek which helps too. The murderer turns out to be a surprise.

I thought this was very nicely written, a really comfortable read with great promise for future books. I look forward to reading them.

Enjoyable cosy crime.

This is a very popular genre and it helps to have something unique to help stand out. Apart from the play on names (Adam and Eve), I’m not sure this has that.

It was a well written story, but it failed to really grab my interest and I don’t think this is a series I will be revisiting.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review.

Fran Eve caters a murder mystery birthday party for Sara Smith and four of her closest friends. During the evening she finds herself avoiding one of the party goers by hiding at which point she runs into Sara’s son Adam who is also avoiding his mother’s friends. While the evening is a success days later one of the guests, Becky, ends up dead for real, poisoned as she was in the party mystery. Adam, fearing his mother will be a suspect, turns to Fran for help in proving mom’s innocence. As they delve into the party goers’ lives they find that all of the women had secrets and it looks like Becky wasn’t as sweet as she appeared.
I really enjoyed this book. Our amateur sleuths are an unusual pair - Fran is a 40 something year old caterer, married with a teenage daughter while Adam is a 23 year old computer game designer and something of a recluse. While this pairing shouldn’t really work it surprisingly does and we have an engaging pair of amateur sleuths. The action flows pretty naturally for what is, in truth, an unlikely situation and the murderer and their motive is not obvious until close to the end. I look forward to seeing how this series continues as a caterer should not be stumbling across murder victims frequently, well not if they want to stay in business, and a reclusive computer game designer really shouldn’t have much opportunity to stumble across a murder. All in all a delightful read and a good start for a new cozy mystery series

Sometimes murder is exactly what I need to make life feel not quite so craptastic. So it began in the wee small hours of Wednesday morning when everything in real life felt like it was falling apart ... and I began reading the upcoming Death in Disguise by Emma Davies.

This is the first in the new Adam and Eve Mystery Series -- with "Adam" being 23-year-old socially awkward tech whiz Adam Smith, and "Eve" being 40-year-old wife, mother, and caterer Francesca Eve (who may or may not be having a mid-life crisis. I feel ya, girl. I totally feel ya.). They meet in a kitchen cupboard and their bond is almost instant. You really had to be there. Well, it's a kitchen cupboard so it would probably be a bit cramped if you were ... but you know what I mean. If you don't, what I mean is : BUY THE BOOK.

So ... anyway ... three week go by and, feeling that they're kindred spirits, Adam approaches Fran for help. The cupboard of their meeting was in the kitchen at Adam's house where Fran was catering a murder mystery birthday party for his mother, Sara. When one of the guests ends up dead for real, he thinks it was murder and is afraid that it was somehow connected to the party and, therefore, his mother. Fran agrees to at least talk to Sara, gets invited to the funeral, and is starting to question if the whole thing is just a big mistake since the dead woman was well-liked, seemingly, by all ... until she finds out that the woman was, indeed, poisoned.

Fran and Adam hope that they can get to the truth of the matter before the police get too involved. What follows is some of the best amateur detective work I've seen in a cozy mystery for a long time -- with one of the most delightful and relatable pairings yet. Adam and Fran never shy away from the facts that they're both awkward and don't quite know what they're doing. It doesn't help that there are so many twists and turns one could get dizzy trying to get it all figured out.

I couldn't bring myself to put it down for more than a couple of hours and finished within 24 hours of picking it up. It's that good and then some, if that's even possible.

BUY THE BOOK. BUY THE BOOK. BUY THE BOOK.

Francesca Eve thought she was prepared for anything at the events she caters for in her pretty little Shropshire village. Missing canapes? No problem. Burnt brownies? A piece of cake… But a dead body? Now that’s a recipe for disaster. This was a fun cozy to read. If you aren't a fan of cozy mysteries you will still enjoy this story. The characters are fun and believable and the dialog entertaining. The mystery was well plotted and kept me guessing. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

This is the first instalment in the Adam and Eve series featuring caterer, Francesca (“Fran”) Eve and her unlikely sidekick, Adam Smith.

Fran is pulled into investigating when the “victim” at a murder mystery dinner she caters later dies under mysterious circumstances. As the investigation unfolds; it is seems that every guest at the dinner has a secret they would do anything to keep hidden.

This cozy mystery worked for me. I liked that it did not have the usual hallmarks of a cozy (e.g. single female amateur sleuth and some sort of rugged love interest). Fran and Adam are both charming and their age difference leads to some amusing moments.

Look out for this one on February 9/22. Thanks to NetGalley and @Bookouture for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.