A Pen Dipped in Poison is a wonderfully clever and entertaining cosy mystery that had me hooked from start to finish. J.M. Hall brings together a brilliant cast of characters, led by a trio of retired teachers whose sharp observations and quiet determination make them a joy to follow.

The writing is warm, witty and full of charm, with a mystery that is both well-paced and satisfyingly layered. The everyday setting makes the drama all the more engaging, and I really enjoyed how the plot unfolded with just the right mix of humour, tension and heart.

This is a perfect read for fans of character-driven mysteries with a cosy feel and a smart edge. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will definitely be picking up more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

This author can just take all my money at this point ! I officially am a complete fangirl and will read anything they write in the foreseeable !
The author is a complete powerhouse and I couldn’t put this book down . It captivated me from the first page to the last . Thank you so much

I wanted to enjoy A Pen Dipped in Poison more than I did. The premise of retired teachers turning amateur detectives in a small Yorkshire town is charming, and the poison pen letter plot had real potential. However, I found the story slow to get going, and the pacing throughout felt uneven.
The characters are likeable enough, especially the main trio, but the narrative often got bogged down in everyday details that didn’t add much to the mystery. There were moments of warmth and wit, but I didn’t feel a strong pull to keep turning the pages, and the stakes never felt particularly high.
It’s a pleasant read if you enjoy gentle, character-driven mysteries with a very British feel, but it didn’t grip me in the way I’d hoped. Not bad, just not particularly memorable.

This is the second in J.M. Hall's mystery series featuring an endearing group of former school teacher friends in a smallish English village. This is a cozy series, sure, but it is also one that deals with deeper topics like aging, career changes, marital struggles, etc. Julie Hesmondhalgh does a great job narrating--there are multiple POVs in this book and she does a great job differentiating between characters!

While I really enjoyed book one, I was drawn in much quicker to this mystery. There were many layers and "side quests," but everything weaved together so well by the end.

Another outstanding book from J.M Hall.

Love this genre of cosy crime - loved the characters, loved the plot and loved the writing

A must read for crime lovers.

Liz, Pat and Thelma are retired teachers who meet for coffee in a garden centre, which is a thing as one of my friends serves teachers in a garden centre cafe. They never intended to be sleuths and yet find themselves with another mystery to solve. Poisoned Pen letters are often intriguing. Sends you down an "Agatha Christie or Midsomer Murders lane", but J.M. Hall puts his own spin on it to make it contemporary and keep it a concept that is still compelling to read.

Letters are penned that the perpetrator can be pretty certain would have far reaching consequences and sure enough the victim's of the inked letters are all but destroyed. 

A Pen Dipped In Poison is better than the first in the series - A Spoonful of Murder,  although that did set the scene exceptionally well, but this second book is stronger and heightens the intrigue in this new mystery for the teachers to solve.

A Pen Dipped In Poison is better than the first in the series - A Spoonful of Murder,  although that did set the scene exceptionally well, but this second book is stronger and heightens the intrigue in this new mystery for the teachers to solve. It draws you in closer from the start and piques the imagination and curiosity.
It is a cosy mystery with plenty of danger and wile that is intriguing.

*Thanks to Avon Books UK for accepting a request to review.

It was great to join the retired teachers in their sleuthing again, this time when a series of mysterious letters are being posted revealing people’s deepest darkest secrets, and the trio are determined to discover who’s behind it.

If you enjoy a nice cosy crime then I’d say this is for you, the characters are likeable, and being an ex teacher myself, relatable but at times I did struggle with the introduction of so many others and trying to remember who was who!

I enjoyed the first book of this series, especially the fact that the main characters are older ladies - a couple of them retired - who used theirs years of teaching experience, and its associated skills of 'peopleing', organisation, critical thinking, patience and structure, to solve murders in their town of Thirsk, Yorkshire.

This one lost the mystery a little bit, with the ladies all concerned about their husbands (fairly enough), but having lost some of the closeness they had in the first book, and I'm a bit unclear why. They're not sharing their troubles with each other like they used to. Pat seems to have detached herself from the group somewhat and it's almost like two separate stories are happening at the same time.

Once the pieces start falling in to place, the pace does pick up a bit more and ties up neatly, if not entirely satisfactorily (for this reader).

I still enjoyed it, as I love to read stories by people who obviously know all the day-to-day details of a profession - that stuff a Google search just won't give you. That part was very well done.

However, recommended for a cold, lazy winter afternoon paired with a piece of cake and a cup of tea, and I am looking forward to the next in the series.

Really enjoyed this book, loved the writing style and plot. Was hooked throughout. This was a great multi-strand mystery fiction; keeping the audience engaged as they read. Love the twists.

I feel like mysteries are soo difficult to write because you want them to be engaging enough, give enough clues, and not just confuse the reader— this book, thankfully, was amazing!
It felt like a good ol’ cup of Agatha Christie, with extra marshmallows on the top, or something along those lines! Ha. Anyway…. The writing was beautiful— the descriptive narrative was so vivid and captivating.
A definite must-read for all mystery lovers! I kind of want to go read it again.

Also, I only heard about A Spoonful of Murder, the prequel, after I started reading this book, but honestly, I didn’t feel lost. This felt like a stand-alone book, but I DO want to read the prequel and see if there’s anything extra I’m missing.

I really enjoyed A Spoonful of Murder and this book is the sequel (although both do stand alone as mysteries), featuring the same ex-school staff investigating mysterious goings on in their LEA. Only this time, instead of an unexpected death it is a series of threatening poison pen letters that are disturbing the peace at their local school, which is under new management.

There’s an underlying theme of change that ties in neatly with the ‘under new management’, as the retired ladies struggle to accept difference in the education environment since they were working there and also struggle with changes in their home lives – each of Thelma, Liz and Pat having some version of marital problems going on in the background of their reluctant investigation.

I have to admit, I got a little bit confused at the start of the book between Linda and Liz, Pat and Jan, but I soon got them all straightened out as the story (and characters) developed. In fact, I found myself hooked on the marital sideplots as well as the poison pen main plotline and, as with Book 1, I found the authentic feeling of the school setting and teaching backgrounds added to my enjoyment of the story.

This makes a great light mystery read for fans of the cosy genre and those formerly or currently employed in the UK education system will find plenty familiar within these pages!

Retired schoolteachers Liz, Pat and Thelma are great friends and I was looking forward to catching up with them in A Pen Dipped in Poison. This mystery finds them, trying to find out who is sending poison pen letters to their friends and neighbours. Along the way, secrets are revealed.

I really enjoyed A Spoonful of Murder, the first book in this series, but found myself somewhat disappointed in this one. The friendship between the women that I loved seems to be showing some cracks and they are drifting apart. Their family lives took up a lot of this book and it tended to drag for me. I also missed the humour that was present in the first book. Even the mystery didn't really pull me in. I am hoping the next book in this series, if there is one, will go back to all the things that I loved about the first book.

I absolutely loved this book, thank you NetGalley and Avon publishing for the opportunity to read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. Having previously enjoyed A Spoonful of Murder by J.M Hall I couldn’t wait to read more about the adventures of Liz, Pat and Thelma. As a teacher I really related to the school based themes and humour throughout. I have purchased both books for friends and family as gifts. I also recommended them to colleagues. These books are perfect light-hearted cosy crime stories. In book two the mystery solving trio are on the case of a poison pen writer. The plot is immersive and the characters delightful. An easy read which kept me guessing. I would highly recommend and cannot wait for book three.

A really interesting, intriguing mystery set in and around a primary school. I could see and smell the school, so good were the descriptions and I loved the Pineapple maths teaching approach! Highly recommended.

Excellent book I didn’t want it to end.

Great characters and the concept was clever.

It kept me guessing til the end, read if you like an old school mystery.

I love a good cozy mystery and this was no exception.

The plot and pacing was so good in this one and I had no clue who the culprit was, which I really enjoyed. I hate books when it’s too obvious.

not my favorite book, but I still enjoyed it.

A Pen Dipped in Poison, J M Hall

Retired school teachers, Pat, Liz and Thelma get together to solve the latest mystery, where someone is sending vicious letters.

An easy to read, village mystery type of book. Very similar to Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for a copy of this book, I rate it 3 stars.

I would recommend this book. It was abit slow at first but then about halfway through the pace picked up and is as desperate to find out who it was. I really enjoyed reading this.

An enjoyable cosy crime in the Agatha Christie mould, which along the way pulls no punches regarding the undesirable aspects of schools being run as businesses, in the modern way. Highly recommended.

Brilliantly erotten but that had the best mix. Really enjoyed it and although my first of the author, will not be my last.