A Curtain Twitcher's Book of Murder offers a refreshing departure from traditional murder mysteries with its unconventional format and darkly comedic tone. What initially appears to be a novel centered on a single murder on Atbara Avenue reveals itself as an intriguing collection of short stories, all set on the same street in London. This approach creates a vibrant tapestry of interconnected narratives, with recurring characters, such as the vicar and his wife, providing a thread of continuity throughout the collection.

The stories range from clearly defined beginnings and endings to those that leave much to the reader’s interpretation, with some threads picked up later and others left unresolved. While not every tale concludes with death, they all carry an air of despair, maintaining a consistent tone of dark humor and grotesque situations.

Author Gay Marris presents a series of bizarre and macabre characters, each more despicable than the last. The book’s dark humor, reminiscent of a grown-up Roald Dahl, is both unsettling and captivating. For readers who appreciate a touch of grimness and a departure from cozy crime, this collection will likely be a compelling choice. However, the blend of dark humor and twisted narratives may not appeal to everyone, particularly those who prefer lighter, more comforting crime stories.

Loved this debut novel and can't wait yo read more from this talented author. The story I'd set in a London suburb I'm the sixties In Atbara Avenue, a hot bed of intrigue and murder. The novel reads like a series of linked shirt stories featuring the residents of the street with the vicar and his wife being at the centre of the puzzles. A definite page turner.

1960s London with a murderous twist! A fantastic debut novel from Gay Marris, which has a series of interlocking stories about neighbours who all have murder in mind and a Vicar and his wife who has theories but none are really correct. It reads a lot like linked short mysteries and is full of dark humour and although I’d class it as a darker cosy crime, there’s a lot of deaths. The residents of Atbara Avenue will keep you guessing and there’s a tonne of twists on the way. Can’t wait to see more from this author!

I absolutely loved this debut book ,a different way of telling a story .Set in 1968 each chapter tells the story of a resident who lives in Atbara Avenue but they are all linked up and sometimes appear in each others stories .The constant characters are the Vicar Desmond and his busy body wife Deidre .Great fun I can't wait for the next book by this Author. Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.

A Curtain Twitchers Book of Murder
By Gay Marris - 20th June 24

****

Would you buy a house in this street?

Set in suburban London - Atbara Avenue, built in the late Victorian era, now not quite as upmarket as it was, but still desirable. The first chapter introduces us to the oldest resident of the street, Mrs Muriel Dollimore and her daughter, Pauline. We are also introduced to Desmond and Deirdre O’Reilly, the local vicar and his wife. The title of the book gives us a clue, and sure enough before we get to the end of the chapter there is an unexpected death.

Each of the eight chapters covers the events in the household of a different resident of Atbara Avenue with it similarly leading to another departure from the Avenue. As you would expect characters introduced in one chapter often occur in another. Each of the stories are quite different and quickly engage the reader.

As all the stories concentrate on the events leading up to, and in some cases following, the murder, instead of the investigation, as is usually the case, we have a somewhat different perspective, and as all the events occur in the same neighbourhood we have a greater familiarity with the characters than might otherwise be the case. Thus these well told episodes have an appeal to regular readers of ‘crime fiction’ as well as those with who simply enjoy the narrative of a good story of whatever genre.

I read this book from a pre-publication copy kindly supplied by the publisher, but this is an honest review with no concession to their generosity.

Would you buy a house in this street?

This was such a fun read
Atbara Avenue, London in the 1960's where neighbours gossip among themselves whilst queueing in the local shops.

I think this should be viewed as a series of short stories that happen to be on the same street. There are a few characters who pop up here and there in other stories which links them all together.
I had felt a little confused while reading until I began to think in this manner. This made for a much more pleasant reading experience.

A fab read , and let’s just say I’m glad I don’t live on Atbara Avenue or I might not live to tell the tale!
The chapters are short stories highlighting the lives of residents and their families there are secrets and lies abound and just a sprinkling of murder.
This book is very cleverly written and made for a different and highly enjoyable read.
Full of intrigue and sometimes dark with some humour added for good measure .
An excellent debut and the bar is set very high for the books that follow from this author!
Eagerly awaiting the next book from the author .
Thanks to NetGalley and Bedford Square Publishers.

Not exactly what I was expecting, but I enjoyed it.

It's lots of short stories from residents on a street all linked through murder. Diedre's story was a particular favourite.

I think if you go into this book know the format it's a great but may be a surprise to those that don't and not what they were expecting!

Not at all what I was expecting, and I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it. It's essentially a series of well-written short stories that are connected by the road the stories take place on, and the fact the situations all happen to neighbours along it. The only link between each is the vicar and his (nosy) wife. I was also a bit thrown that I couldn't figure out when this took place. It was only when I went to look at the reviews that I discovered it was set in 1968!

I was really enjoying the first story, which resulted in a murder, and it would continue through to finding the murderer, although it was pretty obvious so not sure where I thought it could go. Then we met Colin, and from that point I kept hoping we'd get back to the first story, but it kept changing and different people kept dying.

I can see what the author was doing, keeping secrets behind closed doors is basically every street, every building, in the world, and particularly small neighbourhoods, so I suppose the reasons I didn't like it as much as I'd hoped are my own, in that it just wasn't what I was expecting and I kept wondering how we were going to loop back to the beginning/first story.

Outside of that, there are a lot of characters, none especially nice, although all doing a good job of putting on the nice and respectable face to the outside world.

So I'm giving this a solid 3* rating, because it wasn't awful by any stretch, just not what I was expecting and so for that reason I was disappointed.

4 Stars

On Goodreads this is marked as a Mystery, and I'm not sure that's the case. It's more of a selection of intertwined short stories about murder. Reminds me of 'An elderly lady is up to no good'.

I enjoyed this, some of the stories more so than others. I think Muriel and Pauline were my favourites, but I also enjoyed the one about Deirdre.

I'd definitely look out for something else from this author in the future.

Thank you Netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

DNF. Unfortunately, I found this book mind-numbingly slow, which I do think is part of its appeal. They don't call them cozy mysteries for nothing. I was here for the humour and all these things that were promised by both reviewers and the synopsis, but I managed a couple of chapters and started to feel dreadfully bored by the whole thing. For me, I kind of need a book to start with an interesting premise, a moment, something to grab my attention (especially limited as it is now). I just don't think this was for me right now - but who knows? I might pick it back up in the future, especially if it was available as an audiobook.

I love it when a book takes me by surprise and reminds me of the old adage ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’. I was expecting ‘cosy crime’ and although it had many of the ingredients of the genre - including a brilliant, omnipresent vicar’s wife - what I got was a deliciously dark, macabrely comic tale.

Each chapter is presented from the point of view of a different resident of Atbara Avenue and in some way involves murder. Whilst the individual stories differ greatly in theme and devilry, they are connected by the constants of the street, the neighbours, the gossip and the church.

Although each resident has a separate story to tell, they are very much a collection and the success is in the structure and the flow. I appreciated the intricate details which are threaded through the stories and the way in which they come full circle, finishing at the house in which they started, is very satisfying.

I loved this one, it’s a brilliantly clever, unique take on a well loved genre - highly recommended!

I was unsure about this at the start as I wasn't sure where it was going; I initially wondered whether this was going to be a book full of separate chapters dealing with the residents of Atbara Avenue as short stories and individual events but as you keep reading, it becomes clear that they are all linked in some way and it definitely becomes a novel.

Full of absolutely excellent and interesting characters; each of the stories is engaging with a great mix of the dark and humour which works really well; they cover a raft of human emotions - jealousy, love and hate, loss and grief, murder and violence - and from different perspectives - male and female, young and old - making this a not-so-typical murder mystery book with some surprising twists along the way. Many of the stories resonate with current affairs despite this being set in the 1960's which makes it feel up to date.

This is an engaging and enthralling book that is quite different from what I usually read and I thoroughly enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading more from this author although they have a lot to live up to now and I must thank the author, Bedford Square Publishers and NetGalley for enabling me to read this debut novel.

The download date was unfortunately missed, I would be happy to re-review it if it became available again. I have awarded stars for the book cover and description as they both appeal to me. I would be more than happy to re-read and review if a download becomes available. If you would like me to re-review please feel free to contact me at thesecretbookreview@gmail.com or via social media The_secret_bookreview (Instagram) or Secret_bookblog (Twitter). Thank you.

In 1968 London was Swinging, Twiggy was modelling, “Hair” was rocking the West End and “Hey Jude” was the biggest selling single. Why am I telling you this? Because none of this cultural revolution impinged on Atbara Avenue, a quiet suburban London enclave occupied by assorted neighbours, doing neighbourly things, but keeping themselves to themselves. Behind closed doors, however, there are crises, conflicts, resentments and the occasional murder. This book relates a number of such situations, but each is told as a separate vignette, all linked by certain locations (such as the church, the flat with the pink shower hose, the bench by the duck pond) but mainly by the Vicar’s wife, whose perambulations provide a sort of continuity.
The writing style is rather mannered, more 1930s than 1960s, and the initial pace is quite gentle, although the initial story is one of the darkest, and tragic, in the book. Some readers might feel like bailing out early, but I counsel them to stick with it because the twist is surprising, as is the case in the subsequent stories. It is an easy and enjoyable read, a gentle stroll through the darkness behind closed doors.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

This was a totally different read to what I was expecting. I thought it would be a nice cosy crime read. What I got was something that was sometimes dark and sometimes really funny.
I loved the way they were all connected.
My favourite story was about the vicar's wife, Dierdre. I felt the ending was open to interpretation.
My least favourite was Elspeth. I found it and her to be quite disturbing.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bedford Square Publishers for the ARC in return for an honest review.

'A Curtain Twitcher's Book of Murder' is deliciously twisty and intriguing, it wasn't what I was expecting to read at all and I loved it for that! It is quirky and unusual and oh so very readable.

The book is set in a suburban London street in 1968, everyone may know each other's business but it turns out that not everyone knows each other's secrets. They've all lived in Atbara Avenue for donkey's years, watching neighbourhood children grow from babies to adults and leave home, or parents age and pass on. Residents would probably describe it as quite a quiet street where nothing happens but that couldn't be further from the truth. It reminded me of the 'Tales of the Unexpected' series (which I know ages me!) - where seemingly innocent quiet and boring people have huge buried secrets and hidden passions that can emerge at any time.

In this series of inter-connected stories, each household's actions send ripples through other families, both along the street and out into the wider world. There are relationships between households that you would not anticipate where actions taken 20 years ago or more can have devastating and deadly consequences even decades later.

The 1960s time setting was perfectly chosen, a period with old school values reigning for the older residents set against the freedom being chased by the younger people - the pull between the two was really well illustrated.

What a wonderful debut!

Atbara Avenue was once a very gentil area of London; when the homes were newly built the residents had domestic staff to see to their every need but now, in 1968, it's a very different kettle of fish. As we get to know them, we find that things are not always what they seem and there is something dark lurking behind the curtains . . .

This is such an entertaining read! Beautifully written, it is essentially a wander up and down the avenue, peering into different homes and getting to know the characters within. There are certainly more than a few surprises along the way and I found it very hard to put the book aside to get anything done - even sleep! Thoroughly enjoyable and definitely an author to watch out for. 4.5* and one I'm very happy to recommend.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

📖 Book Review 📖

A Curtain-Twitcher's Book of Murder by Gay Marris
Bedford Square Publishers, 20th June 2024

Gay Marris' debut is an excellent collection of tales from the residents of one street. But this is no ordinary street. This is Atbara Avenue, London, in 1968; a street where murder comes to call.

'Ask anyone on Atbara Avenue how well they know their neighbours, and they’ll answer "well". After all, they see each other across the vast distance afforded by close proximity, and that is probably for the best.'

Each tale captured in this delightful book is linked with the rest, or could be read as a standalone. There is great diversity to be found; some are unusual and curious, some humorous, and others interesting. This serves as a great introduction to this author.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks to Bedford Square Publishers and Gay Marris for providing an eARC via NetGalley; this is my unbiased review.

#ACurtainTwitchersBookOfMurder #GayMarris #ARC #BedfordSquarePublishers #NetGalley #BookReview

An interesting take on what is referred to as a cosy crime novel. Tenderly dealt with and effectively a series of short stories. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.