I had fun and thoroughly enjoyed this well plotted and compelling mystery. Lovely setting, quirky and lovely characters, a solid mystery.
I hope there's going to be another book by this author soon.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I am going to give this one a 2.5 rounded up to 3. Overall a good book - it gave me the same vibes as the Thursday Murder Club. Personally, I prefer something a bit faster paced, and I did find Daphne irritating at times. I think the only character I really liked was poor Charles. If you're a fan of cosy murder mysteries, then I would say this one is definitely for you - and I enjoyed how all the story lines came together at the end.

super cosy crime in so far as it is a nice potter through mostly genial village life, full of oddbods and great characters but at the end of each chapter there is a reminder of the forthcoming dead body!
Once the corpse is discovered the plot thickens with multiple accusations hurled and secrets revealed giving a bit more oomph to the crime side of the book.
Super sleuthing and a lovely setting.

Planting the seeds of a series...

A delightful middle England cosy, and intriguing whodunnit, with an eclectic mix of contemporary and classic characters, and plenty of scope for further adventures.

I received a free copy of, The Potting Shed Murder. by Paula Sutton, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I found this book slow and boring. I did not care for the characters either.

A quaint little village which appears to be all it is, quiet, perfect and a restful spot to raise children, when escaping from the rat race of London. The Potting Shed murder, is a cosy novel that unravels the quaintness of village life to reveal the reality of the deepest secrets that are hidden there. Wonderful characters that make you laugh, with tender hook moments and revelations. A great summer read.

I really enjoyed this fun, cosy murder mystery. Daphne was a likeable main character, and I enjoyed following her trying to figure out the mystery. The twists and turns had me changing my mind all the way through, right up to the intense ending! Highly recommend!

A fantastic modern, cosy murder mystery!
This was a fun and easy read, perfect for snuggling up with on a rainy day. The characters, while almost caricatures of stereotypical English village folk were lively and interesting. The plot was not too complex, which was good because it was a fast-paced read! There were some great little twists and I really liked how we saw things from a few different perspectives.

Daphne and her family move from London and relocate to rural Norfolk. The local headmaster is found dead in his potting shed. Done had previously seen him hugging her new best friend Minerva and wonders what’s going on. The headmasters wife accuses her of killing him. Is everyone as they seem? Of course not. Even the doctor next door to Daphne acts strange and she gets herself into a whole host of problems. Loved it.

I really enjoyed this book and it's the first I have read by Paula Sutton. I am gpoing to read her next one as I really found this easy to read. Daphne and her family have upped sticks from London to rural Norfolk and she is enjoying becoming a part of rural village life. Then the local headmaster is murdered and Daphne gradually becomes focused on finding out who did it. It could be calld cosy fiction but I think it's more modern than that. I loved the characters and the descriptions of village life. It has humour too and such realistic happenings. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and whizzed through - a sign of a good read for me! Thank you Netgalley for letting me read and review this book.

The download date was unfortunately missed, I would be happy to re-review 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.

"Daphne Brewster has left London behind and is settling into her family’s new life in rural Norfolk, planting broad beans in raised beds and vintage hunting for their farmhouse."
This book was a real refreshing take on the 'cosy mystery' genre because when the village headmaster is murdered and Daphne's new friend Minnerva is accused Daphne does her best to find out what really happened before village gossip persuades the police to arrest an innocent woman.

The author, a black woman who left the rat race of the city for a quieter life in the Norfolk countryside surrounding herself in ‘cottage core’ aesthetic writes about a black female protagonist who leaves the rat race of the city for a quieter life in the Norfolk countryside recycling furniture in shabby chic style.
Self indulgent, egotistical or just plain lazy?
I did not like this book at all but I need to quantify that statement so, both the writing and narration scream ‘BBC English’ which is neither relatable nor easily flowing. I did wonder if this were set in the 1940’s but modern day references kept popping up - indeed the author does mention the actual year at one point, so that excuse went out of the window. The many references to Boden (are they on commission?) when describing a character’s appearance were jarring. As for the audio, too many mispronunciations to count which were highly irritating - a female pig is sow as in cow not as in sew. Back to the writing, the ‘white’ characters are insulting caricatures of the ‘English White Middle Class’, the text slow, over flowery and in the whole unnecessary in its descriptions which left me screaming ‘get to the point!’ And on that issue, I want a book to pull me in from the first chapter, especially a murder mystery book, which should rely on intrigue rather than references to Pashley bicycles (is the author after a free one?). The murder in this book is painfully slow in arriving then even more painfully slow in its unveiling, described at great pains from all angles. The plot is simple with no true red herrings and a reader of cosy crime will spot that the doctor is a wrong ‘un from the offset. Had this not been an advanced reader copy which required a review, I would have given up about 5 minutes in. In a word - Dreadful.

Thank you Netgalley and Dialogue Books for this arc.
I enjoyed reading this book and I liked the writing style. The chapters 'meeting the villagers' and 'locations in the story' were very helpfull. I liked the characters and their development. I saw that this is the first book in the series so I'm really excited to read the next books that are coming. If you like cosy crime/murder mystery books, I really recommend this one!

A ‘cosy’ whodunnit mystery. Somewhat reminiscent of Richard Osman’s style of writing. However, I predicted the murderer from the start as well as the method. Despite this, there were still a lot of twists and turns in the story that were great.

Daphne left Lon don to give her family a better life. Then the local headmaster is killed in his potting shed. Her friend Minerva is accused of the murder Daphne decides to prove her innocent. She then finds that a lot of the villagers all have secrets

I thoroughly enjoyed this well written book and engaging story. The main characters are quickly introduced and I particularly liked the list of village characters and places right at the start which helped set the scene including identifying the murder victim.

I was drawn into the story from the first page. Daphne is a strong character and her relationships with other villagers are nicely developed. There are many suspects and each have their own backstory. There is a nice balance of humour with interesting plot twists.

A very enjoyable read and I hope that further books will follow.

Allotment gardening is a genteel, calming activity. And a cosy, homely shed is a welcome retreat. Until someone murders you in it! When the body of the local primary school Headmaster, Charles Papplewick, is found in just such a shed, in just such an allotment, it causes consternation, but for along time it is not clear why he has died, and natural causes is high on the list. For Daphne Brewster, however it is decidedly unnatural. Daphne and her husband and children have moved from South London to rural Norfolk to escape, at least in her case, from noisy, dirty dangerous South London, in which she has been trapped in the rat race. As an escaped Londoner, Daphne would be a “stranger” (local argot) anyway, but perhaps a bit more so given her Grenadian heritage and mixed-race family. However, the family settle in very quickly, kids at the school, local friends like Ptolemy (the old doctor living next door), Minerva (one of the “witches” from the woods), Marianne (Sloaney with ideas above her station), the Warburton sisters (gossip central) and Augusta (unsatisfied wife of the aforementioned Headmaster.) But settling in involves finding things out about other people and Daphne is intensely inquisitive. Not surprisingly, she starts to put her observations and intuitions together as she ponders how to solve the murder. Of course, such activities can lead her into the peril of being the next victim.
This is a cosy crime story, set, as it is, in an idyllic rural (and silvan) nook, a tiny village next to a small town. The plot and overall structure are not particularly complex and the twists, of which there are a few, are not hugely surprising. The characters are all easily identifiable, although there is a Dramatis Personae at the beginning, but a bit stereotypical. Grace is the exception, in that she is not drawn as typically West Indian, nor as a typical city dweller dropped into a bucolic backwater. However, she does perform as a typical amateur sleuth. The writing style is rather twee, quaint, mannered, not to my taste but I’m sure there are people who love it. It is also very repetitive, with lots of unnecessary memory prompts to keep the reader on track. Overall, it is quite an enjoyable and undemanding read. I think 3.5 is about right, which will round to 4.
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.

Easy going cosy crime mystery. A multitude of characters are embroiled in murder in an English village.

After a move from the bustle of London to the quiet of Norfolk, Daphne is shocked to find her idyllic new existence disturbed by a local murder. This book is a quaint, cozy murder mystery but I felt like it was a bit too formulaic. Nothing was a genuine surprise, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. A cute read though!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review