I have to confess that I picked this one up thinking it would be a cosy murder mystery. It isn’t. It’s a gritty read which addresses the issues that arise when a community is unable to reach out to the local law enforcement for even the most basic justice. In addition, I was also shaken to discover that Jamaican immigrants – who were invited to the UK by the Government to help with a labour shortage at the time – were frequently denied access to banks, including savings accounts or any type of mortgage or loan. In order to overcome this problem, Jamaican communities would set up savings schemes, such as the Pardner network, to allow members to buy land, businesses or homes.

Miss Hortense, now a retired nurse no longer at the heart of the Jamaican community she helped to build in this country, is busy minding her own business when a dead body with a particular message turns up. And she finds herself once again caught up in a case that almost destroyed her some thirty-five years previously. Miss Hortense is certainly no one’s idea of a cuddly aunty. She’s outspoken and fiercely protective of her privacy. Underneath a tough exterior she also has a heart as big as a house and a strong moral compass. She is also absolutely fearless in the face of bullies of all shapes and sizes.

It takes a talented author to be able to depict such a spiky character so I care quite so passionately. I was also pleased that all the older characters, including the main protagonist, were handled with respect by the much younger author. I’ve become very fed up with some of the patronising depictions of elderly protagonists in some of the murder mysteries I’ve been reading, recently. And in case you’re wondering – no, I’m NOT alluding to Richard Osman, but some of the copycat books that have sprung up since his huge success.

What becomes very clear throughout this book is the damage inflicted on those left behind when someone dies violently. And how differently people deal with grief. As I read this one, I kept envisaging it as a TV mini-series – it would transfer to the screen particularly well. However, the reason why this punchy crime drama hasn’t scored a 10 is because I think the mystery became just a little too twisty and complicated. By the end, I was struggling to keep track of exactly who did what to whom – though that doesn’t detract from this being a very memorable read and one I’ve been thinking about a lot since I finished reading it. Very highly recommended for fans of murder mysteries with a difference. While I obtained an arc of A Murder for Miss Hortense from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
9/10

Miss Hortense a retired nurse lives in Bigglesweigh a quiet suburb in Birmingham , living there since 1960 when she emigrated from Jamaica.
She is as sharp as a tack and doesn’t miss a trick .
A group of black investors started a group called the Pardner network it is specifically to help their own community grow .
Miss Hortense begins to investigate some of the investments the Pardner have made , and when a body is found in one of the investors home she now has a murder to investigate too.
Miss Hortense is a fabulous character and a person you’d definitely want on side , other wise you’d better look out!
A fantastic start to a new series .
Looking forward to spending more time with this indomitable sleuth.
Thanks to NetGalley and John Murray Press.

Miss Hortense is a force to be reckoned with. As a retired nurse, she has a keen understanding of human nature and no one pulls the wool over her eyes. Her sharp intelligence and intuition will always point her in the direction of what is really going on. She can handle even the most difficult and recalcitrant of people, making her a modern day Miss Marple when it comes to investigating crimes in her community.

After following her older sister Evie from Jamaica to England at the start of the 1960s, Hortense trained to become a nurse and settled in Birmingham, where she found a welcoming and thriving Jamaican community. At a game of dominoes, where women were complaining about the local banks refusing to let them open savings accounts, Hortense suggested the eight of them at the game start a ‘Pardner’ scheme, where members could save together as a co-operative and then take turns borrowing the money. Through the scheme Hortense would buy her own comfortable little house. The scheme later became so successful that it was opened up to community projects such as building a social centre and funding local businesses.

Later the Pardner group would take on an even wider community role, that of investigating the murders, kidnappings and disappearances within their community that the police didn’t bother to investigate. It was then that Hortense’s skill as a natural sleuth paid dividends. However, one of these cases would itself lead to a death, causing a rift between Hortense and the rest of the Pardner group, raising its head again some thirty years later with the sudden death of another member.

This is a terrific debut mystery for playwright turned author Mel Pennant, introducing an excellent new female sleuth to the cosy crime genre. Hortense is a complicated character whose life hasn’t always been easy, with a tragic event in her past still haunting her today. As with all the characters, she jumps off the page fully formed and recognisable. Hortense knows the right questions to ask to uncover everyone’s dark secrets and although quite a complex series of events has led to the current crimes, she expertly uncovers and juggles all the pieces until they slot into place.

I really enjoyed the way the author brought us into the heart of the community through their culture and spoken dialect. At first the smattering of Jamaican patois used by the characters might look difficult to understand, but it doesn’t take long to pick up the meaning and settle into the rhythm of the language. I also loved the Christie type denouement with all the characters gathered together to listen to Hortense unravel the crimes and point the finger at the perpetrators.

This richly layered and atmospheric mystery is a joy to read and I’m very happy to note that the ending suggests another outing for Miss Hortense in the near future.

The titular Miss Hortense may not be popular in the town where she lives, but people come knocking on her door seeking advice nonetheless. She is a retired nurse and is the first port of call in her neighbourhood for anyone seeking advice. She is a huge personality. She tells people things straight and does not suffer fools gladly. She is not averse to speaking her mind and easily upsets people along the way.

One thing I loved about this book was the use of colloquial Jamaican throughout. I cannot recall reading of another character like Miss Hortense. The author absolutely inhabits her creation. I will be interested to see where the author takes the larger-than-life Miss Hortense in the future.

A Murder for Miss Hortense Is not like other “cosy” mysteries. The reader is immediately placed among a cast of characters whose personalities and stories only gradually come into focus.

Everyone has arrived in Birmingham after the Second World War from the Caribbean and the community has to pull together in the face of racism from the white British establishment and neighbours. There is no access to banking, so they start a Pardner savings scheme to pool their resources. They experience discrimination when their loved ones die, so one member of the group,starts a funeral business. They are fully self sufficient and cannot trust the police, so when attacks happen to members of the community they need to investigate and resolve problems themselves.

Miss Hortense was the original number one investigator and she is brought back out of retirement when events start occurring which are linked to the pardner scheme. The plot is complex and twisty, but the resolution is satisfying. I would definitely read another Miss Hortense mystery.

An original and thoroughly enjoyable mystery novel with lots of layers and plenty of twists. Miss Hortense is a unique and refreshing addition to the ever growing list of spinster amateur sleuths. She’s a no-nonsense lady with exceptional investigative skills. I do hope we get to see more of her.

Listen, I thought I knew cozy mysteries. I've devoured every Miss Marple adventure until I could practically recite them in my sleep, and I've got a soft spot for any sleuth who solves crimes between afternoon tea and garden pruning. But Miss Hortense? She's something else entirely, and I'm absolutely here for it.

Meet Miss Hortense: retired nurse, cake-baking extraordinaire, and possibly the most observant woman in Birmingham's quiet suburb of Bigglesweigh. This isn't your typical English village mystery, though. Miss Hortense emigrated from Jamaica in 1960, and her sharp eye for detail extends far beyond spotting murderers—she can tell if her turmeric's been watered down before her first bite of beef patty. That's the kind of authenticity that had me grinning from page one.

What absolutely hooked me was how Pennant weaves Miss Hortense's investigative prowess into her community work with the Pardner network—a group of Black investors supporting their community's success. It's brilliant social commentary wrapped in a murder mystery, and it never feels heavy-handed. When an unidentified body turns up in a Pardner member's home with a cryptic bible verse, Miss Hortense's past comes crashing back in ways that made my heart race.

The mystery itself is deliciously twisty. Mel Pennant doesn't just give us a puzzle to solve; she gives us a character study of a woman whose thirty-five years of nursing left her "afraid of nobody"—whether that's a local drug dealer or a priest. Miss Hortense's ability to decode people's secrets with just a glance feels authentic rather than contrived, probably because she's lived enough life to have earned that wisdom.

Where this book truly shines is in its exploration of community, memory, and forgiveness. Miss Hortense isn't just solving a murder; she's confronting "the worst moment of her life"—something her community has never let her forget. The emotional stakes feel real and raw, elevating this beyond your standard cozy fare.

My only quibble? I wanted more time with some of the secondary characters, particularly within the Pardner network. But honestly, that's because Mel Pennant created such a rich world that I didn't want to leave.

If you love cozy mysteries but crave something with more depth and cultural richness than the typical village setting, Miss Hortense is your new obsession. She's got Miss Marple's observational skills with a backstory that actually matters, set in a community that feels vibrantly alive.

Consider me officially converted to the Church of Miss Hortense—and desperately hoping this is the first of many adventures.

Miss Hortense is an admirable and original woman who lives in England but has retained her Jamaican heritage. I like that she is an older protagonist and that her past life experiences are implicit in the way her community values her and her skill at solving mysteries. Even though it took me a while to fully understand the dialogue, it gives the story a pleasing uniqueness and makes the action and characters authentic. It's a complex mystery with many suspects, and sometimes, the detailed world-building caused me to lose the thread of the mystery. I found it emotional and engaging, and would read another of Miss Hortense's murder mysteries.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

I struggled to engage with this book. It wasn't about the patois, it more that it seemed to jump around and characters were not really introduced fully. Just my personal opinion

I enjoy a mystery that features an ‘amateur pensioner sleuth’; Miss Marple being the original and The Thursday Murder Club gang more recent favourites. So when I read the blurb for this one and saw a chapter titled ‘Geriatric Mafia’ I knew it would be for me.

Miss Hortense is a formidable character - strong, fearless and tenacious in the pursuit of justice. She has a great understanding of human nature and with her network of friends and associates she is able to uncover any wrong doing.

With a close knit community of characters, including the obligatory local clergy and the witty one liners, it has all the hallmarks of ‘cosy’ crime. Whilst the sleuthing and the punishment of crimes may be somewhat unorthodox, some of the crimes feel very real. In particular, those involving violence against women.

The book also touches on the subject of communities marginalised by authorities and the inadequacy of investigations into certain crimes. There is a serious message amongst the sleuthing and the stand offs.

I really enjoyed it and I’m hopeful there will be a sequel as I’d love to see Miss Hortense in action again.

Miss Hortense arrived in Bigglesweigh in the 1960s after having followed her sister Evie from Jamaica. Life was a struggle as "their kind" were not accepted amid the locals. When some women are attacked the last thing they want to do is go to the Police.
Many years later, Miss Hortense is still dealing with repercussions from that time when her nemesis is found dead. Some people think there is something fishy about the death and ask Miss Hortense to look into it. Around the same time a young woman arrives from London after her mother dies.
A tale of death, secrets, lies and friendship. A fun read.

This book was superb – such an impressive debut! I devoured it. The characters and their complex, twisty lives were exquisitely rendered, I felt like I had been placed in the middle of the vibrant community. In addition to being a truly unique mystery, it was also a great snapshot into Black British life in the past. If you like Miss Marple, you'll love Miss Hortense.

Colourful characters and with clever history setting, this is an intriguing mystery. Miss Hortense is one of those characters who is larger than life - a zest for what’s right in the world.
Twists and sleight of hand keep you guessing from the beginning and interested til the end

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June 13, 2025
A little bit Thursday Murder Club, with a hint of Agatha Christie, all told in a Jamaican/British accent!

This book was quite a bit of fun, although I did find it hard to keep track of the characters as the narrative goes back and forward in time. It deserves to have the first part read in one sitting in order to establish who is who.

As with all good murder mysteries, the twist is worth the wait!

Miss Hortense is originally from Jamaica and emigrated to Birmingham in the 1960s.

Now a retired nurse, she takes pride in all she does, and has a knack for knowing other people’s secrets.

When a man is found dead, Miss Hortense can’t help but get involved, and wants to find out who killed him and why.

I did struggle a bit with the dialect and the amount of characters in the story. I found the story quite slow but quite enjoyed it once it picked up. I did find the recipes included throughout the story to be interesting.

Miss Hortense is a retired nurse who lives in a Birmingham suburb after coming to the UK from Jamaica in 1960. When a body turns up in the home of one of her acquaintances, she is drawn into investigating. She's pretty fearless - she's had to be to survive more than three decades in nursing and living in an area that wasn't exactly welcoming when she first arrived. And she's not a stranger to investigating things because for years she's been checking out the background of potential investments of the Pardner network, which is a sort of community savings scheme. But this investigation leaders her into areas she would rather not think about, and dangers that she thought she had put behind her.

I really enjoyed this - Miss Hortense is very independent and self-reliant, and somewhat abrasive at times, but she makes for a fascinating lens to look at a very tight-knit community that is hiding plenty of secrets. I read this in less than a day, and would happily return to the world of Miss Hortense - and I hope that there is a sequel.

From the outset, I thought this book would offer up the standard cosy crime fayre, and it did in parts. Although, we also had aspects of gritty realism.

Sometimes, the descriptions of the attacks took the novel out of the cosy crime genre and turned it into a grittier detective fiction. The setting on the streets of Birmingham wasn’t your usual seemingly perfect village or sun-drenched locale.

However, it’s nice to read something more down to earth. Miss Hortense was on the case, looking out for her community in multiple murder investigations.

I didn’t find her an especially warm character, but she did make a very good amateur sleuth. She stood for what she believed in and put herself into dangerous situations to uncover the truth. I liked that we got to see ‘behind the scenes’ into her life, which really helped to understand her character.

In many ways, reading the novel was like stepping into a bit of a time warp. Needless to say, the plot interwove two eras, the 1960s and the 1990s. The eras were vividly painted and really gave a good sense of time and place.

The plot jumped around the decades for a little while, and it took me the first few pages to get into the book. The Jamaican dialect was easy to follow. The recipes in the novel were also a bonus for anyone interested in Jamaican cooking.

Although I enjoyed the various character voices, Miss Hortense was the strongest. Each story strand created a lot of tension, and some of the twists were surprising. I expected to have more of an overlap between narratives, but I enjoyed the characterisation and community the writer created.

By the end of the novel, I felt Miss Hortense came into her own, and classic crime fans are sure to enjoy the homage to that oh so famous fictional detective. 4.5 stars.

One for all the cosy crime lovers!

Miss Hortense has lived within her community for several decades; moving from Jamaica to the UK in 1960 she settled in the Birminham suburb she calls home. She takes great pride in her home and 35 years of nursing left her quite capable of dealing with anyone who crosses her path. When a dead body is found in one of the nearby homes, Miss Hortense's past could be catching up with her - can she work out who the murderer is and, most importantly, why?

This is an excellent novel, and a very enjoyable read. The protagonist is one sharp cookie; a decent woman and not much gets past her but, even so, she has to dig in to work everything out. I'd quite like to read more books with this character. 4.5* and my recommendation.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley.

3.5 stars. I didn't ever fully engage with this book. I can't put my finger on why; it could just have been that I wasn't in the right frame of mind for it or that I didn't gel with the writing style. Whatever it was, I found it hard to keep the different character threads separated and this took me out of the story sometimes as I had to flip back to get things straight in my head..
The story itself is a good one - murder, intrigue, a close community, and a brilliant protagonist. Miss Hortense was my favourite thing about the book, she's aces! I know strong independent women like this, they keep the wheels in their neighbourhood turning, and because of that, are often disliked by different people at different times in their lives. Miss Hortense never lost her sense of what was right, though, even though it cost her personally. The pace at which little nuggets of information are shared with the readers is almost perfect, were it not for these strengths I wouldn't have carried on reading but I'm glad I did. An overall enjoyable first foray (I'm assuming) into the life of Miss Hortense are her friends and neighbours.

I loved getting to know Miss Hortense, she was an amazing character. Overall, it was a compelling read that beautifully blended historical depth with mystery.