A Cornish Christmas Murder is the fourth book in Fiona Leitch’s fantastic Nosey Parker cozy mystery series, set in the Cornish village of Penstowan and featuring ex-cop turned caterer, Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker.
Title: A Cornish Christmas Murder
Author: Fiona Leitch
Series: Nosey Parker Mysteries #4
First Published: December 9, 2021
Publisher: One More Chapter (HarperCollins)
Genres: Mystery,
Acquired: from the publisher via Netgalley
*** Thank you to One More Chapter/HarperCollins, for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. ***
It’s three days before Christmas, and detective-turned-chef Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker is drafted in to cater a charity event run by a notorious millionaire at a 13th-century abbey on Bodmin Moor.
Things get more complicated when a snowstorm descends, stranding them all, and the next morning they find one of the guests has been gruesomely murdered in their bed…
Secrets mull like wine on the stove in every corner – can Jodie solve the crime before the killer strikes again?
I love visiting with Nosey Parker and her friends
I’m always excited when Leitch announces a new book in the Nosey Parker mystery series – they are the perfect blend of light-hearted humour, witty dialogue, interesting characters and twisty mystery that I can read in one sitting.
The main character, Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker, is one of my favourite amateur sleuths, and she brings her training as a former London police officer to good use as she tries to settle into her new life as a caterer in Cornwall. She is smart, capable, down-to-earth and has a wicked sense of humour.
The characters around her are just as memorable, from her teenage daughter, Daisy, to her hilariously inappropriate mum, Shirley, from her good friend Debbie, to her new boyfriend, DCI Nathan Withers. I really enjoy the distinct personalities of the group that Jodie has around her.
There are some newcomers this time around, including Jodie’s old school friend Lily, who is helping abbey-owner Trevor turn the old building into a resort-hotel, and multi-millionaire philanthropist Isaac Barnes, who has a not-so-friendly past. We get to know these characters pretty well in a short span of time and I hope that a few of them pop up in future stories.
A fun ‘stranded strangers’ mystery, with a dash of murder
The pacing of this story is very steady and never slows down too much. There are lots of new characters to meet, and a haunting old building to explore, but everything is done at a good pace so that you’re excited to learn more. I enjoyed meeting the new characters and getting to know their backstories.
If you’ve never read a Nosey Parker book previously, it’s pretty easy to jump into this one as a standalone – there’s enough of a “introduction” to Jodie and her gang that you won’t feel lost and you definitely don’t need to know what happened in books 1-3 to follow along here (although I do recommend you read the entire series – they’re all fantastic!)
I love a good classic story in which a bunch of strangers are stranded in a remote location and a murder occurs. It has always been a typical setting in murder mysteries and can be overdone, but when it’s done right, it can be SO entertaining. Dame Agatha Christie was a master at this, with two of her stories, And Then There Were None and The Erymanthian Boar being among my favourites. And now we can add A Cornish Christmas Murder to the list. It’s the perfect cozy holiday read – there’s a variety of interesting guests, an old abbey with hidden secrets, a snowstorm and of course, a murder. Plus, it’s Christmastime!
Read A Cornish Christmas Murder for yourself
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