A Sprinkle of Sabotage is the third book in Fiona Leitch’s hilarious Nosey Parker Mystery series. Set in the Cornish village of Penstowan, this is one cozy mystery series that has been thoroughly enjoyable.
Title: A Sprinkle of Sabotage
Author: Fiona Leitch
Series: The Nosey Parker Mysteries #3
First Published: March 11, 2021
Publisher: One More Chapter
Genres: Mystery,
Acquired: from the publisher via Netgalley
*** Thank you to One More Chapter, for providing me with an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. ***
A film company is coming to the Cornish village of Penstowan, and the whole village turn up to be cast as extras, even Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker. Determined to join in with the fun and ignore any dramas, Jodie is going to make the most of this time with her mum and daughter and of the potential to see their name in lights… or really small writing on the credits page.
But right on cue, the company’s caterer is sabotaged and Jodie must step up. As other small accidents begin to happen, it becomes clear that the filming is being sabotaged. With actors behaving out of character and the house literally being brought down, breaking a leg is the least of their worries.
Another hilarious chapter in the Nosey Parker cozy mystery series
This is one cozy mystery series that is guaranteed to make me laugh out loud at least several times during the story. I love Fiona Leitch’s witty banter and charming characters and always finish her books feeling happy and satisfied.
Even though this is the third book in the series, you can easily jump right in to the story without feeling lost. There is just enough background to get you up to speed quite seamlessly, although I do highly recommend that you read the first two books in the series as well because it gives you a better understanding of all the characters and their relationships, especially the semi-love-triangle between Jodie, her best friend Tony Penhaligon and DCI Nathan Withers. In case you’re curious, here are my reviews of Book 1, Murder on the Menu, and Book 2, A Brush with Death.
The murder mystery itself was fun to unravel. The new characters introduced in this story all revolve around a movie set – there are lots of egos and interesting personalities, including an aging movie icon, a hearthrob movie hunk and a spoiled young diva. Both Jodie and Tony are pulled into the action when they get personally involved with members of the cast. Becoming friendly with the cast made it easier (and more believable) for them to integrate themselves into the crime-solving.
While I really enjoyed all the books in the series, currently A Sprinkle in Sabotage is my favourite of the three. The characters have been developed enough for me to be familiar with them and there is some great character development in this story. I also enjoyed the way the main characters engaged with the “new” characters – everything always feels very natural.
The pacing of this book was very even and moved along nicely – there was always something happening, but it never felt too rushed and there wasn’t any really slow points in the story.
One of my favourite amateur sleuths
Part of what makes this series so great is the main protagonist, Jodie. What sets her apart from most other cozy mystery main characters is that, while she’s the mandatory ‘amateur detective’, she isn’t really all that ‘amateur’. She retired from London’s Metropolitan Police Force in order to give her daughter Daisy a better life, but that means she knows her way around the law, and can take care of herself in a jam. That makes her actions, and her search for the truth and justice, much more realistic than most cozy characters.
And I’m not kidding when I say that I laugh out loud while reading this book. Yes, it’s a murder mystery and has all the seriousness of that, but at the same time there are a lot of light-hearted moments and just feel-good writing that you can’t help smile at. The characters are far from perfect, but there’s just enough quirkiness and flaws to go around that it makes them seem more real. I, for one, would love to hang out with Jodie.
There is also a resolution to the love triangle that I mentioned earlier. Normally, I’m not really a fan of love triangles, especially ones that drag on for too many books. Also, if there is a triangle, I usually have a favourite and depending on the outcome, I have been known to quit a series if the MC chooses the (according to me) wrong man. LOL. However, I actually couldn’t decide between Tony and Nathan – they both had really good qualities and ‘fit’ with Jodie in their own way. So when the triangle was resolved, I felt a bit sad, but also happy that Jodie could move forward with her life. I seriously wasn’t kidding when I said I loved everything about this series!
While the first three books in the Nosey Parker Mysteries came out in pretty quick succession, there hasn’t been a fourth book announced (yet) so fingers crossed we’ll get more adventures with Jodie in the near future!
Read A Sprinkle of Sabotage for yourself
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I’ve read all 3 Nosey Parker books and the 3rd is also my favorite. I love the humor and the characters. I want to read more of this series! I hope there will be more. It’s so hard to find an author that I really, really like; Fiona Leitch is definitely one that I like. .
Isn’t this a great series? I don’t really laugh out loud at many books, but Fiona definitely has a knack for it. I hope that this series just keeps going because I can’t get enough of it!