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<\/a>I\u2019m quite a late convert to Richard Osman\u2019s laugh-out-loud Thursday Murder Club novels. I love everything about them especially each of the odd-ball mix of characters. My favourite is Joyce \u2013 she grows more astute with each novel. They meet everything I want in a cosy crime mystery \u2013 a puzzle to unravel, a fast-paced plot with lots of red-herrings that keeps you guessing to the end (aka Agatha Christie\u2019s classic whodunits) scintillating dialogue but not without its own pathos all delivered in an easy style. I even reread Book 1 after I\u2019d finished \u2018The Last Devil to Die\u2019.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I\u2019m sure lovers of Richard Osborne\u2019s humorous style will enjoy Ian Moore\u2019s novels featuring Richard Ainsworth, a middle-aged English man who has relocated to the Loire Valley to run a B&B. Far from wanting to involve himself getting to the bottom of the mysterious events in his own establishment, it’s the murder of his favourite hen that compels him to take action.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I\u2019m lucky enough to be a reader for Mystery People (click on the link) \u2013 For writers and readers of mystery – Mystery People<\/a> \u2013 and I always look forward to the monthly ezine. I\u2019ve discovered a great many authors who have become firm favourites that I might not have otherwise come across including Joy Ellis, Elly Griffiths, Judith Cutler, Clare Chase, Rebecca Tope, Fiona Vetch Smith and Tom Benjamin.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>This year I\u2019ve read two of Clare Chase’s novels \u2013 the latest in her Ruth Mallow series and I particularly enjoyed the first in her new Antique Store Detective series which follows new antique shop owner Bella Winter\u2019s attempts to find the killer of local historian Professor Oliver Barton little realising it will take her into a world of buried treasure and illegal smuggling.<\/p>\n<\/a>Another favourite author is Rebeca Tope. Trouble in the Cotswolds<\/em> is the latest of her Cotswolds Mysteries featuring house-sitter Thea Osborne. Thea\u2019s plans for a quiet Christmas house-sitting in the off the beaten track village of Stanton west of Stow-on-the-Wold are quickly overturned when she finds herself caught up in the death of local businessman, Douglas Callender, who was electrocuted in his bath.<\/p>\n<\/a>Elly Griffiths is another prolific writer with several mystery series. I\u2019ve read two or three of her books this year including her latest The Last Word<\/em>. <\/strong>Local writer, Melody Charmers, is found dead. Her family believe she was murdered and Natalka, a Ukrainian refugee, and eighty-year-old Edwin who run a detective agency swing into action. Edwin is a delightful character and he and Natalka\u2019s boyfriend, ex-monk, Benedict, are my favourite characters in this easy-read mystery.<\/p>\n