The Village Hall Vendetta

De: Jonathan Whitelaw

Narrado por: Sid Sagar

There’s a fine art to murder…

Hal Mulberry has long dreamt of owning the iconic painting, Buttermere at Dawn. And now the entrepreneur has got his hands on it, he’s determined to bring it back to the Lakes where it belongs and put it on show, turning Penrith Village Hall into a cultural hotspot – with the painting at its heart.

Journalist Jason Brazel is delighted to get the exclusive. Even if his mother in law, Amita, thinks he’s making a fuss about an ugly piece of modern art. But when Amita uncovers a theory that the painting is cursed, she wonders just what Hal is bringing to their door: hex, hoax or dirty-deal?

While the great and the good gather for the unveiling, someone’s got murder on their mind. And it’s up to Jason and Amita to find who is trying to put people out of the picture … permanently.

©2023 Jonathan Whitelaw (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Reseñas de la Crítica

‘A warm-hearted and funny story’ The Sun

‘A cracking cosy crime mystery – I loved it!’ Marion Todd

‘Sharp, unforgettable, hugely enjoyable’ Emma Christie

Excellent

The story is great, and held my attention. However, it was the narrator’s spot-on accents that drew me in. Having grown up in London, I was effectively gobsmacked at the narrator’s 100% accurate portrayal of Smithy’s central London accent. It was so perfectly nuanced, that I literally stopped what I was doing to listen, mouth agape, the laughed in utter astonishment. It was brilliant.

What did I just read

This book angered me on two levels. The first - I enjoyed the first book enough to reach for the second in the series but the second book’s entire story could’ve been told in 20 sentences and instead I got hundreds of pages of the author indulging himself in “clever banter.” Eye roll. The second - the mom is 1- the bread winner. 2- a lawyer. 3. Mother of two. The dad is 1. Unemployed/freelance 2. Doesn’t put the kids to bed. 3. Doesn’t cook the dinners. 4. Drives her mom to bingo and solves crimes?? HOW ARE THEY STILL MARRIED!? No. Just no. Also - without any spoilers - the story, the crime itself and the end - not in a million years is it believable. Fiction should have some semblance of reality - a thought that it could happen. Ugh.

Characters are odd at best

Another series with pathetic men and a headstrong, impulsive, pushy heroine,
The ultimate beta male cohort is tiresome. A boring woke series. 1 and 2 had blubbering men throughout. The authors view of the world obvious.