I would like to thank Netgalley and Severn House Publishers Ltd for an advance copy of The Poisoned Chalice, the second novel set in 1929 to feature amateur sleuths Tom Dod and Frances Black.

Tom's Aunt Hetty suspects something is wrong in her village as three parishioners who opposed the new vicar's methods have died in suspicious circumstances and she wants Tom and Frances to investigate. Arriving in the Nottinghamshire village of Durley Dean it doesn't take them long to discover some seething resentments but no firm proof of murder until events take a sinister turn.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Poisoned Chalice which is a good, old fashioned tale of murder, mystery and local feuds where there are plenty of motives, lies and misdirection but little hard evidence. It is full of interviews and discussion about what our intrepid sleuths have discovered and it is up to the reader to read between the lines as it is all there to be divined, needless to say I failed abysmally and had to wait for the denouement. It is very cleverly done and I admire Ms Janes's skill and audacity in how she has structured her novel.

I like the characters, Tom and Frances, but am unsure about their situation. They are in love but can't do anything about it as they are married to other people, Frances to Michael who has abandoned her for another woman and Tom to his dead brother's fiancée who was pregnant at the time of his death. The scandal of divorce is therefore a hot topic in the novel and makes for interesting reading in our more liberated times but seems sordid and out of place in the 1920s middle class setting when such things were never discussed. It's a conundrum that is set to continue in future novels.

The Poisoned Chalice is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.