I would like to thank Netgalley and Joffe Books for an advance copy of The Riverboat Mystery, the third novel to feature travelling cook and amateur sleuth Jenny Starling.

Jenny takes a working holiday catering a small weekend party on a paddle steamer but things don’t go smoothly. Tensions are running high and culminate in murder.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Riverboat Mystery which is a fun, cosy read with a well concealed perpetrator. It is not a profound novel, preferring broad brushstrokes, but it is entertaining. It is split into two almost equal parts, both seen through Jenny’s eyes, with the first half setting the scene for the murder, exploring the tensions and motives, and the second half covering the investigation where, as usual Jenny manages to outthink the police at every turn by using her practical mindset. Much of it is nonsense and seems barely believable but that hardly matters as the light hearted tone and genuine whodunnit mystery carry the reader through and hold the attention from start to finish.

Much of the fun in the novel is down to the protagonist, Jenny Starling. As with Ms Martin’s immensely popular Hillary Greene character she has a no nonsense approach tempered with good humour and a sense of the ridiculous. It is her take on events that makes the novel so enjoyable.

The Riverboat Mystery is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.