cosy-mystery, law-enforcement, suspense, murder, murder-investigation, photography

It was unwise of me to begin this book in late afternoon because it held me to the pages until I finished it ! The publisher's blurb is a good set up, and then it starts to unfold its diabolical twists and red herrings. Great new series that does indeed seem addictive!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Bookouture via NetGalley. Thank you!

Riveting, Can't Put It Down!
I love this story and am looking forward to the series. This is a bit more graphic than a cozy and a bit less graphic than a police procedural. It is a wonderfully twisted tale of a crime that has more twists than I thought possible. The plot is great, the characters are realistic and the ending is fantastic. I received this digital ARC for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

This new series by Betty Rowlands is off to a great start. This is a good old-fashioned mystery with some interesting character.s. Looking forward to more!

This book is from the same author who writes the Melissa Craig mysteries and while I loved that series I am sorry to say that I just couldn’t get into this book. At the halfway mark I finally gave up reading since I realized that I really didn’t care how it ended. The characters/story line were uninteresting. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

Death at Hazel House', the first of the Sukey Reynolds Mystery series is a enjoyable read with a great sleuth. I like that it was written based in the 90's which gave it a fun retro feel . I hope this will be the first of many more in this fine series.
Suzy a scene of crimes officer (SOCO) becomes a amateur detective. She is a single Mom and loves her life but is soon drawn into a multi layered mystery. She is both likeable and realistic as a single Mom . She is smart and savvy and works hard to prove herself . This has a police procedural feel to it as well as a bit of the cozy charm that we enjoy in cozy mysteries.

I look forward to the next in series. Thank you for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a chance to read this book and provide an honest review.

I was very excited to read this first book in the Sukey Reynolds series. Betty Rowlands created such a strong female lead with Melissa Craig, that I was expecting the same from Sukey Reynolds. The book did not disappoint, it far exceeded my expectations!

In this first book of the series we are introduced to Sukey Reynolds who works as a SOCO (Scene of Crime Officer), she's a civilian that works for the police department collecting forensic evidence. Sukey is a single mom to Fergus, a delightful young main who is pivotal to the story. Sukey has a "love" interest in Detective Inspector Jim Castle.

In this book there is a combination of an old armed robbery, tax evasions, burglary and murder. Unknown to Sukey she gets mixed up in this plot by wanting to make some side money to send Fergus on a pricey school trip. Moonlighting is frowned upon by the police department and Sukey is eager not to be caught. Some of the photos that she takes however, lands her in hot water and danger.

Sukey is a strong female lead in this book and she carries the entire story. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. Betty Rowlands once again deserves more than 5 stars for engaging the reader from the first page to the last.

' Death at Hazel House', the first of the Sukey Reynolds Mystery series, is a fusion of genres. Written originally in the late 1990s, like the Melissa Craig mysteries, this has a retro feel to it, most notably in its lack of political correctness.

I was expecting a cozy/murder mystery, and in part it is. There are multiple character points of view, murder, lots of suspects and misinformation. However, the language, tone and crimes are more aligned to police procedurals. So this story has wide appeal, for readers that want to try something different.

Suzy a scene of crimes officer (SOCO) becomes an unwilling amateur detective, although her role is not developed in this first book, she is likeable, intelligent and courageous, and I am looking forward to reading her next adventure.

I received a copy of this book from bookouture via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This was a very enjoyable read. I loved the characters Jim and Sukey and the action was pretty much non stop, quiet villages in Gloucestershire are apparently not as safe and quiet as you might imagine.

A new lovely and entertaining series by Betty Rowlands.
I'm a fan of this writer and this book met all my expectations.
It's fast paced, engaging, entertaining and well written.
I liked the well written cast of characters, the plot full of twists and turns and the mystery.
I look forward to reading other books in this series.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

An excellent start to a new series ... I'm already a Sukey Reynolds fan!

Sukey Reynolds, single mum, gave up her detective dreams to raise her young son. Now he's a teenager, she is working again - not quite in the police force, but as good as. When she finds herself drawn into the murder of Lorraine Chant, she puts her detecting skills to good use and soon finds herself in a sticky situation. However, Sukey is not such a pushover and her antennae is on high alert - can get to the bottom of things before they get the better of her?

I really enjoyed this one; the clues are there, and you just know that Sukey is smart enough to work it out. Plenty of red herrings too - as you would expect from a well-written murder mystery with several things going on. With a good mix of characters and a bit of danger in the air, this one kept me on my toes. Definitely a series I'll be happy to follow. This is my first encounter with this author's work, and it's a good solid read to which I'm very happy to give four stars.

My thanks to publisher Bookouture for my copy via NetGalley. This is, as always, my honest, original and unbiased review.

Death at Hazel House, previously published as An Inconsiderate Death, is the series opener featuring ambitious amateur sleuth and police photographer Sukey Reynolds from the Queen of cosy mysteries. Originally written in the 1990s the book hasn't aged well but that is certainly part of its charm, in my opinion. It took me back to my formative years with the spot-on descriptions of 90s Britain. Whilst not an active investigator Sukey helps steer the police in the right direction in order to solve the case. I would've liked it to have been more centred around her, but as this is the first of thirteen in this rereleased series there is plenty of time for her to grow into her role. Many thanks to Bookouture for an ARC.

Meet Susan aka Sukey Reynolds single mum of Fergus & a Scenes of Crime Officer (SOCO)
When Sukey arrives to photograph the body of Lorraine Chant, the beautiful wife of a wealthy businessman, she’s baffled. At first, it looks like a botched burglary but nothing is as it seems. Sixteen year old Fergus would love to go on a school trip to the Dordogne but money is tight, however Sukey is offered the moonlighting job of photographing a business owners house to raise some cash. She takes the photos is attacked whilst there & then Hugo, the businessman is found dead. There’s also the second chance developing romance between Sukey & Jim Castle a police inspector.
This book was first written in the 1990’s. I was drawn in from the start & read it in two sittings. Very well paced with well portrayed characters. I particularly liked how the story developed from individual characters, there were plenty of twists & turns whilst most were obvious a couple took me by surprise. There was also the personal relationships Sukey had with Fergus & Jim, which I hoped continue in further books. This is the first book I've read by the author but will certainly be reading more & hope the rest of the series is re released
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

Very well written police procedural with an excellent plot. The characters are fantastic, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series, even though this is not really contemporary (first published 1997).

Right from the beginning this book grabbed my attention and continued to love it. I really liked the way the mystery was told and that you got to experience the story from the point of view of multiple characters. I would definitely recommend this book and am looking forward to reading more books by Betty Rowlands.

Know how you love it when the next book in a favorite series comes out? And then the accompanying torture once you've finished it and have to wait for the next one? Well, thankfully I have just now heard of the Sukey Reynolds' cozy series. This is the first in a series that currently has 13 books. That should hold me for a while right? The series supposedly features a police photographer, Sukey, as an amateur detective. I didn't feel this book highlighted her as much as I would have expected, but as it is the first in the series, I like to give a bit of leeway while the author develops the characters. Hopefully we will see Sukey being a more active participant in solving the crimes instead of being an accidental contributor!

I received a free copy of DEATH AT HAZEL HOUSE (A Sukey Reynolds Mystery Book 1) by Betty Rowlands in exchange for an honest review. Sukey Reynolds works as a crime scene photographer. Sukey’s also a divorced single mom who wants the best for her son. Because she wants to send her son on a school trip, she needs more money. Though she really isn’t supposed to take on outside work, she takes a photography job for a guy who approached her at her gym. This doesn’t work out well for her, but it benefits the police. Her presence at that house results in tying two murders, an armed robbery, tax evasion, and a burglary together. Meanwhile, the Detective Inspector Sukey is dating believes he knows whodunit and works diligently to prove his theory of the case.

I liked it. Though this is a Sukey Reynolds mystery, she’s just peripheral to the investigation. Sukey doesn’t actively investigate, but her limited involvement provides enough information for law enforcement to figure things out.

#DeathAtHazelHouseSukeyReynolds #NetGalley

A very enjoyable book. Sukey Reynolds is a SOCO and as an ex police officer is able to spot things that others miss. Against all the rules she agrees to doing some moonlighting, but instead gets embroiled in a crime scene whose photos could be fatal.

My first Betty Rowlands and the first in a new series.

Sukey Reynolds is a scene of crime officer and photographer, working for the local police force and the single Mother of a teenage son.

When a murder and a suspicious death occur Sukey is called upon to aid the enquiry and works closely with Detective Inspector Jim Castle to investigate.

A really enjoyable murder mystery with plenty of action and many twists and suspects. Love the main characters and look forward to reading the next in the series.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for an advanced copy for my honest review.

I was really looking forward to this series as I really enjoyed the mel Craig series.

This book is completely different in the way it is written from rowlands other series but was still enjoyable it was fast paced and I did like main character but overall it wasn't for me.

Thank you to netgalley for providing me an arc.

I am always ready to start a new series, and cozy mysteries have their own allure. When I saw that this was the first of a series I was tempted to request and read it. 

This introduces Sukey who is a SOCO which translates to being a Scene of crime officer or the person who collects forensic evidence. Her dream was to be higher up the investigative chain but life got in the way and now she makes do with what she gets. It is an interesting position to be in and so was the basic plot line. There were multiple things going on simultaneously in the story and Sukey puts pieces in the lead investigator's hands and while she gets into trouble herself she does not do much of the solving. This probably might change later down the series but at this point, she literally just collects the evidence either by coming to physical harm or noticing small things. The actual mystery itself is best approached blind for the best impact.

I liked the narration and the characters. It seems to be a good way to start a series, unfortunately, I guessed a lot of the twists and that took away a lot of the shock factor. I would recommend this to those familiar with the genre.