Elly Griffiths has a great writing style. It feels effortless to read and comes across very conversational. She also creates great characters that really come to life through her writing. She also throws in a pretty good murder mystery. What isn't to like?? This, the second in a series featuring the same detective, had great pacing and lots of dead bodies with many different angles of misdirection throughout the read. Definitely kept me guessing and thoroughly entertained.

Thank you Netgalley for The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths. I liked the odd combination of characters in the story. The story is written with multiple points of view. It was hard to follow at first, but I did finally get it and really enjoyed the book.
A 90 year old woman, Peggy, dies and everyone thinks it's a natural death, except for the caretaker, Natalka. She convinces her friends, Benedict- a cafe owner, and Edwin- Peggy's neighbor at Sea View. They bring in Harbinder, a DS. A few more deaths occur and they try to solve them too. The 3 amateur detectives and 1 detective inspector go on a road trip to Aberdeen, where an author dies.
I enjoyed reading another book by Elly Griffiths. Her descriptions of people and places are very good. It is a book that holds your attention.

Ecstatically lucky to get this ARC from NetGalley, having loved the first in the series, THE STRANGER DIARIES. As in that first book, I'm enamored with Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur and her work on the strange mystery of the suspicious death of a 90 year old "Murder Consultant." Elly Griffiths truly writes books for those of us who LOVE books, and I felt that heart of every page of this novel - I felt seen! Griffiths deftly maneuvers this novel with a melange of quirky characters, long roadtrips, and a number of very questionable deaths. I loved this book oh so much, and hope that you will love it too. BUT do start with the first in the series; you'll appreciate DS Kaur so much more when you have more backstory on her.
Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the digital ARC.

4.5 stars

“If I’m ever killed, my TBR pile will be the murder weapon.”

The Postscript Murders is a tautly written murder mystery centered around the death of a 90-year-old woman who happens to have been a murder consultant.

When Peggy Smith, a 90-year-old woman, is found dead, no one believes foul play had a role in her death….that is no one but her Ukrainian carer, Natalka. Upon the discovery that Peggy served as a murder consultant, thinking up unique ways for characters to die, for popular and critically acclaimed authors, Natalka teams up with Edwin, an 80-year-old “ancient TV producer," and Benedict an “ex-monk-turned-coffee-shop owner” to investigate Peggy’s death. Detective Harbinder Kaur is brought into the fold.

Investigating Peggy’s death changes the lives of this motley and eccentric group of armchair detectives. It also makes an impact on Harbinder’s life.

There are multiple narrators, all of whom offer a unique perspective on the investigation. Natalka was my favorite character, followed by Benedict. But really, I loved all of the characters.

This is book two in the Harbinder Kaur series but can be read as a standalone. Clare and a few others who played a role in The Stranger Diaries make appearances, but it is not essential to read these books in order.

The Postscript Murders is a book for mystery lovers, especially those who are fans of jazz-age mysteries, as well for those who love to play the role of armchair detective. Clues are found in books, and I love the idea of a 90-year-old woman being credited with thinking up original murders for novelists to use in their books. My only gripe was that I wanted to know more about Peggy.

I loved every minute of this book! It is smart, witty, and full of wonderful book-related gems. I had so much fun reading it. The mystery has many layers, and all is not what it seems. The characters are developed, intelligent, and each lovable in their own way. I hope to see all of them again in future books!

“Is there really a world where people care so much about books that they write to the authors and consider them friends?”

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to #NetGalley, the publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and the author Elly Griffiths for providing me with a digital ARC of #ThePostscrptMurders in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way... This is the second book of the series, the first one being "The Stranger Diaries", which I haven't read but did not find it a problem this book works as a standalone. I loved reading this book and did not want to put it down, The plot and characters are so well written and kept me engaged throughout. I do hope there will be more books in this series and I shall certainly read The Stranger Diaries.

I felt like the novel needed tighter editing and pacing, but then paradoxically, more backstory to make the plot believable and less shoehorned in. The novel starts off pretty slow for the first 70%, then gallops along towards the end. The issue is that the first 70% doesn't set enough background/motivation for the murders to really make that last 30% land. So as such, the story takes wildly unbelievable twists and turns (specifically the Russian plotlines) in which you have zero backstory or investment. I think the novel has the typical wonderful characters and humanity you see in all Griffiths' work, but the plot just simply doesn't work.

Murder and mayhem ensues amongst the crime writing community and when 90 year old Peggy is found dead in her chair in Shoreham by the Sea by her care worker something sets alarm bells ringing that this is not a case of death by natural causes and instead Peggy may have been killed by someone she saw up to no good

Second in the DS Harbinder Kaur series which is promising to get better and better

I had no idea this was a sequel to The Stranger Diaries, but I was so excited to find out because I love DS Kaur so much! This book is probably the closest I have read to what would be a cozy mystery, which of course is the point without saying too much. I adored every character, who were fleshed out perfectly. I was guessing wrong at every turn, because I am a terrible detective. I am also a fan because it's a book about books and murder! I do need to get on with reading. I am also pleased, considering the recent events with white authors and microagressions, that Griffith treats Kaur well and dives into the racism she experiences on a daily basis.

The death of a ninety-year-old woman with a heart condition should not be suspicious. Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur certainly sees nothing out of the ordinary when Peggy’s caretaker, Natalka, begins to recount Peggy Smith’s passing. And so starts the second Detective Kaur mystery. Elly Griffiths has rapidly become one of my top favorite authors and whenever I see she has a new book on the horizon I cannot wait to read it. This its incredibly well plotted, a handful of red herrings and an ending that I am not sure I saw. I can't wait for the third in this series! Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

#ThePostscriptMurders #NetGalley Thanks to Houghton Mifflin. NetGalley and Elly Griffiths whose writing I adore! I am ReReading Ruth Galloway series for the 3rd time!!

"Murder leaps off the page when crime novelists begin to turn up dead in this intricate new novel by internationally best-selling author Elly Griffiths, a literary mystery perfect for fans of Anthony Horowitz and Agatha Christie."


That being said, this outing of Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur was not my favorite and I give it 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Why? Well I enjoyed Harbinder in the Stranger Diaries, perhaps she works better with mysteries involving teenagers? Was it rushed out what with our present worldwide issues?

I was happy that in the end she came out to her parents and some selected people and that was good. Perhaps less so was how they arrived at "solving" the murders.

The Postscript Murders is the second novel by author Elly Griffiths featuring DS Harbinder Kaur who is self described as “The best gay Sikh detective in West Sussex”. The novel centers on the death of an elderly woman living in a sheltered housing complex who, while originally thought to have died a natural death, is determined to have been murdered. There is a wonderful casts of characters...fellow occupants of the senior housing, published authors, a former monk now running a coffee shack and the immigrant women who worked as carers to the murdered woman. While the murder plot held my interest the best part of the book is Elly Griffiths observations, dialogue and laugh out loud moments. She is truly a gifted author. If you have not read this author i urge you to check out all three of her series. I sure hope there will be another DS Kaur book.

I was attracted to this book simply because of the author. I loved Elly Griffiths’ other books and was hopeful that she would create similar magic with this title. She certainly did but this book is so different from her other work! Reminiscent of Agatha Christie at times, this book offers a mystery which is entertaining but not too challenging, making it a perfect read for when you want to focus on characterisation. A fantastic example of an author who is able to offer so much more than the books for which they are most famous.

We are coming for you.

These are the words on a postcard tucked into a book open on a chair next to a dead body. It’s the body of Peggy Smith, a 90 year old self-styled “murder consultant” and unlikely murder victim. But Natalka, a beautiful Ukrainian bitcoin expert turned caregiver, has doubts. She contacts DS Harbinder Kaur and asks her to investigate. Since Natalka is not sure that DS Kaur has taken her seriously, she enlists help from Edwin, an 80 year old retired BBC presenter who was Peggy’s neighbor, and Benedict, a former monk who owns the local coffee shop.

It is quickly discovered that several authors of crime novels have dedicated their books to Peggy. These authors have also received the same threatening postcard. When an author is killed after meeting with Harbinder, Natalka, Edwin and Benedict, the investigation turns serious. While Harbinder and her partner Neil Winston follow police procedures, Natalka and her friends have no such constraints. Soon they are off to an Aberdeen literary festival to follow two authors. A texted selfie from the amateur detectives alerts a dismayed Harbinder that they are in Aberdeen. After another killing, Harbinder herself goes to Aberdeen to unravel a mystery complicated by Ukrainian mobsters, unpublished manuscripts, a long ago meeting and romance.

The Postscript Murders is the second on a series featuring Harbinder Kaur. As her personal life seeps into the story, you find yourself in total support. She’s a 36 year old Sikh who still lives with her parents and her two brothers and has not told them that she is gay. Instead she slips back and forth from her traditional family home life into her police work where she is unappreciated by her mostly male coworkers.

At this point in a review, the author is usually compared to other well known popular authors - a “for fans of” statement. Not here. Elly Griffiths is incomparable. No one else can construct a mystery like a jigsaw puzzle. No one else can deliver such quirky, captivating characters. A Ukrainian bitcoin expert? A coffee shop owner who used to be a monk? I have loved Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway series and am now captivated by Harbinder Kaur. I can’t wait for the next in this series and I really hope that Natalka, Edwin and Benedict are featured again. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Elly Griffiths for this ARC.

This is the second book in the author’s new series featuring Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur, a member of the West Sussex Murder Squad. Harbinder is 36 but still lives at home with her Punjabi parents, with whom she gets along well although they don’t know she is gay. But her mother is a good cook, after all. Harbinder is peppery, witty, and very clever, but underestimated by her peers, much to her chagrin.

In this installment, a young Ukrainian care worker, Natalka Kolisnyk, comes to see Harbinder about her suspicions that a client, Peggy Smith, although 90, was murdered. Peggy was in excellent shape and seemed in fine health just the day before. But while cleaning up Peggy’s apartment along with Peggy’s friend and neighbor Edwin, a dapper and young-at-heart 80-year-old, the two found a number of alarming signs that Peggy’s death could have had a more sinister cause than just “old age.” Peggy’s apartment was full of mystery books, and a surprising number of them were dedicated to Peggy. Moreover, Natalka found a business card identifying Peggy as a “murder consultant.” Then she saw a postcard with the ominous message 'We are coming for you’. But the biggest sign something was unusual was that while Natalka and Edwin were in the flat, a masked person came in with a gun and stole one of the mystery books - very odd indeed!

Harbinder agrees to look into it, especially after one of the mystery authors who dedicated his books to Peggy is murdered soon after Peggy’s death. He too had received a threatening postcard.

Natalka, Edwin, and Benedict, an ex-monk who runs the local coffee shop, take off on a hilarious Scooby-Doo type mission to an Aberdeen book festival to try and find out what is going on. Harbinder now has to chase after them in addition to doing her own investigation, and arranging for her injured mother to have a caregiver (Natalka recommended one for her) since she will be in Aberdeen.

The plot thickens with more murders, mysterious Ukrainian thugs, and romantic complications. As if that weren’t enough to keep readers entertained, there are red herrings and twists galore.

Evaluation: Griffiths’s main protagonists always manage to come across as wryly funny and even adorable. The author’s sense of humor is so delightful that I often find myself laughing out loud even while reading about murder. For fans of murder mysteries like those of Anthony Horowitz that feature books within the books and take us into the world of writers, literary agents, and publishers, for my money Griffiths is much better. Her tongue-in-cheek self-deprecatory takes on authors and the industry that surrounds them are funny and insightful rather than tediously self-aggrandizing, as I find Horowitz to be. One can’t help loving Griffiths’ recurring characters, and I can’t wait to read more about them.

When a care giver suspects the death of one of her charges was not natural, despite appearances, she contacts the Sikh, lesbian Detective Harbinder Kaur with her evidence. A postcard with what may be a warning, and the fact that the deceased, Peggy, has been thanked by many mystery writers for helping them. The carer and two Peggy’s friends, a former monk turned coffee shop owner, and an elderly BBC radio announcer, team up to ask questions, helping Harbinder and her officers while becoming friends of sorts with her. As more authors die, the question is what, if anything, ties them together.
The second in a new series by Elly Griffiths, it can be read as a stand alone. I liked the characters and their interactions, and found myself growing more and more interested in them as the book progressed. Elly’s characters are always so real, warts and all. I would love to hear more of Harbinder’s family and their dog!
While the Ruth Galloway series by the same author is still one of my all time favorites (in part because we’ve gotten to know Ruth and crew so well) I’m enjoying this new series, and am looking forward to more.
Thank you to the publisher, and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for my review.

Plot: 3/5 Writing: 3/5 Characters: 4/5

Crime novelists keep turning up dead in this second Harbinder Kaur novel by Elly Griffiths. The first to go is Peggy Smith — resident of Seaview Court in Shoreham and murder consultant to the literary stars. While our 35-year old lesbian, Sikh, still-living-at-home detective grumbles her way through the case, she is aided (against her will) by a beautiful Ukranian carer with a history of cybercrime, an ancient BBC producer, and an ex-monk turned coffee shop owner, shyly looking for a woman with quirks.

Griffiths’ books always grow on me — they can start off kind of klunky, but I always get involved and want to finish. I like the characters, and although these are definitely cozies with a capital C, there are enough surprises to keep me going.

I do prefer the Ruth Galloway series — this book felt like it was written a little more quickly, had more filler, and was slower paced than some of her previous books. On the other hand, I’ve had many Galloway books which see the characters fully develop, and I am personally more interested in the details of forensic archeology than I am with literary murder writers. There are a lot of fun crime fiction references (both book and film) that I enjoyed.

What a wonderful premise, and what a disappointing ending.

The first half of this book is fantastic. An elderly lady seems to have died peacefully at her sea view window, but who sent her the postcard with the ominous message? And why have so many mystery authors — from the famous to the faltering — thanked her for her help with their murders? Was her knowledge of murder and mayhem merely academic … or more personal?

Soon a merry band of misfits (a former monk who owns a coffee shop, a stunning Ukrainian carer with a murky past, and a gay octogenarian who was a radio announcer for the BBC) is on the road to Edinburgh to attend a mystery writers’ convention to investigate what may have happened to their friend. Their efforts come as an unwelcome surprise to the detective in charge of the case, the broad-minded, tired, Panda Pop-loving Harbinder Kaur.

It’s all great fun until the balls start to land. The characters are distinct, unusual, and compelling; the settings are sharply drawn and evocative; and the descriptions of elder care are realistic without being maudlin. You may want to stop around midpoint and make up your own ending. I found the reveal rushed and muddled, with thin and unconvincing motives.

Second in the author’s (Ruth Galloway, Magic Men) new series starring Harbinder Kaur. You need not have read the first book.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first novel by Elly Griffiths, and dear heavens, it will not be my last.

The Postscript Murders is the second installment in the Harbinder Kaur series and a sequel to The Stranger Diaries. While the case and characters are different, both novels feature DS Harbinder Kaur - a gay thirty-something who still lives with her parents. While no one thinks the death of a ninety-year-old woman Peggy Smith is suspicious, her Ukrainian care worker, Natalka Kolsnyk, reveals that Peggy lied about her heart condition. What's more, Harbinder is suspicious about the fact that Peggy had received a postcard with the message 'We are coming for you'... In fact, Peggy had an interesting prefession: as a 'murder consultant' who plotted deaths for authors, she knew everything about murder for a reason she didn't want the world to know.

I fell in love with the quirky, odd characters in this book. The plot was totally unique, and as a book lovery, I really appreciated a twisty thriller set in the world of publishers, authors and literature. It was just so much fun and different - definitely a reason for me to gladly reach for other books by this author.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another great book by Elly Griffiths. Our library purchases all of her books. My favorite series is the Ruth Galloway one. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

I am a huge Elly Griffiths fan and was excited to see another DS Harbinder Kaur story come out! This is a wonderfully created mystery with twists, turns, and surprises that all come together in a believable and dramatic way. The characters are also amazing and very human, relatable, and funny. I was sad when the book ended as the characters started feeling like my friends and I was rooting for them in their personal lives (and of course to solve the mystery!). The story had tie ins from the first book in the series (The Stranger Diaries), but also would work as a stand alone read.

One other thing that is really fun about this book is the literary tie ins. It's all so skillfully put together and executed. Also, the representation made me so happy. The characters just happen to be who they are and are real characters, but I'm always happy to see South Asian families that just happen to be South Asian (and aren't just reduced to their nationality or ethnicity) and I really enjoyed the Kaur family dynamics. Definitely worth a read, I hope there will be a third book in this series!