a Cozy mystery with a great plot, one of my favourite kinds of books! I also really like the simplicity and intrigue of the cover.

I did not know this was a part of a series when I requested it, but you do not need to have read the first book to read this one. This was definitely one of the cutest cozy mysteries I have read in a long time. It wasn't too corny, but it wasn't too serious as well.

All right, now I can say with a bold assurance no one who is a lover of cozy mystery will want to bypass this one. It was an absolute doozy to read. It ticked all the necessary boxes, intrigue, captivating, puzzling twist, a bit of romance and so much more.
The characters were very lovable, especially Davey. A captivating, intriguing, engaging, and entertaining read.

Loved everything about this cozy mystery.. Loved the characters, the writing, the story. Will be looking out for more from Catherine Coles.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

This is an enjoyable, thought-provoking period mystery. Readers will find a well written plot with a fascinating setting. This is the second of the series. A dangerous and puzzling mystery unfolds as Tommy and Evelyn Christie are getting ready to host the village fete. The Christies have several important houseguests staying at their home for the event. On the morning of the fete one of them, a member of Parliament, is murdered on their grounds, Evelyn, and Tommy start to investigate alongside a capable but frustrated local police detective. The murder gets more involved and reaches back a few years to reveal a WWI munitions scandal that caused horrific casualties but made money for those involved. This type of situation has certainly been revealed time and again in the history of wars. U.S. Marine Corps. Major General Smedley Butler once stated: "War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives." I appreciated that the author creatively included this terrible truth in her work.
Recommended for fans of British cozy mysteries, especially those set between the world wars.

I was very much looking forward to reading this book. Sadly, even though it’s downloaded, I cannot get the book to open to read it. I would loved to have read and reviewed this book.

In this second book of a series by Catherine Coles, Tommy Christie is getting used to becoming the 7th Earl of Northmoor. Tommy and his wife Evelyn, a former policewoman in the Great War, are hosting a party as part of the village fete which is being held in the grounds of Hessleham Hall. Evelyn's father, an ex-MP has asked his daughter to invite some of his friends and former colleagues to stay at the hall. The current local MP, Robert Billingham is among the guests staying, many of whom are making demands and generally causing problems for the Christies and their staff. Out walking their pedigree Gordon Setter dogs before breakfast, they come across a dead body lying face down in the stream, the water an interesting shade of pink...

Set in East Yorkshire, England in 1921 I thoroughly enjoyed reading Murder at the Village Fete and although I haven't read the first book, I had no trouble keeping up with the main characters and events. I liked that Tommy's experiences before and after WW1 influenced his moral standards. Evelyn's experiences with the police force meant that she was naturally inquisitive and unable to resist involving herself in the mystery. Both Tommy and Evelyn were very likeable characters, as was the mischievous Auntie Em (Tommy’s great aunt), who was prepared to speak her mind. The author's plotting was smartly done, and the mystery itself was compelling and captivating. It will be interesting to see how these characters evolve in future stories. I'm looking forward to reading book one Murder at the Manor as well as Murder in the Churchyard (book three).

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from BooksGoSocial via NetGalley at my request and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

This is the second book in the Tommy and Evelyn Christie cozy series set in England in the 1920s. While throwing the local village fete, a prominent member of Parliament is found dead onsite. Tommy and Evelyn work again to solve the murder, much to the annoyance of the local police force.

Murder at the Village Fete is an enjoyable cozy read. I did not read the first book in the series but had no difficulty starting with the second book.

Tommy and Evelyn are former police officers recently elevated to the peerage due to deaths in Tommy's family and the impact of WWI. Evelyn's father has asked them to host a house party with his former Members of Parliament-they had all been involved in a scandal years ago and exonerated. However, Evelyn's father recently received an anonymous letter threatening him with blackmail and he believes the other men did as well and asked them to be invited to clear his name once and for all. When one of the MP's is found murdered, all believe it is related to the blackmail threat.

Although Tommy is asked by the local police detective not to interfere, he feels he can't stand by while his houseguests are threatened and murdered and is worried about his father in law. So, he and Evelyn investigate.

This is a well paced story with likeable characters.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a delightful, cozy, English village mystery. I haven’t read book 1 yet, but I had no trouble getting into the story and I feel it does quite well as a stand alone book.

Tommy and Evelyn Christie have just recently come into the titles of Lord and Lady Northmoor. This has led to a lot of changes in their lives, including giving up their police jobs. The local MP, one of four men who were invited to visit the weekend of the fete, is found dead during the event. All four men, had some connection with a munitions scandal during the war. Of course the couple ends up working on the murder.

I wouldn’t say that this was great writing, as I thought that the story dragged a bit in places. However, I liked the characters of Tommy and Evelyn, and I really enjoyed the novel, and plan to read books 1 and 3 in the series.

Two things made this year's fete unique. First, it was the first year that Tommie and Evelyn Christie would be hosting it as the newly named Lord and Lady Northmoor. It was also the first year in which a dead body found near the stream running behind Hessleham Hall brought a quick end to the fete. And there was “no doubt that Robert Billingham, the Member of Parliament for Northmore & East, was most assuredly dead.”

Robert Billingham was one of four men to receive letters threatening to reveal details of a crime that any one of them could have committed, but all had been cleared of months earlier. The four men had also been invited to Hessleham Hall to attend the day’s celebration and now one of them was dead.

As somebody recently said, the murder rate in small villages found in the UK was far larger than in many major cities around the world. The village located near Hessleham Hall was no different.

As the publisher notes, the tale is a wonderful blend of Murder, She Wrote and Downton Abbey. It is the similarity to the former that gives the book some life; and its similarity to the latter that left this reader feeling that he was sometimes slogging through a giant mud patch - but sometimes even playing in the mud patch can be a worthwhile experience. Such was this book.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are my own.

I'm not usually a fan of non-contemporary mysteries, but I found myself drawn into the story from the first few pages. I found it interesting reading about the role of the Lord and Lady in the village.

Although I had not read the first book, I found it easy to follow the characters and their relationships. It's a nice and easy read. This was a very interesting mystery that kept me reading late into the night. I'll be looking for the next one in the series!

Such a great book! Cozy in all the right ways. I love the British estate setting, and I loved meeting the cast of characters through the village. The mystery was intriguing, and I like that it actually became two mysteries by the end.

Evelyn and Tommy Christie are a delightful (if recent) Lord and Lady Northmoor. Their status in life may have changed but not their value system. Their down to earth approach is most endearing to the majority of people they meet. But not to all of them. Their many experiences in solving crimes certainly stands them in good stead.

The murder mystery features a number of red herrings. While I was sure as to who the murderer was, I didn't quite work out why. A great twist. This is a very gentle, cozy murder mystery. I found it a most enjoyable. and a quick read.

I have read no others in the series but had no trouble understanding the role of the characters or the context.

My thanks to Booksgosocial, #Netgalley and the author for my advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review..

This is a quick read, a good murder mystery. I liked the characters and the setting, a perfect who dun-nit.

A delightful and entertaining historical cozy mystery. I liked the solid mystery, the lovely setting and the likable characters.
It's the first I read in this series and it can be read as a stand alone.
Recommended.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Such a fun book to read! This murder mystery is light and clean and fun. There aren’t any gruesome details and extremely scary scenes to give you nightmares. Just a purely curious novel to satisfy your need for mystery. I enjoyed this book and would allow my teenagers to read it as well.
This review was in exchange for a free copy of the book.

My thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for a review copy of this one.!

After not really requesting books from NetGalley for a bit (so as to tackle by own TBR pile), last month I came across a handful that sounded so interesting and I ended up requesting. One of these was this one–Murder at the Village Fete. This one, a cosy mystery set in the 1920s, was described as Downton Abbey crossed with Murder She Wrote.

This is the second in a series, The Tommy and Evelyn Christie Mysteries. Tommy Christie, formerly a policeman is now Lord Northmoor having inherited the title unexpectedly in the previous book. His wife, Evelyn had also served in the police. In this one, the couple—who are still adjusting to their new life and roles—have been convinced by Evelyn’s sister, Millicent, to host the local fete at Hessleham Hall, while her father, a former MP has asked them to invite some of his close friends and former colleagues to stay. Most of the guests are trying with endless demands and complaints, causing much annoyance to both the staff and Evelyn. Among the guests staying with the Christies is the current local MP Robert Billingham, who is to open the fete. But on the morning of the fete, as Evelyn and Tommy are walking her Gordon Setters, Nancy and Davey, they come upon Billingham lying face down in the stream with a knife in his back! The case is entrusted to Detective Inspector Andrews, but Tommy and Evelyn soon realise that for their guests’ safety, they must themselves step in and find the murderer.

For starters, even though this was the second in the series, this was not a hard one to get into; one gets a general idea of the events that unfolded in book 1 and it’s easy to pick up the threads again. We learn a little about the simpler lives Tommy and Evelyn lived before he came into the title, the struggles they are having adjusting, but also how they are using the opportunities that this brings to do well by people. Both Tommy and Evelyn are very likeable characters, as is the mischievous Auntie Em (Emily, Tommy’s aunt), who isn’t shy of speaking her mind.

The theme around which this mystery is centred is corruption in arms/ammunition supplies during the war which resulted in many soldiers losing their lives. Tommy is deeply affected by this since he had served in the war and is carrying wounds from the time. There are numerous suspects including even possibly Evelyn’s father, but certainly all the guests he has invited to Tommy and Evelyn’s for they were all serving in key positions at the time. And they have all received letters of blackmail about the incident. Besides the four, the beautiful new schoolteacher, Isolde Newley seems to be hiding something, while a young reporter, Ernest Franklin is also snooping around.

The mystery itself as a result has a few threads and with all of the main suspects having a stake in the corruption scandal, one is not quite sure which of them did it, or whether the blackmailer had more of a motive than blackmail itself. And then of course, there is another death as well, complicating matters. The Detective Inspector seems out of his depth (as is expected in such books) and it is Tommy and Evelyn who do much of the investigating.

The author also uses the story to explore relationships—highlighting Tommy and Evelyn’s comfortable and loving relationship where each has complete trust in the other; and give the other the chance to live their life fully, and so the things that make them happy (including Evelyn’s regular visits to the kitchen and doing some baking there). Some of the others we see are not as lucky. Alongside we also have a possible romance thread with Isolde Newley being somewhat interested in the attractive, but reticent local doctor, Dr. Mainwaring.

While this was a light and fun enough read, there were also some aspects that didn’t work for me. For one, while the murder was supposed to be at the village fete according to the title, we barely see any of the actual fete—I mean it is mentioned and some events happen, but nothing significant; even the murder has taken place before the actual fete, so the fete seems lost in all of this.

Then in the mystery itself, for one I felt, the murder itself happened far too soon, before we even really got to know the guests. There wasn’t even a chance to guess who the victim might be, it simply happens. Then in the investigation, in some of the conversations Tommy and Evelyn have with various people, they seem to approach them far too directly, rather than more tactfully, if that makes sense—you can’t exactly expect anyone to just come out and admit they were involved, after all. And one suspect Tommy just pronounces as innocent without giving a convincing enough reason (in fact, any reason) for doing so (that makes one begin to doubt his skills as a detective).

The other issue I had was with the writing itself; to me at times it felt (especially in some of the dialogue) far too modern for the time period in which it is set; for instance, Tommy using the expression ‘meet up’; also there were other instances where it just didn’t seem like people would speak that way/use those expressions, so it felt a bit off.

All in all while this had a promising setting and plot, it turned out just an okay read.

3 1/2 rounded up. The second book in the Tommy & Evelyn Christie series. I wish I had read the first book- I think it would have helped with the flow of the story. But having said that, it was still an enjoyable read.

Tommy and Evelyn are new owners of a grand estate, Hessleham Hall. They are ready to throw the village fete on their own land. But things take a tricky turn when one of the guests at their home is found murdered on their property. Having solved a murder before (book 1) they are ready to tackle this new mystery!

The author did a good job reminded us what happened in the first book, but again- would have been better to have just read it. The story was fun, the characters were interesting, and it was clean and quick. Overall an enjoyable mystery.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book although there are some spots that are slow. I liked the main characters and how they interacted with the rest of the characters. I was surprised by who the killed was although I enjoyed how they were caught. #MurderattheVillageFete #NetGalley