A jolly good read. After the first murder, there are ample red herrings to keep us guessing who and why..

The author sets the 1920's scenes in a warm manner. Slowly but surely we are drawn into the goings-on at his

Lordships country pile where we witness kindness and nastiness among many characters. We are aware of the

fallout after WW1 and how life continues, The book has it all - humour, love, revenge and murder..

Likeable Amateur Sleuthing Duo...
The second Tommy and Evelyn Christie mystery set in a Yorkshire village. Lighthearted, cosy reading with a likeable amateur sleuthing duo. This time a murder at the village fete is on the duo’s agenda. Enjoyable, easy reading for little escapism.

A fun read that I thoroughly enjoyed. The characters are well developed and the main characters Tommy and Evelyn, AKA Lord and Lady Northmoor are charming. Due to deaths in the family, Tommy and Evelyn Christie have had to give up careers in the police and to take up the responsibilities in accordance with their new titles. It’s three years after the end of WWI and the mystery surrounds an unscrupulous military arms contract that leads to several murders. Although Tommy and Evelyn are no longer in the police, they can’t resist investigating, especially since one of the subjects is Evelyn’s father, a retired MP.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

Tommy and Evelyn Christie, the charming couple, are embroiled in murder once again when the local MP ends up dead on their property during their first soiree as Lord and Lady Northmoor. Overall, I was very happy with the mystery part of the story. Unlike some historical mysteries and cozies that are light on the detection part of the story this was packed filled. I just wish some of the secondary characters were fleshed out a bit more as they were in the first book. I do love the relationship between Tommy and Evelyn. They are a real team.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a free copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A quick cozy read!

I had not read the previous but did not face any trouble understanding the backstory. Well written with delightful characters, this is a well paced mystery read. The book had good amount of humour and suspense and I really enjoyed reading it.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for the copy.

1921 Hessleham Hall, East Yorkshire. The 7th Earl of Northmoor, and ex-policeman Tommy Christie, and his wife Evelyn, are holding a weekend house party which coincides with the village fete. The morning of which a body is discovered in a nearby stream. But why, and by whom.
DI Andrews and DS Montgomery investigate but Tommy and Evelyn feel that can help, and so ask their questions. Who will be the first to solve the case.
An enjoyable well-written, fast paced, cozy historical mystery, with its likeable main characters. I look forward to reading more in the series, and although this is the second in the series it can easily be read as a standalone story
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Murder at the Village Fete is a charming 1920's cozy murder mystery with just the right amount of suspense and humour. The main characters of Evelyn and Tommy are charming and intelligent. A quick, lighthearted read, perfect for a winter evening. I'm off to read Book 1.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my review copy.

This was a fine and entertaining read but lacked some substance for me.

The characters were well written and enjoyable, sometimes detective characters feel forced and like they're trying to hard (to be detectives, to be funny, etc) but Evelyn and Tommy did not, and I got a solid sense of who the house guests were based on their dialogues.

However the plot felt lean. Perhaps if we had less "Evelyn knew how special her marriage was, how modern, how different Tommy was" there would be more room for a meaty plot. There were red herrings that didn't add much to the mystery, more like filler.

Overall it was an enjoyable read I hardly put down and I will read the first part of the series and future installments.

Murder at the Village Fete is the second book in Tommy & Evelyn Christie by Catherine Coles.

Not having read the previous book I had no problems getting into the story. All references concerning previous book have been clearly explained.

Tommy is a former policeman and soldier, now a Lord to the manor and Evelyn is his wife. They are happy and enjoying life but somehow manage to find themselves in murder, quite too often, This of course does not make the favorite with the local detective. Their friends and family however always urge them to take charge and solve the mystery before the detective.

This time, they are hosting a house party at Evelyn father's request as almost all guests are his friends, former coworkers who have at one point been suspected of taking a bribe. They were all cleared but someone is bringing up the matter again, by sending threatening letters.
When on of the formerly suspected is found dead it is up to Tommy and Evelyn to solve the crime before the murder strikes again.

This book had a lot of positive points- time setting after the WWII which I really enjoy to read about, There is a closed circle aspect, as the party is consisted of certain number of people and one of them is a murderer and isolated mystery as it is set at the country manor.

I liked Tommy and Evelyn, they are young, eager sleuths and even have some police experience. They are nice, generous and truly lovely characters.
The story was smartly presented, clues were laid out for readers to follow and solve, there were several red herrings to make things more interesting.
It is fast paced, easy to read and raises some very important issues, such as war malversations and domestic abuse.
I will be following their future adventures.

This was a quick read - I finished it in a few hours.
I had not read book 1 in the Tommy and Evelyn Christie series, but the backstory was covered very effectively at the very outset of this book. The characters were introduced and the story was set up quite soon.
The story revolves around a munitions scandal which took place post WW1. Four politicians who are spending the weekend at the home of Tommy and Eveline receive letters of blackmail, and one of them is subsequently murdered.
Although the beginning was promising, I felt that the pace lagged in the middle part of the story; some humour would have done wonders to enliven the tale.
I am a great fan of historical crime fiction and this is the third series set in the 1920's I read this month. But the atmosphere and description was lacking and I did not feel as if this were set one hundred years ago.
I also felt that the finale was quite sudden. While I understand the writer's need to include a twist at the end, this felt as if important information had been wilfully withheld from the reader so that the 'big reveal' would work. For example, only half of what Florence discovered in London is conveyed to the reader with the initial telegram. The follow up to that is mentioned at the end. "Oh and by the way, she also found out the identity of the murderer..."
Overall, this was rather disappointing.
I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.