What a lovely book. Enough going on to keep your interest, but mainly just life happening. Marian Stamford is alone at last, just what seh needs to write her book. She's a middle-aged spinster who has spent time living, and looking after, her now deceased mother. Her solitude doesn't last. How willshe cope with a couple of children!

Loved it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I read a free advance review copy of the book. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.

When I originally chose this book it was because the description said it was along the lines of Agatha Christie or Midsomer Murders. However, I found it to be like neither. This books title led me to believe it was a murder mystery not a story about a spinster and her nieces. There was no murder in it that I could find.

Marian Stamford, following the death of her mother she had been caretaker of, purchases her dream home, a cottage called Sixpenny Holding. Her plans are to live there in solitude and write a book, She ends up having to take in a niece after a death in the family and another niece comes to visit for awhile so she ends up with her hands full. One day a police constable comes to inform her of an escaped convict that might be lurking around, That's about the extent of the mystery aspect of the story that I could find.

For me personally, it was too slow. Not enough suspense. Too much filler about Marian and her nieces and they're goings on. I love a good cozy MURDER mystery and for me this just missed the mark.

Village Mystery In Traditional Vein…
A quiet and peaceful Dorest village where nothing ever happens? Seemingly so, but are events about to take a more sinister turn? Enjoyable and atmospheric village mystery in traditional vein with a quirky cast of characters, an engaging storyline and a nicely defined sense of time and place.

Sixpenny Holding is a compelling and atmospheric cosy crime novel originally written in the 1940s which remained unpublished until Scutt’s family happened across it after her death. After years of nursing her sick mother before she passed, Marian Stamford has bought a picturesque cottage known as Sixpenny Holding in the Dorset village she now calls home. Although her family are concerned about her deciding to take up residence in the back of beyond, Marian is content with her life as a cat-loving spinster who enjoys her time alone and plans on using her days to pen the book she has always wanted to write. Her new neighbours, the Ingrams, are nosy but welcoming. Soon she is asked by her brother Fred if she can care for her niece, Dinah, who had rolled under the wheel of a stationary truck when her mother, Dora, had a blackout while out and about; a while later she also takes on the responsibility of her second niece, too. One day a Police Constable, Bill Keyes, riding a bicycle stops at her home to talk with her, and what he has to say shocks Marian. A violent escaped prisoner, Cyril Carson, is on the run and may be in the area, but they claim there are no links between him and the spate of recent break-ins, however, naturally, the locals remain concerned.

Carson had gone on the run after assaulting a warden watching over a Dartmoor working party he had been part of and had initially been incarcerated for breaking into Loden House and losing his temper when he found its resident, old Mrs Damer, had nothing of worth for him to steal. Marian soon discovers that her niece had seen a man cycle off down the street after being in her garden shed, but she was too late to catch anything but a fleeting glimpse as he disappeared down the street. Can Cyril be found before he scares the villagers senseless? This is a captivating and engaging mystery, but I would hesitate to label it a murder mystery because it doesn't actually involve anyone being killed. That said, the intriguing mystery and chase to find escapee Carson kept me invested in the story and the aspect I liked most about it being set eight decades ago is that the investigating is very much done through hard work as there were no mobile phones, computers, internet or DNA testing to help make the police's job easier. It perfectly captures Dorset village life after WW2 but before modern technology changed community life completely. Well constructed it combines drama with gentle humour as it describes the lives and intrigues of the quirky village residents.

I received an advance copy of, Sixpenny Holding, by Margaret Scutt. This was a pretty good book. I read it in one sitting. I liked the character Marian.

Not quite sure this should be classed as a murder mystery but it is an entertaining story about family,, love and the very real benefits of some thwarted expectations.

2 stars at best
This is a confusing mess of a book. Holy buckets it is hard to follow. Did not finish.

This was a pretty cosy read set in a small cottage away form civilisation. I really did enjoy this and loved the atmosphere. The mystery had me hooked for the most part and I loved the characters too. The mystery was pretty solid and had me guessing until the very end so credit to the author for that. I loved this a lot and it was a pleasurable 5 out of 5 stars!