I have so far only read one book by Emma Davies which I loved so when I came across this new cozy mystery series by her, I decided to give it a try. The sub-title 'Adam and Eve Mystery' was quite catchy and I imagined a mystery based on Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit.

Well, instead of the Biblical Adam and Eve we have 40 years old Francesca Eve, a successful caterer and 23 years old Adam Scott, an IT geek as the protagonists and a poisonous mushroom instead of the forbidden fruit when both come together to solve the death of Becky, a friend of Adam's mother Sara, who dies in an eerily similar manner (poisoning) as her character does in a murder mystery themed birthday party hosted by Sara and catered by Francesa just a couple of weeks earlier.

This was a well plotted book with a lot of suspects and red herrings for Fran and Adam to go through before they finally crack the mystery and who the culprit is which happens almost towards the end of the book. I liked the rapport between Fran and Adam and their partnership reminded me of the protagonists of TV series 'The Net'.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Bookouture and the author Emma Davies for the e-Arc of the book.

This is book 1 in a new cozy series, Adam and Eve Mystery. Francesca is nervous about catering her first ever murder mystery party, but it’s clear from the clink of champagne flutes and piles of empty plates that the evening is a roaring success. The guests look spectacular in their disguises, whispering and giggling as they try to identify who killed beautiful young Becky. But days later the game takes a sinister turn when Becky is found poisoned, and all the signs point to the culprit being a party guest. The client's teen son is afraid his mother will be charged with murder so he asks Fran for help in solving the real life murder. When a second guest dies it's up to the two of them to keep mom in the clear. I look forward to book two. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I can' t say enough good things about this English mystery. It features an unlikely duo of amateur detectives, who join forces to solve a mysterious death. Many possible suspects are on their radar as well as several motives for, what does indeed turn out to be a murder. I highly recommend this book to other mystery readers.

This was a well plotted mystery.

After a slow start it really got into its stride. There were lots of secrets to be revealed and I liked the murder mystery party link.

The Adam and Eve combo works really well. Fran and Adam have a really nice relationship and bring completely different but complimentary skills to the investigation.

A great cosy mystery and I will definitely read more.

This is excellent and extremely well written. I instantly took to Fran and like that she is a very solid character. The author has plotted the book very well and it is an excellent addition to the cosy crime genre of books.

I did laugh at how she meets Adam and love that this forms a trust between them. One that carries on throughout the book as she believes his intuition and agrees to help him.

The story revolves around Becky who during a murder mystery party plays the victim, however not long after she dies for real and Adam believes that there might have been more to the party.

I am looking forward to the next in the series.

A new series of cozy mystery - Adam and Eve Mystery.
I am grateful for the opportunity to read the very first novel in the series. However, I have to say it will be my last one.
I have to give author her dues. The setting, the characters, the plot are all to the par. A mystery, a family of foodacolics, a nerdy young man and a lot of secrets around - they all add up nicely to become a cozy mystery. But it did not take me.

Adam is a name, Eve is a surname - even this detail rubbed me the wrong way. Also, the dynamics of narration was a bit lacking.

However, Death in Disguise reads fast and light.

A cute play on names - An Adam and Eve mystery - is just the start of a very well-written whodunit by Emma Davies. Young Adam and caterer Fran Eve make a very odd couple of detectives, but manage to track down a killer, although not without some red herrings and mistaken assumptions along the way. A great new cozy mystery series!

Amazing book. Wonderful from start to finish. What a great start to the series. I can't wait for more! Just wow. Loved loved loved.

What a brilliant mystery! I found the premise very unique too. At least I have never run across this plot or anything close to it before. The relationship between Fran and Adam was fantastic and flowed so naturally. Their personalities really complement each other, and l look forward to the next in the series.

Thank you to Bookouture, NetGalley, and the author for an advanced reading copy.

An excellent start for a new cozy series featuring an improbable and lovely couple of amateur detectives.
Francesca is extrovert and her social skills are quite good, Adam is an introvert IT genius who must start to face new people and talk to them.
I love these characters as they are likeable and fleshed out.
The plot flows and it's well crafted. I appreciated the storytelling, the solid mystery, the humour, and the character development.
I can't wait to read the next story.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Death in Disguise by Emma Davies Is the first book in the new Adam and Eve cosy mystery series and it was an excellent read, especially as Emma is a new author to me and she did not disappoint. Adam and Eve are a very unlikely pair but very entertaining read throughout. They are duo that love to solving crimes.
I found this a great page turning cozy mystery packed with lots of twists and turns.

I highly recommend this book and looking forward in Book two in the series.

Big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Bookouture for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review

I love reading murder mysteries, and as this was the first book in a series I knew I wanted to get stuck in. Lovely english countryside settings, with some very quirky characters, and a good murder to solve. absolutely perfect.

I am reading more and more cozies recently. I am slightly disappointed however, that even amateur detectives
who though amateur do have a basic understanding of detecting seem to go headlong into places and events where
a bit more careful planning should precede. Francesca, our main character in this story is one of them.
It leads me to have doubts on the story though this story was interesting enough.

Francesca caters very successfully for various events. When she accidentally eavesdrops on a conversation during a
lunch between two ladies (and she cannot identify who they are), and when one of the ladies at the lunch dies of
mushroom poisoning a two week later her suspicions are aroused. She is joined in her madcap endeavor to discover who
the murderer is by the nerdy son of another of the ladies at the luncheon. He has joined in the search purely to exonerate
his mother who may fall under suspicion.

Following the two, and then another murder both Francesca and Adam know that the murderer is getting cornered and will not hesitate to murder again. In this story the police detectives are notably absent other than an appearance or two.

The murderer found and all ends well.

Death in Disguise is the first book in An Adam and Eve Mystery series written by Emma Davies.

I quite enjoyed an unusual combo of amateur sleuths made up of one socially awkward young IT guy and middle aged caterer. But it worked in this story as they complimented each other very well.

When a friend is found dead, after his mother's birthday party mystery game, Adam turns to Eve for help in finding out the truth as he rightly suspects that the dead wasn't an unfortunate accident.

I loved mystery game party theme, it is one of my favorite tropes, and it was presented very well but I wish that we could have found out a bit more about it.
The characters are well developed and realistic and easy to relate to.
Mystery itself was easy to follow as the clues were clearly presented for readers to solve the puzzle along with the characters.
The ending threw me for a loop as it was unexpected as in who turned out to be a culprit and I thought that the book could have been shorter. At times I felt that some of the things could have been left out but I didn't find it boring at any time.
Solid start of a new series and I am looking forward to the next installment to see how they proceed from here.

Francesca Eve is a caterer extraordinaire but her life is pretty normal: husband, daughter, work. She caters a murder mystery party and, while avoiding one of the guests, meets Adam a shy game designer who is also avoiding the party. Life goes on until a few days later when one of the guests dies. Adam comes to Fran terrified that his mother, the host of the party, is going to jail for murder. From there, the two of them work to find out the answer to this strange mystery.
The writing of this book was smooth and I would probably read another series by this author. It is the main reason that I kept reading this book because, this whole book, I kept wondering why Francesca was involved. She met this guy once, has no romantic interest in him, and really no other connection. I think she's supposed to feel bad for him in some way but she starts neglecting her job and lying to her husband which would have been fine if she had been set up as needing some excitement in her life or SOMETHING but that reason is unclear and nagged at me the whole time. I did like some of the flipping of scripts in secrets people were apparently hiding and what they were actually hiding but the ending was also just a little too convoluted for me.

Three stars
This book comes out February 9, 2022
ARC kindly provided by Bookouture and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

I've read - and enjoyed - books by this author before
So jumped at the chance to read some more!
This time the detectives are an unlikely pair,
Who had an unexpected meeting under the stair!

Francesca Eve enjoys catering for parties, its true
Always good to have a job where you enjoy what you do!
She's doing her job at a murder mystery party where
To avoid someone she hides under the stair

That's where she first met Adam, the hostess's adult son
Trying to hide safely till the party was done.
The party's murder victim is, soon after, killed
Adam shares his worries with her, Fran isn't thrilled.

This is the start of a complex investigation for the pair
Where his Mum's friends prove you should really beware
For the friends have secrets that make them suspects who
Seem to have motives to prevent the truth pushing through.

It is an enthralling read, a great story is told,
As this unlikely pair the secrets start to unfold.
It just goes to show that even the closest friend
Sometimes keep secrets or really pretend.

With lies, secrets, family dramas and more
This is the type of cosy mystery that I adore!
For my complementary copy of this book, I say thank you,
After thoroughly enjoying it, I honestly highly recommend it, too!

Francesca Eve is asked to cater for a Murder Mystery evening. Sara & her friends have all been given their roles. She discovered that one of the guests is someone who has been after her to do a career talk & when she hears her coming, dodges into a cupboard to hide! She discovers Adam, Sara's son there- also hiding! They overhear a conversation that at the time they think very little about. The evening goes off very well- Becky, the 'victim' acts so well the guests are momentarily worried! She is horrified when she hears that Becky has died. Adam is sure that the conversation they overheard means foul play & before long they are investigating!

This was a great read. Quirky Adam & Francesca Eve make a great pair & I'm looking forward to reading more of their adventures. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

Death in Disguise is the first book in a new British cozy series by Emma Davies. Released 9th Feb 2022, it's 326 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

It's always fun to find new cozy series, and this one is off to a promising start. The author is experienced at her craft and quite adept at plotting and characterization. The mystery itself is well engineered and the clues are all "fair-play" and revealed slowly throughout the narrative. I was really engaged from the start with caterer Fran (her surname is Eve), and her erstwhile sidekick/young friend Adam, the socially awkward son of a catering client. I found it charming and refreshing that they *are* friends and there's zero romance and never a hint of hanky-panky between Adam (he's 23) and Fran (who's 40 and happily married).

The language is clean (PG rated) and the violence is off-scene. It's perfectly safe for work/commute reading and the resolution and denouement are well written and satisfying. I'm looking forward to what comes next for Fran & co.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

In this clever start to a new series we meet two delightful protagonists, Francesca Eve and Adam. Despite the name of the series she is called Fran for the remainder of the book. As the story begins, Fran is working at her latest catering job. It is a murder mystery party with just a few guests and things go reasonably well, although one of the guests makes Fran feel somewhat uncomfortable. In fact, this is how she surprisingly meets Adam, the son of the host. However, the person who played the role as the murder victim soon ends up dead. Is there a connection to the party or is this some coincidence?

The likelihood that it is not a coincidence comes into play as the host quickly becomes a likely suspect. Adam is very worried for his mother and is determined to prove her innocence. As he had briefly met Fran during the murder mystery party, the two become an unlikely pair of amateur detectives.

Cozy mysteries have always been one of my favorite genres and I love this pairing of Fran and Adam partly because of their differences. She is a middle-age happily married woman and he is a young man half her age, still living at home with his mother and is a brilliant software designer. One other thing about Adam is he does not feel comfortable with a lot of people, and it is this very fact about him that really connects him to Fran, as she is also socially awkward. They come up with a plan to investigate the murder even though one of the things that bothers Adam is that they are keeping things secret from his mother while she also keeps things secret from her husband. However, they are united in their goal to prove his mother’s innocence and also find the actual killer.

This is an enjoyable cozy mystery that will no doubt appeal to lovers of this genre. Readers will be kept guessing until the very end while Fran and Adam leave no stone unturned in their determination to find out what happened to the victim after the dinner party. With excellent pacing throughout as well as expected tension regarding the nature of the investigation, this book proved to be a page-turner from beginning to end. The characters are engaging and the pair made a perfect match when it came to solving this murder. This delightful series continues in May with The Dinner Party. I look forward to seeing what is next in store for Fran and Adam.

Many thanks to and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

This was just absolutely delightful and 100% the type of cozy mystery I like: cute setting in Shrewsbury, nice investigation pair (no romance, just friendship, a total plus), good mystery, food (nearly bought an icecream maker while reading this), great characters. Loved it. Can't wait for the next one.