I think I probably made a mistake in not reading the first book and especially as this isn't my normal genre of book.
Nancy runs a bookshop with grandmother, Jane. They are busy arranging a Village Fete and it appears that a murder has previously happened in the village in the previous book. They arrange for Author Thomas Green grew up in a nearby village to talk at the fete.

It seems that Thomas is not so welcome but he won't talk about his younger years as to why. It takes an act of “vandalism” and threats to spark the sleuths’ interest in Green’s background, but not even they are ready to see another case of murder in Dedley End.

I'm not sure this is a novel that will be rushing to read the previous book or any subsequest ones but I think thats more as its not my type of book,

This is the second book in the series. It is a good cosy crime series.
It has plenty of twists and turns. There are also secrets to be revealed. Can’t wait for the next one

Nancy Hunter has inherited a bookstore. The small village that she lives in is hosting their annual fete. And this year, they have a special treat. A best-selling author, who just happens to be from the local area, is going to launch his newest, and final, novel in his ten-book series. All looks good until someone makes it clear that they don't want the author there.

They identify the perpetrator as a member of a local writer's group. But at the fete, he is killed instead of the author. And it's beginning to look like the author isn't exactly just the innocent, intended victim.

This book was a joy to read. The author develops her characters well. The plot is riveting. The locale of the novel is charming. The solution to the crime is a bit predictable. But how the solution unfolds is a unique approach. I highly recommend this book.

Sorry for the super late review on this book, I enjoy Victoria Walters writing style and the way she put this story and it's characters together, she had me guessing and enjoying it all unfold. Recommended.

I loved book 1 of The Dedley End Mysteries and was so thankful to be able to receive an arc of book 2. It took me way too long to get to it but I was so happy to be back with my friends at the little village's Bookstore!

I think my favorite thing about Book 2 was the group of main characters. I really enjoy them. The mystery was ok for me, bordering a bit on the boring side. But the characters really made this book and will definitely keep me coming back for Book 3.

Murder at the Summer Fete is the second Dedley End cozy mystery by Victoria Walters. Released 17th March 2022 by Canelo, it's 352 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is an enjoyable and engaging British village cozy mystery set in the Cotswolds. The mystery (and romance subplot) are fairly obvious from early on, but it's well written and fun. There are a number of whimsical/eccentric village characters, a sensible pair of amateur sleuths who own a bookstore, and a longsuffering Inspector.

This is definitely one for fans of light cozy mysteries. The settings, spelling, and vernacular are UK English, but it won't pose a problem for readers in the US. The language is squeaky clean and the violence isn't graphic. There's an odd cliffhanger twist at the very end of the book that seemed, frankly, tacked on, but it doesn't detract from the overall read.

Three and a half stars. The story is (mostly) self contained in this volume and it can be read as a standalone without any problems.

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

I went into this unsure if I would like this as I didn't enjoy book one. But was willing to give this a chance.
Sadly I felt the same way. I just didn't care at all.
I found the murder plot too predictable. The writing left me feeling a little bored.
The characters did nothing for me as well.
I feel maybe cosy mysteries just are not for me.
I'm unlikely to continue this series even with the cliffhanger.

A touch of murder in the summer makes this great for a crime fiction book for the summer. Beneath the lightness of summer and the climax of the summer fete in the Cotswolds, just around the corner, it lulls you into that fun summer carefree vibe. Not all is well though and a cosy murder ensues, with humour, nothing too gruesome, but sabotage and murder follows in this Dedley End mystery. It's second in this series but reads perfectly well as a standalone too.

The bookshop owner and bookish events will pull readers in further and then the mystery itself as the death seems sinisterly famliar, which adds a twist to the plot, which has amateur detectives and a DCI in the form of DCI Brown who also has to join the dots to find the murderer.

It is overall an entertaining read with life mimicing art.

Synopsis: Nancy and her grandmother Jane own a bookshop in a quiet village. Six months ago, they and their friend Jonathan were instrumental in identifying a murderer, so when threats are made against a visiting celebrity author, and the person responsible for those threats is murdered, they find they have to investigate.

▪ Village life and secrets. I love a mystery set in a village, it’s so quintessentially an English cosy mystery. Here, the roots of the mystery soon appear to be one village over, but the end result is the same: lots of long-buried secrets, and a few quirky characters.

▪ Strange structure to the beginning. The first chapter describes the discovery of the body, then there is a jump in time to the past to when the events that will lead up to the murder really begin. I admit there was something a bit awkward about that first chapter, and the second one that almost made me stop reading. I’m glad I trudged through, though, because the rest of the book is really good.

▪ Meta element. This is a mystery novel about a mystery novel writer. In itself a classic trope, and it’s fun to see how the characters attempt to find clues to the motive in the writer’s books. Added to the bookshop setting and the literary event at the village fête, it’s a lot of fun.

▪ Great conclusion. The mystery can be a bit predictable at times, but I think that’s just because I read so many of these books that I am getting better at guessing the twists and turns. There are plenty of red herrings, and the public reveal scene is a delight.

Fun read, good setting, characters I would enjoy spending more time with. It’s a good read.

If you like a cozy mystery you will like this one. I personally like my mystery books on the more thriller side of things. I kind of guessed the killer half way through the book. So there was no surprises for me in this book. This was a good mystery book and I think I would suggest this one.

Last year I had the good fortune to pick up a copy of ‘Murder At The House On The Hill’, which was the first book in the ‘Dedley End’ series. As soon as I finished reading the first book in the series, then I immediately looked forward to reading the second book in the series. Well ladies and gents the wait is over because the second book in the ‘Dedley End’ series is called ‘Murder At The Summer Fete’ and it was released on 17th March 2022. It’s a cracker of an addition to the series, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading but more about that in a bit.
As soon as I saw Victoria’s name and the words ‘Dedley End’ on the cover of a book that I hadn’t read, I knew that I just had to get a copy of the book as soon as possible and hibernate until I had finished reading it. I did exactly that. I made the fatal mistake of starting to read the book shortly before I went to bed, which was a huge mistake. Let’s just say that bedtime was delayed and I had a ‘lack of sleep’ hangover the following morning but it was so worth it. This was one of those books that stayed with me whether I had the book in my hands or not. I became so wrapped up in the story that I lost all track of time and just how quickly I was getting through the story. All too quickly I reached the end of ‘Murder At The Summer Fete’ and I had to say goodbye to the residents of Dedley End. I found ‘Murder At The Summer Fete’ to be an unputdownable page turner of a read, which kept me guessing and which kept me on the edge of my seat.
‘Murder At The Summer Fete’ is superbly written but then I have come to expect nothing less from Victoria Walters. Victoria has one of those writing styles that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. In fact reading one of Victoria’s books feels more like a chat between friends rather than reading an actual book. I hope that makes sense. Victoria clearly cares about her characters and this shines through in the very vivid and realistic way in which she describes them. She makes her characters come alive and they seem just as real as you and I. I love the way in which Victoria makes the reader feel as though they are part of the story themselves and at the heart of the action.
In short, I adored reading ‘Murder At The Summer Fete’ and I definitely recommend it to other readers. ‘Murder At The Summer Fete’ is best described as being a cosy mystery and it will be of particular interest to fans of ‘Shakespeare & Hathaway’ and ‘Father Brown’. I look forward to reading much more of Victoria’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

A great murder mystery! I highly enjoyed this read. Set in the stunning countryside with a host of fabulous characters and a super sleuth to solve the case. Perfect summer reading

**I did not realize that this was the second book in the series.**

I love me a good crime-solving book and this one did not disappoint.

This is a cozy mystery, second in a series, that could use more editing. It is repetitive, has some clunky writing, the side characters aren't well developed, the main characters aren't even very well developed, and the solution is predictable. The book talks a lot about being set in the Cotswolds, but I wasn' t left with any sense of what makes the area any different than any other part of England.

I love a good mystery and one wherein an author of mystery books comes home, strange messages start appearing threatening against this author’s homecoming. Not only that but when a body is discovered at the summer fete in the same manner of that of a character in this author’s latest book, it comes to question just what is going on. Not only that but we are suddenly embroiled into a mystery where you doubt everyone as anyone could be the murderer.

Nancy and her grandmother Jane are thrilled when bestselling author, Thomas Green, agrees to launch his new novel at the annual Deadly End Village fate. However, a series of events leads Nancy to believe that someone is trying to sabotage the event and when a murdered body is discovered, are Nancy, Jane and Jonathan able to discover the murderer? or has the culprit committed the perfect crime?

This is the second in the Deadly End Village murder series and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I am so happy that I picked up this book. Bookshop owner, Nancy, is an amazing protagonist - relatable, fun, and intelligent, you'll be rooting for her from the get-go. Now that I've read Murder at the Summer Fete I am excited to grab the first book in the series as well.

5/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Hera Books, Hera for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a fun cozy mystery. I really loved Jane and her grandma and their cast of crew as they set out to find the killer at the summer fete. I I loved the descriptive background to the story and it really made me yearn to visit a cozy village in England. This was the second book in the series but you could definitely follow along without having read the first one. It is fast paced and has some very interesting twist and turns.. I highly recommend it for anyone that loves cozy mysteries. I look forward to reading the next book in the series and plan to read more of Ms Walters books.

This is the second book featuring the characters but you don’t need to have read the first one to enjoy this one. I hadn’t read the first but I will be going back to read it.

Nancy runs a bookshop, helped by her Gran. The local village fete is coming up and they manage to get a crime author to come along to sign books and promote his latest book. He used to come from the area and hadn’t released a book for 10 years so thought it was the ideal time and place to do it. Everyone is excited but it soon becomes clear that not everyone is happy about his return and threats are made and then a body is discovered.

Nancy, her Gran and her best friend Jonathan who is a journalist set out to solve the mystery before the police, something they did in the first book. Will they manage it.

I look forward to reading more by this author in the future.

Enjoyable cosy crime, second in the Dedley End series set in a small village.

This was a very easy read, though wasn’t sure if the return of Nancy’s ex boyfriend added anything to the story. Also it felt a bit drawn out at times.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review.