Death at the Dinner Party is the 2nd Adam & Eve cozy mystery by Emma Davies. Released 27th May 2022, it's 288 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, the whole series is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

Introduced in book 1, Adam & Eve are an appealing duo of amateur sleuths who are (and remain) strictly platonic friends. There's a significant age gap between the two, with Fran (Eve), a caterer and event planner who is older (and wiser), complementing Adam's socially awkward younger worldview. He's a computer programmer and they make a good team. This installment sees the pair of them on-site for an ultra-exclusive house party in a Georgian mansion in Shropshire. When the host turns up dead, the duo are on site and ready to start making sense of the info they've discovered about the guests and their hosts. There are secrets and undercurrents aplenty, as they soon discover.

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 8 hours and 29 minutes and is expertly narrated by Mira Dovreni. Ms. Dovreni has a classically trained, well modulated voice and does a good job with the wide range of characters of both sexes and ages. I found her accent unobtrusive after a few minutes. It was easy to concentrate on the story.

The language is clean (PG rated) and the violence is mostly off-scene. It's perfectly safe for work/commute reading and the resolution and denouement are well written and satisfying. Spelling and vernacular are British English, but won't present any problems at all for readers in context. With four excellent books extant in the series, it would be a good choice for a long weekend binge read. The mysteries are all self contained, so they can be read in any order, but are best in the order written.

Four stars. Very fun.

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

If you enjoy English cosy mysteries, this one is for you
A fascinating read to keep you guessing all the way through!
Francesca Eve is a caterer who creates what any dish
From breakfast to dinner, whatever her clients wish.

This time she's at Claremont House to cater for the weekend
Where important business guests some time will spend.
However, the wealthy hosts and guests
Seem to be outdoing each other to be worse than the rest!

When the host turns up dead, Fran knows just who to call
Thank goodness Adam is with her to help cope with it all.
With rumours, adultery, secrets and surprises around
Can together these two ensure the murderer is found?

A fantastic read that had me turning the pages without pause
Trying to identify motive, method, weapon and perpetrator of course.
I really enjoyed how this mismatched pair work together
To ensure justice is achieved is their endeavour.

For my complementary copy, I say thank you,
A brilliant cosy mystery and this is my honest review.
With great characters, intrigue and surprises, too
I have no hesitation in highly recommending it to you.

Enjoyed the first book in this series so was excited to get approved for this second book. Can be read as a stand-alone, however I always like to read books like this in the correct order as it always fills in blanks.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great cover on this one!

I enjoyed this one a lot. These types of mysteries are like crack to me, honesty. And this one was well written. Worked well as a standalone. The plot was engaging. The main characters were likable, and the mystery kept me guessing. That said, I found it too long and parts of it felt draggy, but that was the only issue I had. 👍🏻👍🏻

**ARC Via NetGalley**

Second in the cozy crime series feature unlikely pairing of Fran and Adam. At a weekend party Fran and Adam are catering for some wealthy clients when the first murder takes place. Again Nell is heading the police team who find that the invaluable help of Adam and Eve helps to save the day.
Great story and looking forward to the next instalment.
Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wonderful. Suspenseful. Fast paced. Well plotted. A gripping read from a great writer. Love this series abd just cannot wait for the next book.

Although this is the second in a series, it can be read alone.
Set among the super rich and quite nasty 'set', I didn't like the victim or any of the suspects which always make a murder story easy to read!
Good fun, carefully plotted and clever.

Death at the Dinner Party by Emma Davis is the second book in The Adam and Eve Mystery Series.
Francesca Eve, is an excellent caterer extraordinaire, and she has come to Claremont House to work for the cream of society.
Nothing can scare her! She can cook anything to a full fancy breakfast spread? A glorious picnic lunch? all so easy to do..

No sooner has Francesca Eve turned up for a jam-packed weekend of gourmet catering at a posh country house, she now realises how challenging this event will become. Not only are the hosts wealthy and so very demanding, beyond her wildest dreams, She starts to ask herself has she stepped out of her comfort zone?

Then, with everything going on, Francesca never expected the host to turn up dead…

Suspicion falls on everyone in the house, who could there be a murderer?

Francesca is in a great position to help the Police especially as intimate knowledge of the house party. This book is full of great twists and turns that will have you guessing til the end and a great page turner I really enjoyed it.

Big Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Death at a dinner party was a good read. Francesca - is a reputed caterer and she is called upon to provide very upmarket catering for a weekend from breakfast, lunch, dinner and in between snacks to a discerning and arrogant crowd of people. Fran did not expect to find a dead body and when it was decided by the local constabulary that the death was a murder, her detective instincts kick in and she is on the case along with Adam who helped her in her first amateur detective round.

The Officer in charge of the case knows how Adam and Fran work, and is keen for them not to get involved in the police procedures but is also keen to get their insights into what actually happened and behind the scenes goings on which are not always apparent to the police. The murder of a rich businessman in their own home with only a handful of associates present restricts the number of potential murderers but with everyone's alibi being ticked off it is not going to be an easy case to solve.

A good cozy with plenty of suspects, lots of twists and turns and a lovely setting as well.

This is the second Adam and Eve mystery I've read. I enjoyed it every bit as much as the first Adam and Eve mystery. The characters of Adam and Fran were very endearing. The book had many interesting characters, and it had a good plot. I highly recommend this book to other cozy mystery readers.

First read by this author and i will most certainly look forward to number 3

The main character seems to be Francesca Eve who as a caterer is hired to cook at Claremont house for a business meeting brings along Adam Smith her helper and everything seems to be running smoothly until the body of Keith Chapman owner and party host is found dead in his study by the housekeeper

There seemed to be a lot of background given so even though i have not read the first in the series it was not an issue

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy

Francesca Eve is a professional caterer and has arrived at Claremont House to serve the high society. She has the menu all prepared and it is nothing out of the ordinary. A full breakfast is easy and a wonderful picnic lunch is no challenge for Fran. But when dinner was served the last thing she ever expected was a dead body. The wealthy hosts are so demanding and when the maid discovers the body of the host, the entire weekend quickly comes to an end. It wasn’t exactly the weekend Fran was hoping for. Everyone in the house immediately became suspects. The list of suspects is quite lengthy, the weekend guests, the staff, Fran and Adam, and most importantly, the dead man’s wife. Everyone had motive and opportunity. The DCI assigned to the case, Nell Bradley, is friends with Fran and immediately clears her knowing she isn’t capable of murder. The killer is quickly discovered and arrested. As Fran is packing to return home, she is bothered by all the events and can’t help but wonder if the police arrested the right person, or did someone just get away with murder? I absolutely love this series. I love how Fran and Adam work together with Fran’s sleuthing skills and Adam’s computer skills, they make a wonderful team. This story is fast paced and the characters are brilliant. The twists and turns of this cozy mystery were spot on and will keep you guessing til the very end. This is the second book in The Adam and Eve Mystery Series. It can be read as a standalone story but take the plunge and start with the first book. I look forward to reading the third installment in this series. I loved this book and I highly recommend it.

Thank you Emma Davies for such a wonderful cozy mystery. I absolutely loved it and I am looking forward to the next installment in this series. I highly recommend this book.

It's always with nervous anticipation that I follow on from the start of a new cozy mystery series and this second instalment was as good as book one. Francesca Eve is a forty+-year-old running a catering business from home in Shropshire. She has landed a catering job - a posh do at a Georgian country manor house, Claremont House, but doesn't anticipate the host, Keith Chapman, a businessman hoping to seal a deal, to wind up dead. Adam Smith, a software designer in his twenties helps Fran out. Who killed Chapman? A delightful mystery with some great characters, I can't wait for instalment #3. I definitely recommend this.

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

I liked the first instalment in this series as both Fran and Adam are two likeable and fleshed out characters.
This one kept me reading and I found it highly entertaining.
It’s a classic whodunit in a closed environment and I liked how the author used some classic Golden Age tropes like the closed environment, the group of guests full of secrets in a country house. She made them work and they work well in a contemporary environment.
Adam is the tech genius with a knack for observation and an interesting set of hacking skill.
He’s not always on the legal site and some parts are a bit over the top but I love those parts and I always found them funny maybe because I’m a former sys admin.
Fran is down to the earth, a clever person who is able to use her people skill and join the pieces of the puzzle.
The mystery is full of twists. Even if I guessed the culprit some part surprised me. I found it very enjoyable and gripping.
I read this book in a sitting and hope to read soon another mystery featuring Fran and Adam.
This one is highly recommended.
Many thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Death at the Dinner Party is the second book in the Adam and Eve Mystery Series and it is even better than the first. I love seeing the development of the characters and it kept me entertained from start to finish. Even though it is the second book in the series it can easily be read as a standalone book but I would recommend reading the first one as that was also a great read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

This second book in the Adam and Eve mystery series was even better than the first. The amateur sleuth duo of caterer Eve and helper / game designer Adam find themselves in the middle of another murder mystery, this time at a large country house. There are lots of twists to keep Adam and Eve trying to work out who is the murderer when they believe the police have arrested the wrong person.

No sooner has Francesca Eve turned up for a jam-packed weekend of gourmet catering at a posh country house, ably aided by Adam Smith, than she realises how challenging this event is set to be. Not only are the hosts wealthy – and demanding – beyond her wildest dreams, but each of the guests is more difficult than the last. But she never expected the host to turn up dead. Suspicion falls on everyone. As the only person without a motive, Fran’s intimate knowledge of the house party puts her in the prime position to help the police. As rumours swirl and guests’ pasts come to light, someone else is found dead. But when the police arrest their chief suspect, Fran becomes convinced they have the wrong person as the evidence is almost too neat to be true. So she decides to strike out alone, in the country house where the killer is still staying.
The second outing for Fran & Adam & it’s easily read on its own. I really like the relationship between the mature Fran & the young Adam. DCI Helen Bradley is called to the scene by Fran & I also liked how their relationship is developing even though at one point Fran is the prime suspect. There are twists, turns & red herrings before the villain is revealed & I was kept guessing until the end. The guests staying at Claremont House are a mixed bunch & I must say I didn’t like any of them. I really liked how the author uses her questioning of Fran to go back & relate the events of the weekend. A well written intriguing read & I look forward to more in the series
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

I received this ARC via Netgalley and Bookouture, in return for an honest review. While the second book in this series, it is easily read as a standalone. This is a delightful second book to a clever cozy mystery series and an homage to the country house mystery genre. Fran Eve is upping her catering business with a very upscale catering weekend, when a member of the houseparty is murdered and a valuable painting goes missing. Cleverly plotted and well-solved, cozy mystery lovers should enjoy this very much.

A country house weekend of wining and dining is the setting for this cosy mystery. Francesca Eve is engaged as the party's caterer, providing fine dining meals and accompaniments. The cooking is well within her capabilities, but her client is ultra demanding, and the guests are even more so. With the end in sight, the housekeeper finds a body and Francesa and her young friend Adam help solve the crime.

Adam and Eve have an unlikely friendship, but their individuality and shared curiosity make them perfect amateur sleuths. A traditionally styled country house murder mystery with some twenty-first-century technological investigative techniques; the cast of suspects is well written, and the plot has unexpected twists and false leads.

Like all cosy crime, the protagonists, setting and style have to appeal to the reader, and I find this one an entertaining read.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Glad to see Fran and Adam back in the second book in the series.
Fran is a caterer, and has got a high brow job at Claremont House the home to the Chapmans. Adam is also along for the weekend he’s conducting some “research” for a project he’s involved in.
All is going well until Keith Chapman is found dead.
Fran and Adam put their investigation skills to the test and are soon in the thick of it.
I really enjoyed this book Fran and Adam have a special bond and relationship and this adds a different dimension to the story.
The pace is steady and it makes for an enjoyable read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture.