3.5 stars

This was an original cozy mystery: the amateur detectives are four extremely pregnant women in a pretentious faux counterculture British village. Alice, our narrator, and her partner Joe have left London to have more room and an atmosphere more conducive to raising children.

This is a very funny book -- Alice's asides about pregnancy are often hilarious. The first night of their childbirth prenatal classes, one of the participants actually gives birth in a room above the shop where they meet. When the birth excitement is over, they go downstairs to let in emergency responders and discover the proprietor of the shop dead.

So, the four main characters decide since they aren't working and have a lot of time on their hands, that they should investigate the death. There are all kinds of strange links to an old commune from back in the day and some of the current residents of the town. There are actually links everywhere - one of the main characters is the bad-tempered sister of the bad-tempered police detective.

Madcap at times, always entertaining, and wrapped up more or less neatly by the end. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book had all the cozy mystery vibes I needed this season, plus some unexpected cult-related suspense! So good! Will definitely be looking for new books by this author.

For Alice and her partner Joe, moving to Penton was supposed to be a chance to escape to the country and enjoy the birth of their first baby. However, it isn’t long after they arrive that a dead body is discovered, and they are considered among the suspects.

With suspicion clouding their every move, Alice and her new-found pregnant friends set out to solve this crime and clear their names.

This book had me thinking of another book I really enjoyed the whole time. I couldn’t put my finger on it for a while and when I finally did it was like a lightbulb. It reminded me a lot of Finlay Donovan. The humor was very similar. However, I find Finlay to be fast paced and full of action and adventure, where this one was very slow and left me wanting. I thought it would be a fun twist to have the main character be pregnant, but a lot of the humor did fall flat on me, and I do have a child. I just felt that it was too in your face and over the top and cheesy for my liking. I also thought that this one was a bit too long for my liking at almost 400 pages. Much of the story, especially in the beginning could have been tightened up and removed to spare the reader. I did enjoy the setting of a small quaint British town. It sounds like a great place to live minus the murder that is. Helen, the dog did make for a fun supporting character.

If you are looking for twist on a traditional cozy mystery, then check this one out.

Thank you so much to St Martins Press, Minotaur Books @minotaur_books, and Netgalley @Netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Well, after the recent immense popularity of elderly detective fiction (“Killers of a Certain Age” by Deanna Raybourn, “The Thursday Murder Club” series by Richard Osman, “Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers” by Jesse Q. Sutanto), here comes a totally unexpected new genre: the pregnant detective in Kat Ailes' very funny “The Expectant Detectives” (although you are still not spared frequent trips to the bathroom).

Alice and Joe have just moved to the countryside from London — she’s 38 weeks pregnant and eager to make new friends. At their second prenatal class, being held on the second floor above a wind chime/essential oils type shop, one of the participants goes into full unplanned early labor. It’s a messy (very messy) and noisy affair, and while the instructor, 3 other pregnant women (including Alice) and 3 partners are on the second floor helping Hen give birth, the proprietor, Mr. Oliver, is being murdered downstairs.

Delightful Alice, the narrator, joins up with also pregnant Poppy to investigate the crime. They try to recruit Ailsa, the third still pregnant member of the prenatal class. Alice and Poppy are ex-Londoners, still perpetually confused by the Cotswold country ways, while Ailsa is a dreadlocked native, sometimes a member of the local suspicious commune and sister to the homicide detective investigating the case. Alice endures gong baths, musty newspaper archives, vegan organic hippy cafes with Karma Kola, corn exchange, and commune visits in her quest to root out the truth. Which may or may not also involve her partner, Joe. The result is a heartwarming and laugh out loud story.

This book is just so charming, witty, and hilarious. Author Ailes’ first draft of this debut novel deservedly won a Comedy Women in Print Prize and I predict this book will find a large audience, including rom-com readers (where the pregnancy is just in the epilogue). 5 stars!

Helen, the Legally Blonde of dogdom, deserves her own series.

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO No eye colors at all.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): ALMOST Lin is a gardener and there are lots of flowers and herbs. Slippery elm bark, as dodgy as it sounds, actually is used to herbally treat UTIs, but not as much for gastrointestinal issues.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press/Minotaur and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

I cannot for the life of me psych myself up to pick this book back up again. The main character’s personality is insipid. She’s pregnant and ditzy. I guess it’s supposed to be charming but when you’re about to bring a baby into the world, are coordinating a move to a new house in a small town and still don’t have a doctor… The small town thing was too much. Her views on how everyone living here must be “liberal” or “hippy” was absurd. When I flipped pages ahead and repeatedly saw the word “commune". I was done for. She’s a young woman in a thirty-something body but has the personality of a geriatric. It’s like someone took the Thursday Murder Club but instead of octogenarians it’s a gang of pregnant women. This book is certainty not for me.

Thank you Minotaur Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A fun read. Mystery and humor wrapped around new friends and a new town. Five women about to give birth all meet at a birthing class. They become involved in trying to solve a murder, what else to do while waiting for their babies to be born? The ladies are very different and even the dogs play a big role in this story. For a light-hearted read with a twisty mystery do read this story. See what character you like the most and enjoy a good story with plenty of action and laughs. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press, Minotaur Book for this eARC.

Oh hey book slump…not excited to see you here! That said, I think this book review was a product of my slumpish ways, so keep that in mind. The main thing was that this book took me over a week to read. I just found myself not really wanting to grab it and read. Again, I don’t know if that was the book or my slump. So I don’t want to say don’t read it or read it.

3.5 stars. This was a fun, British cozy to read with pointed bits of humor and punchiness throughout as three soon-to-be mothers, who meet in an antenatal class, work on solving a murder. Although I found this to be a better-than-average cozy, it was a bit too long — perhaps by as much as 25% — and could have been improved by tightening the storyline, especially in the first half of the book.

All in all, I found this a pleasant and entertaining read, with very likable characters (even Helen the dog!), and I look forward to reading the next in this series.

I'm not quite sure what drew me to this book. Probably a combo of the dog and the unexpected idea of the amateur detectives being expectant mothers. In any case, despite a slow start, once it kicked in it was a fun, interesting read. Think families, unfamiliar territory, and trying to fit in and make new friends....all while near your delivery day. Set in a Cotswold village, transplanted Londoners Alice and Joe have a lot to learn about life in the country. A learning curve made all the steeper when they find themselves embroiled in a murder investigation. Only married a year,They're about to learn a great deal about each other.

The book is populated by some quirky, unique characters. Think New Age and Hippies, with herbals and crystals and....oh, you get my drift. It took me a bit to sort out who was who, must admit, perhaps because I was initially distracted by the name droppings of so many obviously British brand names and services. Toss in that Alice, our narrator, is what I'd kindly refer to as scattered and hormonal and things were a bit confused in my mind for a bit. I did like the characters, however, once I began to differentiate them. True, I found my eyes growing tired as I rolled them at Alice's scattered thoughts and thought patterns, but she was quite likable. Joe seemed remote initially but took on a bigger role as the story picked up steam. It'll take you through not just picturesque Penton, the Cotswold village they decide to move to sight-unseen, but into commune life in the area. And, oh, then there's Helen. She's gorgeous but, well, to be polite, not the smartest dog around. Yes, Helen is Alice and Joe's frequently mayhem prone dog. It seemed like almost every time Alice got a text to meet someone somewhere, "Don't bring Helen" was added. That is rather telling. You'll keep wondering how she'll do when the baby arrives.

So, whodunit? I'm not going to detail the plot because it'd give away too much. Let's just say, finding a dead body at the local antenatal class was not on any of the women's to-do lists. And that is just the beginning. Could it have been one of them? Being very pregnant can't rule out being a murderer, can it? Why was the victim killed? What connection does he have to anything? The woman, strangers until they are brought together by their common pregnancies, are nicely characterized and offer up both humor and information. Why do they wind up visiting a commune? A birthing hut? Oh, my, that visit may be intense. But, there's a murderer out there. Who did it? Who has a....oh, enough teasers. It's a fun read and you'll enjoy it extra much if you happen to be pregnant (or remember those days) and/or British, but once you get past the, to me, overuse of British name brands and such, it's an easy, even humorous read at times. These women not only become friends, they're not bad sleuths, even if their bellies slow them down. Thanks #NetGalley and #StMartin'sPress - #MinotaurBooks for introducing me to them. I can't wait to see who gets up to what next.

I put this book off when I first saw it on NetGalley thinking that having the characters be pregnant would be too niche of a storyline. I regret that decision because this book was actually done well, even with most of the main characters being either pregnant or a new mom.

While the book started off a little bit slow, it picked up towards the middle and I flew through the end. The mix of character's personalities in the new friend group was entertaining at times. Hen, rich and prissy; Alice, slightly ditsy with a very amusing dog; Ailsa, chill yet slightly dark; and Poppy, instigator of most of the investigation.

This is a mostly light hearted read that gets better as you go. I enjoyed this book!

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

I was so excited to get a copy of this book and it was just as good and delightful as the back cover blurb made it out to be. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

A couple expecting their first child moves out of London and into the country. At the first prenatal class held above an apothecary they find that the owner of the apothecary has been murdered. The expecting mothers ban together to solve the murder.

This is a light-hearted, witty, and fun read. I really enjoyed all the characters, especially the group of pregnant ladies who undertake some amateur detective work when the owner of an herbal remedies shop above which their antenatal class is taking place is murdered during their first session. The motley crew of first-time mothers is ill-assorted; none of them would be friends if not for the obvious thing they have in common. However, by the end of the story they have formed solid friendships and prove that they are there for each other. The setting, an idyllic village in the Cotswolds where a hippie commune has been resident for some 30 years, is perfect for the story. The mystery has some twists and startling revelations that provide suspense, but the strength of the story is in the characters, all of whom are hiding something, and the humor, which can be biting at times but is mainly gentle and clever, and had me laughing out loud more than once. It appears as though this is the first of a series, and I will definitely look forward to the further adventures of Alice, Poppy, Hen, and Ailsa!

I made it 50% of the way through this one and decided to stop reading. I liked the humor - A few times I literally laughed out loud and the unique premise of pregnant women investigating crime, however it was a little too much of a slow burn for me. I'm more of a "full-blast" thriller reader, so the pace of this cozy one wasn't for me, however I think/see others are totally in on this. Thanks to NetGalley for the early preview of this one.

If you love a cozy, funny murder mystery with self appointed detectives then this is for you. A fun, quick read with plenty of suspects to keep you guessing. I did find this a little slow but it was still entertaining enough to keep me reading. If you prefer a mystery/thriller centered around darker themes then only go into this one when your in the mood for something a bit lighter.

If you liked 'Finlay Donovan is Killing It' I think you will enjoy this.

This was a fun chick lit-pregnant protagonist meets British small town mystery.

It was an interesting mystery. The way the mystery weaves made me think I knew what was coming. I was wrong and pleasantly surprised. The twists felt earned.

The humour was funny and relatable. The setting made me want to run out to the pub. I’d recommend it to anyone in the mood to get cozy and laugh.

Thank you, Minotaur Books, for this ARC.

I expected a cheesy, cozy mystery.. which isn’t my favorite but I’m learning to make room for.. what what i got was actually not cheesy. Usually the humor misses the mark and makes me roll my eyes but this one got it right. It was lighthearted, yes, but not cheesy.

This is one of those stories where I’ll miss the characters now that it’s over.

This book as a riot! I laughed out loud and enjoyed every minute reading #theexpectantdetectives featuring a group of pregnant women in a small English countryside village who are trying to channel their inner Sherlock while dealing with secrets, pregnancy brain, swelling ankles and cravings. This read so realistically that I was transported back to my own pregnancies (without the crime!). Thank you to @katailes, #netgalley and #minotaurbooks for this arc to read and review, all opinions are my own.

The book is told from Alice's point of view. Alice is from the city and she and her husband have moved to the small village of Penton, where they don't know anyone and need to make friends and build their lives. Alice is not prepared for the birth of a child.

A group of expectant women, all near their delivery dates, meet and begin investigating a murder that occurred during their ante-natal class. Alice somehow seems to get assigned many of the tasks of the investigation. It is fun to follow her fumbling through these tasks.

This is a fun British mystery that provides some humor. I enjoyed Alice, as well as the other characters - especially Ailsa. The dog, Helen, was a hoot as well as Alice's attempts at handling her. The mystery surrounding the commune kept my attention and I found it interesting.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on January 9, 2024.

The premise of this author's debut novel sounded cute; expecting women teaming up to solve a crime with mishap and comedy along the way.
Was it funny? Yes, the cheesy kind of funny. It was tolerable until I realized the author overused similes and poop gags .
Was there tension? Yes, the crime itself created the action and tension needed to propel the story. There were several other secrets unveiled along the way which created more "detectoring" for the untrained detectives.
Did I like the book? I can comfortably answer "kind of". I truly like the unique idea of pregnant ladies bonding beyond the prenatal class with their quirky dogs in tow. I also liked the extra layers unearthed during the primary investigation which gave the heroines more questions to answer. However, I realized at a point that all of the characters had secrets that needed explaining in order for the ladies to solve the initial crime. It helped prolong the plot but also created a kind of muddied story. My main criticism is the unneeded political references through the first 75% - 80 % of the book. The political zingers just didn't seem necessary for the overall scheme of the book. Kind of felt forced.
Giving it 3 stars because I loved Helen the dog :)