The Last Word was a cosy crime mystery. I thought it was an OK read but did find it quite confusing in places. The way it was written I wanted it to be set in an earlier time but it was set in very modern times and I just struggled with that.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

Elly Griffiths is already one of my favourite authors anyway, so I already knew this book was going to be fantastic. I absolutely adored this book from start to finish, it is another joy from Elly Griffiths. The story is well planned and intricate but it is the characters which bring the book to life. The relationships between them and their individual personalities make them all feel so real. Natalka, Benedict, and Edwin are an unlikely mix of characters but they work so well together. I particularly enjoy reading their inner thoughts and Elly Griffiths' little asides and notes for the reader make this a funny albeit emotional read. Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of The Last Word.

The unusual private eyes, Natalie and Edwin, are tasked with checking out the recent widower of a prominent author by her suspicious adult children. In the process there are too many deaths linked to a writers retreat centre that she had attended for them to be a coincidence. After many twists and turns the denouement was not at all what I had expected! Excellent!

Loved this book!

Great characters, good storyline, just an all round easy to read book which draws you in.

Highly recommended and look forward to the next one

Murder on a writing retreat, what's not to love? Elly Griffiths writes great plots but her absolute strength lies in characterization, and her care for those characters is displayed in this book which includes a look at aging, and the lived reality of being Ukrainian in the UK during the war. This could be called cosy crime but it's a gripping read for all fans of the genre both cosy and more hard core

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed in, ‘Bleeding Heart Yard,’ the third book in the Harbinder Kaur series, when Harbinder moved to London, so I was delighted that, in this latest outing we are back in Shoreham. We met Natalka, Edwin and Benedict in ‘The Postscript Murders,’ and they are very much still involved in crime solving. Indeed, although Benedict is still running his coffee shack, Edwin and Natalka have started a detective agency.

When author, Melody Chambers, is found dead, her two daughters are convinced she has been murdered by her much younger, second husband. Natalka and Edwin take the case and, before long, they find themselves investigating the unexplained deaths of other authors. This results in Edwin and Benedict posing as authors at a writing retreat. This is excellently done with Benedict feeling slightly resentful that Edwin is his usual urbane, confident self; praised by tutors and invited to a reading group, while he feels uncomfortable and uninspired.

Like all great books, this is about the characters. Natalka and Benedict are going through a difficult time in their relationship and with Natalka’s brother fighting in Ukraine. Edwin is always a joy, and he finds new strengths and pleasures in the twilight of his life. Harbinder does not feature as much, but that was fine. I was very happy to spend time in Shoreham with our amateur sleuths. An absolute pleasure to read – a definite five stars. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

Elly Griffiths is a prolific crime writer who keeps on producing excellent books across 3 seres and the odd stand-alone.

The Last Word sees a return to the loosely connected world of Harbinder Kaur but mainly starring Natalka, Benedict and Edwin who are private investigators although Benedict isn’t officially of the partnership.

The story is set in the world of authors and is another brilliant read that kept this reader turning the pages whilst trying to identify the red herrings.

So Elly Griffiths has delivered once again. Definitely recommended.

Ellty Griffiths returns us to Shoreham-by-Sea in Sussex, and the blonde assassin, Ukrainian Natalya Kolisnyk running a care agency, now living with ex-monk, Benedict Cole, and elderly, sharp as a tack, extremely organised, gay Edwin Fitzgerald. We met them and DI Harbinder Kaur in The Postscript Murders, Kaur, now a London DI, appears here too, but she is more in the background. Edwin and Natalya are now private investigators, forming the K and F agency, finally getting what Natalya has been longing for, a murder case, and then some, with Benedict getting caught up in it too, as well as running his cafe. Natalya has her plate full, her mother, is living in the tiny flat with her, having fled the war, for which she is thankful, but her brother, Dmytro, has gone back to fight in the war torn country, leaving her constantly worried about his safety.

Minnie and Harmony, daughters of Melody Chambers, a writer, are certain their charismatic stepfather, Alan, murdered her, despite the death being ruled as a straight forward heart attack, and hire the agency to investigate, plunging the sleuths into the world of words, books, authors and aspiring writers, and which takes Edwin and Benedict going undercover to the dour, blank faced, writers retreat, Battle House, a farmhouse in Hastings. They attend a residential course, run by a former Booker Prize longlist author, who has written nothing since, Leonard Norris, and Imogen Blythe. When a murder occurs there, the trio find themselves tangled in a complex and dark case run by DS Liv Brennan, who admires Harbinder, as they try to find links between a number of suspicious deaths, join a book club, as they work their way through a host of suspects.

Griffiths wtites her customary well plotted and complicated crime fiction, where her characters hold centre stage with their beautifully planned personal development, as she has great fun placing them in a larger than life, colourful world she is intimate knowledge and familiarity with, that of books, writing, and authors, blended with her extensive experience of being a notable figure within crime fiction. Her PIs find themselves tested as they scramble to find any leads to what look a large number of murders, and find themselves facing far more dangers than they might have expected. In the midst of all this, we are given a picture of the impact of the horrors of war on Ukrainians who live in or have found refuge in Britain. Wonderful addition to the series! Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

The Last Word is apparently a spin off of The Postscript Murders - I haven't read the latter, and it certainly didn't detract from my enjoyment of this book, it works perfectly as a standalone.

Ukranian Natalka and octogenarian Edwin have a detective agency, and they are employed by Minnie to prove that her stepfather murdered her mother. Alongside Natalka's partner Benedict (a former monk), the trio find themselves caught up in a web of lies, murders and book clubs. Can they solve the case before anyone else is hurt?

I love Elly Griffiths' writing, her characters are always so vivid, and her scene setting is wonderful. I laughed out loud on numerous occasions during this book - the references to Wordle and Nadal/Federer particularly got me - but equally, shed a tear when Natalka's brother and the war in Ukraine was mentioned. The trio of main characters are so different yet work so well together, I'll definitely look out for further adventures.

It was great to spend time with the lovable characters from Postscript Murders. Elly is brilliant at characterisation and they really come alive; .similarly with details of setting and time period. It is an intricate plot as Natalka,a Ukrainian Carer, Edwin her partner in their Detective Agency and life partner too, and Benedict Edwin’s Octogenarian friend try to solve the.mystery of whether a writer’s death is an accident as the Police believe or a murder as the daughters think. More deaths follow also connected to the writer’s circle; many suspects but few clues. As always it is an entertaining read. Harbinger Kaur from the previous book also makes an appearance but is now based with the Met, I certainly didn’t guess the murdered but it was fun trying!

Overall I thought this was a really cosy murder mystery. I really loved the inclusion of the writers retreat and all the different storylines intertwined within the book.

There were a lot of more political elements to the book too, with the inclusion of the Ukrainian war and religious elements. I also liked the LGBTQIA+ inclusion in the story too.

The only criticism was that I felt like there was a lot being investigated but not a lot in the way of the investigation - the story focused mostly on the relationships of the characters and their thoughts rather than the murder mystery.

Overall a really cosy mystery

An interesting and absorbing cosy crime mystery featuring an eclectic character ensemble. Slow in parts and a confusing composite of secondary characters, I was happy to reunite with Benedict, Natalka and Edwin and follow their adventures. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Loved this look at familiar characters but just a bit further down their lives. I liked Benedict and Edwin especially, and the mystery was a good one

Edwin, Natalia and Benjamin are a vey unlikely trio of private detectives asked to investigate two deaths, which coincidentally start to seem linked- and we all know there’s no such thing as a coincidence in a murder mystery, don’t we?
As their investigation continues, the number of bodies-and suspects-increases rapidly, and there are plenty of clues and red herrings thrown in for good measure.
A ‘cosy’ whodunnit, more in the mould of Agatha Raisin than Agatha Christie. It’s the second novel centred on these three characters; I haven’t read the first, but there are enough ‘backstory’ references that this didn’t hinder my reading of the story.
I enjoyed the story, an easy and entertaining read, though towards the end I kind of lost track of which of the deceased were actually murdered, and why. The end also felt a bit rushed.
The story is a bit clichéd - several ‘saved in the nick of time’ moments, for example- but these are to be expected in the classic whodunnit formula! All the little sub plots also get tied up very tidily.
I liked the characters and would happily read the next in the series.

I can almost forgive Elly Griffith's for ending her Ruth series as this series featuring Harbinder and the motley crew we have grown to love- including an octogenarian, an ex priest and a Ukrainian carer- continues to develop. The Last Word is the latest and it does not fail to deliver. The scene of the deaths is, perhaps unfortunately, a house used as a writing retreat for authors with many of the 'players' being the attendees at various workshops and a nearby book club. These familiar settings are usually safe places for creatives so to include murders within their walls adds an uncertain chill.......perhaps writing about murder makes one more susceptible to committing one. Regardless, the progression of relationships within the detecting group is what carries this through - with a widening of the circle to include a new boyfriend for Edwin, Natalya's mother as well the extended family in war torn Ukraine, and the continued relationship between Benedict and Natalya. Harbinder features as the connection to the Police force, keeping them in touch with and above the law. She has a more central role in previous books but her presence here is reassuring and established.
All in all an entertaining read, well paced, and well laced with coffee as well as honest to goodness detecting. Just what we have come to expect from Elly Griffiths.

A cosy murder mystery.
I found it very slow and confusing in places, if it didn`t mention the war in Ukraine I would have thought it was set in the 1950`s and was a typical Miss Marples mystery and it had lots of characters to remember which I didn`t.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC and I give my honest review.
Posted to Goodreads

It was a massive pleasure to read another book about the main characters from The Postscript Murders. I enjoyed the flow of the book and the interaction between the main characters is so believable and real. Please can we have more books with this wonderful characters.

Such a joy to return to some of Elly’s characters we met in The Postscript Murders. In this read – some would argue it’s cosy crime but it’s not so cosy – Natalka and Edwin are running a private detective agency, sometimes assisted by Benedict, Natalka’s partner and coffee van owner. When Melody Chambers, writer, is found dead in her kitchen, her daughters blame their stepfather. It doesn’t sound like much but Edwin is convinced it’s part of a larger case… and soon there’s another death while Edwin and Benedict attend a writing course. All the while, the trio are feeding some titbits back to DI Harbinder Kaur. It’s not a breezy read, but the characters show real light and shade, and there are ample comedic one liners. I hope Elly brings the foursome back to our pages very, very soon.

Set in 2022 "The Last Word" is right up to date with its themes. Backgrounds of politics, plague and war are all there. Add in murders probable murders, some opera, literary references, romance, humour and neatly portrayed characters and an Elly Griffiths special is delivered. Intriguing detective work by Private Investigators - and the Police - compete the main picture.(It would make good film.) Don't miss this one from a very talented author!

Another great installment of the Shoreham bunch. This is the second in the series and has the diverse and delightful main characters. It took a little while to get into this story, but then it feels like you fly through the second half the book. Once again, I was left guessing who the killer was until right at the end.