A sorta cozy set in Cornwall that's also a bit of a tale of books and authors. Berit is meant to be working on her book but an explosion at a tea party sets her off to solve a murder. The village is filled with unusual people (characters in the true sense of the word) (and there might be a bit too many as you might have to work to keep them straight), who test Berit's determination. No spoiler from me. Thanks to Netgalley for the aRC. A good read.

The premise for The Murders in Great Diddling contained all the appealing attributes I look for in a book. Murder, literature, English village, quirky characters. However I found it to be a plodding read with an uninteresting cast. I gave up at 29% and didn’t even bother to jump ahead to find out ‘who dunnit’. I noted that our library will probably buy the book because it may appeal to others. Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

An incredible book with wonderful characters and a beautiful setting. It will keep you guessing until the end.

I really enjoyed this cozy English village mystery written by Swedish author Katarina Bivald. Our main character, Berit Gardner is an author suffering from severe writer's block. She has moved to the quiet Cornish village of Great Diddling hoping to end the dry spell and work on her next book. Her agent is on her case and insists that she get out of the house and meet the locals at a tea party hosted by a wealthy local book collector. Of course, someone gets murdered at the tea party and Berit finds herself involved in trying to solve the case.
Now that Great Diddling has developed a murderous book-related reputation, a local councilwoman decides to capitalize on the situation and host a book festival in just two weeks. Very amusing hijinks are the result.
As the book festival gets underway, Berit is aided in her amateurish sleuthing by her new young assistant Sally. I enjoyed seeing Sally become more confident in herself and come into her own.
I loved many things about this book, primarily the quirky villagers and the numerous mentions of books and authors. This is not by any means a fast-paced book. It meanders along filling the reader in on the villagers' back stories and relationships to one another. The author conveyed a very strong sense of place and I felt immersed in the village and its inhabitants.
I am excited that this book is the first in a series. It will be delightful to follow along with these characters and the village of Great Diddling and see what happens next. Thanks so much to NetGalley for providing me with an EARC of this very entertaining book.

As I was reading, Fredrik Backman’s books came to mind. Like his books, this one is filled with quirky characters, humor both caustic and gentle, a wandering story, and a touch of mystery. Don’t mistake this for a conventional village mystery type of book. Yes, there’s a spectacular murder at the start, there are police detectives, and there is a central character who acts as an amateur detective. But, for most of the book, the story isn’t driven by the investigation in the way of your usual murder mystery. This is much more the story of books, book lovers, and human connections. Berit Gardner becomes more than the observer she thought herself, and various villagers learn they need each other.

There are many characters, and it can be challenging at times to keep them all straight. The book could also have used some editing to tighten up the plot a bit. But Berit is an interesting character, as is the police detective, Ian Ahmed, and both are ripe for further development if there are future books, as is suggested by calling this #1 in a Berit Gardner series.

Coincidentally, I’ve been reading a lot of books where the main character/amateur sleuth has been a novelist, and I’ve honestly liked them all. This was a nice, quick cozy, with a really good mystery at its core. Death by explosion is a really unique murder weapon for a cozy too. 😂 The ending of this one was different too, and I really liked it. And it was full of books! Really enjoyable read! 4 ⭐️

The Murders in Great Diddling is a clever yet cozy mystery. Although it does take on a slow pace, it certainly adds to its cozy setup. We follow Berit Gardner as she and her assistant (who arrived as a surprise) investigates a murder in their small town. Despite the premise of the murder mystery, I found myself being more drawn to the bookishness of this story. An author, an agent, and a book festival all in a close-knit community—it’s such a reader’s dream. I feel like this could have been shorter, and at some points I found myself bored with all the meandering and the longevity, but still, I’d recommend this book to anyone who loves a good, cozy murder mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Press for the ARC! :>

A Swedish author with a serious case of writers' block moves to a Cornwall village and becomes obsessed with solving a murder. The book festival with fake authors was ridiculous and implausible and ruined what was otherwise an enjoyable cozy mystery.

The small, rundown village of Great Diddling is full of stories—author Berit Gardner can feel it. The way the villagers avoid outsiders, the furtive stares and whispers in the presence of newcomers… Berit can sense the edge of a story waiting to be unraveled, and she's just the person to do it.

Unfortunately, I found this to be pretty boring and overdone. Not something I would recommend.

Author Berit Gardner is hoping that the move to the village will solve her case of writer's block. While attending a
gathering thrown by the owner Daphne Trent of the local manor, her nephew and heir is killed. As many were
unhappy with hos plans for the village, there is no shortage of suspects. Hidden connections and surprising
backgrounds are revealed during the course of the investigation. Will Berit uncover the murderer before someone
is killed? Quirky characters make for an entertaining read.
#TheMurdersinGreatDiddling #PoisonedPenPress #NetGalley

Great Diddling is a wonderful place for a blocked author to find inspiration. There are intrigues, characters both interesting and annoying and a few people that are both! When Berit’s publisher sends a new assistant (for the express purpose of nagging Berit into finishing the new book), Berit becomes even less interested. But when a grand tea party at the Great Manor results in both an explosion and the death of an annoying man, Berit finds new inspiration and an interest in solving the crime. Fun book with quirky characters.

Thank you for this ARC!

This is a funny cozy mystery full of interesting characters and wonderful story building.

I enjoyed this book, the way the author wrote it was interesting and keep me wanting more! I read this book from start to finish in two days, I keep needing to know what happened, every time I put it down I had the urge to pick it back up!

Bestselling author, Berit Gardner moves to Great Diddling in an attempt to unclog writers block. Her agent is pressuring her for another book; so much so that she sends her daughter, Sally to assist(read spy on)Berit so she can focus on writing.
When a tea party at the local stately home turns into an explosion that kills the eccentric owner's sleazy nephew the fun begins. The local councilor, Sima takes advantage of the situation to boost tourism to Great Diddling when not one, but four villagers confess to the murder. Sima and her tourist board members decide to host a book and murder festival and to pull it together in two weeks!
Berit declines to help and decides her writers research skills are better suited to solving the murder - much to Inspector Ahmed's disapproval.
The result is a hilarious, though sometimes murky cozy. The book is too long and the mystery gets lost in the book festival details, but the laughs are worth it. The murderer is obvious halfway through primarily because the many suspects and theories eliminate the others.
The characters are well done and the best part of the book.
Thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC.

This was a really great read from New York Times bestselling author Katarina Bivald. This was my first read from this author, and I would definitely read more from her again.

I enjoyed several things about this book, including the cover, bookish references, English village setting, and writing.

COVER

This cover is super cute. The red, yellow, and white really pop on the black background. I always appreciate simple covers that include elements of the story (tea party, fire, book festival, writer).

BOOKISH REFERENCES

This book is made for book lovers and mystery lovers. It is chock full of book references, and the more books you read, the more references you'll catch and appreciate. The main character is a writer who loves books,and there is a book festival. All of this was enjoyable for me, and I think most cozy crime readers will like it as well. Thriller readers... maybe not so much.

SETTING

Many books are set in charming, cozy, cute villages. This book is set in a crustier sort of village with lots of eccentric villagers. The writer came to the village to write but gets hopelessly caught up in village life, which was rather amusing.

WRITING

Katarina Bivald is a wonderful storyteller. Her writing flows well. The pacing was good. She was in no hurry to get to the end of the story. I enjoyed the meandering.

I would recommend this book to people who like English village mysteries, bookish mysteries, cozies that meander around the mystery, and shows like Midsomer Murders.

It is my understanding that there will be a follow-up to this book, and I hope that is true. I would read it.

Thanks to Net Galley and Poisoned Pen Press for a chance to read this ARC.

Quirky village Great Diddling is the perfect place for author Berit Gardner to gain inspiration for new characters to cure her writer’s block. Her agent is worried and unknown to Berit sends her an assistant to make sure she starts working on her next novel.

With her new assistant in tow, Berit attends a garden party at the local manor house only to witness events leading up to an explosion where someone is killed. Instead of writing her next novel she is determined to solve the murder.

I think are small towns are the same …..people being nosy and gossiping about others. Another problems with small towns is it is hard for a new person when moving to a new town and trying to get to know the people of the town. Author Berit Gardner lives in a small country town, Great Diddling Berit is trying to write a new book and there is a bit of writers block going on. Berit ends up invited to tea at the Grand Manor. While having tea it an explosion occurs. The nephew of the owner of the Grand Manor had been killed. As the residents come to terms with what has happened the reader learns more about it’s inhabitants but they are not really what they appear to be.. The residents finally realize they need to do something to help there town and they feel that this incident is a great start. They decide to plan a book/murder festival. Berit in the meantime has been investigating and it seems each person in the town is a suspect. Berit has decided to write a books about this but will she be able to figure out who the murder is and figure out the odd people of the town?

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

For the love of books is the best way to describe the story that unfolds in the small town of Great Diddling. When an explosion kills one of the most hated men in town, the detective in charge and the investigation gave me Midsomer Murders vibes. However, despite the similarities in the investigation and the quirky characters living in the community, the author has added some fun layers, including the addition of Berit Gardner. Berit is new to the community and needs inspiration for a novel. The town of Great Diddling does not disappoint and as all of the events unfold Berit gains a lot of inspiration. For me, the characters were amazing and while the story veers off into some wild events involving a book festival to bring in tourists and raise money for the town, I still enjoyed every minute of the craziness. Both Berit and Detective Chief Inspector Ian Ahmed of the Cornwall Police were entertaining as they alternately unraveled the murder for us. At one point, I thought about how the author could make sense of this story and what was going on, but she masterfully wrapped up every thread.

Thank you, NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

What a fun book to read. I would say it's a quasi cozy mystery with its small village setting, colorful cast of characters, interesting chief detective and of course a newcomer to the village who solves the crime. This was a slow moving story with many possible suspects explored and a tidy ending. I would happily read a sequel to The Murders in Great Diddling.

An interesting combination, with the Scandinavian author investigating the English countryside crime - I enjoyed it although it didn't blow me away. I would read another in the series though!