It was 1958 in Sussex with the winter cold nipping everyone's fingers and toes. Jack Carrington and Flora Steele have just been married in Abbeymead, with the whole town in attendance - but their happiness was marred by the discovery of a body in a ditch on the road into Abbeymead. Jack was about to start his new job at Cleeve College in Lewes, and with Inspector Alan Ridley asking for Flora and Jack's help with the latest murder, things began to heat up.

It wasn't long before Jack realised there was a big connection between the dead body and Cleve College, plus an old orphanage in the vicinity which had closed under dubious circumstances twenty years prior. The death of Jack's predecessor made Jack uneasy, and while Flora kept the home fires burning, she continually thought about the case. Thinking she knew the answers, talking to Jack and putting their ideas together to make sense, drew danger to their sides. Would they discover the killer before they stopped Flora and Jack from talking to the police?

Murder at Cleve College is the 9th in the Flora Steele Mystery series by Merryn Allingham and it was - in my opinion - the best yet! The newly married couple thrive on mystery - Jack's a crime writer; Flora owns All's Well, the local bookstore - and this time they went the closest they've been to intense danger! This historical mystery series, set in Sussex, is one I recommend highly (but do start at the beginning)

With thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my digital ARC to read and review.

I really enjoy the characters and the setting. I like that things progress in the MC's life.. The mystery kept me guessing.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Newlyweds Flora and Jack are starting out their married life together with another body. Of course they would be, as it seems dead bodies are everywhere. However this one is most perplexing.

A body is found in a bush in Abbeymead, the village where Jack and Flora have their home and Flora’s bookshop. It seems to be a tragic accident but for the name that the dead person – Russell Farr.

The name might not be familiar to the villagers, but it seems it is to the colleagues at Cleve College where Jack has taken a job. It is all related to the person Jack took over from.

This mystery sees Jack and Flora as always stumble around discovering links and clues that keep bringing the dead body back to the college and then when another body turns up and Jack goes missing, it looks like this mystery might never be solved.

Of course Flora and Jack have all the clues and just need to get it into some sort of order to work out the solution. The other solution they need to find is how they are going to start off married life and perhaps Flora needs to leave her beloved bookshop behind and spend more time with Jack at his place of work for a while. As her friends lives all start to change in the village, it seems that everything is changing.

I cannot wait (but will obviously have to) to see what happens to these delightfully warm characters and what crimes they will uncover next.

Flora and Jack are surrounded by their friends for their wedding rehearsal followed by a party for Jack’s birthday. Their paths cross fleetingly with a stranger to the village and shortly after Flora and Jack come across a body in a ditch. The police investigation is slow with no way to identify the body. Flora later finds a silver cigarette case with a cryptic note and an address and she and Jack embark on their own investigation.

The opening chapters set out the 1950s village way of life and the descriptions of various locations in the story are nicely detailed. There is though a rather bewildering array of characters with 17 people introduced by the end of chapter 1. I had to reread this chapter and make a list of who was who. This is one book where I felt a cast of characters would have been helpful.

The story has been carefully crafted with plenty of red herrings, suspense and some sensational twists.

This is the 9th in the Flora Steele mystery series and the first that I have read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one and will definitely read the earlier ones; pleasingly there were no spoilers.

I love this series and highly recommend it.

This book finds Flora and Jack investigating again, this time as a married couple. The storyline was interesting and kept me entertained. For me, the star of this series is the beautiful setting and the characters, especially Jack.

Murder at Cleve College by Merryn Allingham finds Flora and Jack married and living in Flora’s cottage. This will not change their lives much, in many ways. Jack is teaching at Cleve Cottage several days a week and enjoying himself, but noticing some odd things about his co-workers. Flora misses him when he’s gone but has Rose working part-time at the shop, now so she has time for the garden and sleuthing. Their newest case arises when they find a body in a ditch. It looks likes he’s been run over, but nothing but a person could throw a body this far from the road. No identification. They call the police, who arrive anon. They did not appear to be making much headway so Flora took it on. Jack was busy, but he listened.

Flora was essentially a spinster and Jack had been hurt by his previous fiancee. It took them a while to admit their feelings and proceed with the marriage. Flora loved her life, and she loved having Jack in it. Her friends were cozy and warm and always had something going. She had found that asking questions got the answers one was looking for and she never hesitated. The murder was a strange one. The man was not a local, for sure. Jack listens and observes. Between the two of them they got a lot of information, more than the detective on the case. He scoffed at their finding at first but came around, just as he came around to their marriage. This is an intriguing series with good sleuths. Thanks Merryn Allingham!

I was invited to read Murder at Cleve Cottage by Bookoutre. All thoughts an opinions are mine. #Netgalley #Bookoutre #MerrynAllingham #MurderAtCleveCottage

Another riveting adventure in the Flora Steel series.
This cozy mystery had lots of twists and turns, and just the right amount of suspects to keep the plot flowing.. As always, the characters are great, with sprinkles of side stories that keep them interesting. Looking forward to seeing what Flora and Jack get up to next.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Flora and Jack get married, and Jack leaves Overlay House to move into Flora's house. After the wedding, they find a body in a ditch between the road and their house, but they don't find any identification. Finally, after a few days, Flora notices something shiny in the ditch. Inside a cigarette case, they find a note with an address. Flora goes to the address and finds out the man is Russell Farr, the son of the man who had been the head of the Ridlington Orphanage. Several years before, there was a small fire at the orphanage which had some problems with older orphans, and Russell's father had either fallen or been pushed over a high balcony. Jack has recently started a new job mentering writers at Cleve College. The college care taker was one of the older boys at Ridlington, and he seems to dislike Jack. Jack has also learned that his predecessor was also from Ridlington and had not quit the job, but had drowned in the lake. Flora and Jack need to find out who is the killer before the killer gets one of them.

There are several very exciting moments, and the story is very well done. I thank Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC so that I could read the book before publication.

My Thoughts /

First and foremost, a huge THANK YOU to NetGalley, publisher Bookouture, and author Merryn Allingham, for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review. Publication date is currently set for July 24, 2024.

Murder at Cleve College is the ninth book in the Flora Steele Mystery series and, whilst I did enjoy it, I think I did myself a disservice by not having read any of the previous books. There were lots of little things that I had to catch up on. For one thing, Flora Steele not being 'Steele' anymore, she's now Flora Carrington; having just married her beau, Jack, at the start of the story.

Out for a stroll in the countryside, Jack and Flora discover the body of a man, who, at first glance, appears to have fallen down an embankment where he met his death. It's only when the duo tries to identify the victim and uncover how he came to be in the village that questions arise as to the whether his death was accidental or something more sinister. Their subsequent investigations lead them to Cleve College and to a second suspicious death. Two deaths. Both connected to Cleve College. With her husband now a writer-in-residence at the College, Flora is understandably concerned for Jack's safety.

I enjoyed the setting - 1958 Sussex, and the historical detailing surrounding the small village of Abbeymead is excellent. The author was able to give the reader an accurate account of the village, its setting and the people who called it home. Our main protagonists, Flora and Jack complement each other so well, and I can see them having a long and happy union, as they bring out the best characteristics in each other.

This is another series which has a character cast of thousands. I'm not sure what the current thinking of authors is regarding this point, but as a reader, it makes the plot sometimes more difficult to navigate. For example, it took me a while to figure out that the character called "Betty" is, in fact, a bicycle not a person!

All told, this is an easy, pleasant read, with many likeable characters; and I'd be happy to go back to the start of the series and continue with it from the beginning.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Bookouture publishing for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

#MurderatCleveCollege #NetGalley

This is an entertainlng cosy crime novel set in the Sussex village of Abbeymead in 1958.
The historical detail is excellent as always and I love the way that it just gets dropped into the story and gives a real picture of how people lived then such as Flora having to take two buses for a relatively short journey.
There is a large cast of characters who really bring the story to life, not just the ones who have been in the series from the start but also a whole new set of people who work or are connected to Cleve College.
The mystery is an interesting one and I have to say that I thought I had solved it half way through the book but was completely wrong. I love the way that Flora and Jack complement each other in the way they go about solving the puzzle of the dead body although I was a bit dubious about them withholding information from the police at one stage.
This is another great addition to the Abbeymead series and I am very grateful to Net Galley and the publishers, Bookouture, for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Since this is the 9th book in the series and I have only read Book 1 (three years ago), I was quite lost in the first two chapters, as the author
"introduced" too many characters at once! Thereafter, things settled down as the really important characters were brought out.

I liked the team of Flora and Jack, both their cooperation and different approaches to the mystery. There were plenty of suspects (all properly introduced as we went on) and the plot development was very gripping. I enjoyed the book once I really got into the thick of it.

I can recommend the book, especially if you have been following the Flora Steele series, but now I have to go back and continue the series from book 2 forward!

The wedding all of Abbeymead has been waiting for is here! Flora Steele and Jack Carrington have planned, rehearsed, and arranged, meticulously, so everything should be plain sailing. Unfortunately, after Jack's very pleasant birthday tea, and just a week before the ceremony, everything goes slightly awry when a body is discovered on the outskirts of the village!

Flora and Jack are disturbed to discover links between the victim and the successful author's new place of work, but both are sure there is more to what's happened than just the location. As winter closes in, reluctant to be apart from her husband for too long, Flora finds herself travelling to and from Lewes regularly, to meet up with Jack and discuss their case. Neither of them have any idea of the danger lurking, or the number of lies being told, while they try to identify the killer. As they struggle with their first case as a married couple it becomes debatable whether either of them will be around by the end of it!

This is the ninth book in a brilliant series and I loved it! All the main protagonists are here, the danger level is very high, and the narrative between everyone is like a chat with an old friend. The differing opinions on relationships, the town versus village living, and married women working, were both entertaining and enlightening and, without spoilers, Alice, as usual, had opinions on all of it!

I was able to read an advanced copy of this thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Bookouture, but the opinions expressed are my own. I thoroughly enjoyed this, it ticked all my cosy boxes, and is easy to recommend.

The latest entry in Flora Steele’s adventures is a thoroughly enjoyable cozy read. Flora and Jack are finally getting married, but their newlywed days are marked by….finding a dead body, of course. They soon became embroiled in a story that turns out to involve the college at which Jack now teaches, a tragic story from an abandoned orphanage, and blackmail. Flora and Jack work together as well as ever to sort out the complicated tale at some risk to themselves. The mystery is good as always, and longtime readers will enjoy seeing Jack and Flora as a newly married couple. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy. All views are entirely my own.

Academic setting…Flora is back…a new husband…murder and mayhem…recipe for disaster. Even the title is intriguing. Realistic characters keep the story moving quickly. Does Jack have the perfect job? What has happened? What is happening? What will happen? This book kept me guessing. Enjoy. Thanks to this talented author. Thanks Netgalley.

Bookshop owner Flora Steele and writer Jack Carrington fell in love solving mysteries. Now they’re taking their first steps as husband and wife… straight into their most perplexing case yet.
Book 9 in this fab series. I love this genre and found this to be one of the best books I have read in a while. I was kept guessing throughout, never quite sure which way the story would go until the end. Absolutely brilliant read

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for an advance reader’s copy of this book.

This is the ninth outing for Flora Steele and her new husband, Jack Carrington, but the first for me. Set in a small English village in 1958, with a book shop owner (Flora), a crime writer (Jack), and a circle of good friends, this is a cozy mystery, indeed.

The author manages to smoothly introduce her large cast of interesting characters to the new reader, with only a little confusion. For example, one quickly learns that the reluctant Betty is a bicycle, but it is over 60% through the book before we find out young Charlie is 15 years old. Since he already has left school and is working, this is a little confusing.

Jack’s commitment to his writing, and some of the struggles he has with it, give a wry glimpse into the fiction writer’s process.

Flora and Jack do much speculating on relatively little information, and their delays in providing information to the police can be questionable, but with crisp writing, engaging characters, and a clever, layered mystery, I will be going back to read the earlier entries in the series.

Flora and Jack have just gotten married - and find a dead body. Adjusting to marriage and solving a murder (or more?) proves to be a full time task for this duo. Excellent!