Set in the charming Cornish village of Great Diddling, Swedish/British author Berit Gardner relocates to overcome writer’s block and complete her latest manuscript. She receives help from her new assistant, Sally, who happens to be the daughter of Berit’s literary agent. Along the way, Berit encounters a host of eccentric British characters reminiscent of those in Midsomer Murders.

When an explosion rocks the library at Tawney Mansion, killing Daphne Trent's nephew, it quickly becomes clear that it's a case of murder. Rather than focusing on her novel, Berit becomes engrossed in the investigation, collaborating with Chief Inspector Ian Ahmed and suggesting leads for him to pursue. Daphne’s impressive collection of signed first editions, including Oscar Wilde’s last play The Importance of Being Earnest, adds another layer to the mystery.

Amidst the murder investigation, the village decides to organize a Literary Festival. Though the festival is more of a farce due to a lack of genuine authors, it adds a humorous subplot to the unfolding mystery. Ultimately, the case is solved, and the story emerges as a loving tribute to British literature, both classic and contemporary.

Remarkably, this delightful British “cozy” mystery was penned by Swedish author Katarina Bivald and translated into English. The author’s portrayal of village life is spot on, and there's a hint that Berit and Chief Inspector Ahmed may return in a future sequel. The audiobook, narrated by Helen Lloyd, was particularly enjoyed for her skillful voice work across the various characters.

I had a hard time keeping track of all the characters and plot points in this book. It was not for me.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator Helen Lloyd did a wonderful job of bringing the characters to life and conveying their personalities through her narration. I would rate 3.75 out of 5 Stars

The book is set in a small rural town and the characters are all a little eccentric and interesting with their own secrets. A murder mystery writer has moved to town and I thoroughly enjoyed her POV. Although this is a mystery and there are murders. The story is really more about the characters and their relationships. I thought it was enjoyable. I would recommend it to those who like Agatha Raisin and that style of mystery.

If you want to curl up and listen or read a good cozy mystery, with wonderful characters, and humor this is the book for you.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this audio ARC.

An idyllic Cornwall village setting, a bookstore, a murder-mystery-themed book festival and a Swedish author set out to solve a murder in her new town...I'm in! Additionally lots of zany characters and little adventures all make this a fun cozy British mystery...right up my alley. It is a slow-burn with lots of character and storyline development, but stick with it. You'll get your full confessional (little twist) ending.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Helen Boyd narrate this with her ability to capture lots of characters' personalities.
Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC. All opinions are mine.

What a lovely cosy mystery this one is I would rate 3.75 out of 5 Stars

Set in the small, rundown village of Great Diddling in which the villagers are suspicious of outsiders, an author Berit Gardner moves there to write her manuscript, but as the deadline draws closer and still no ideas are coming to Berit, until there's a murder. Of course Berit then throws herself into the investigation as she can feel there is a story that needs to be told, she just need to figure out what that story is and of course who the murderer is.

This is a book full of heart and grit with loveable characters, with great personalities and overly ambitious ideas.

I listened to the audio book version of this and the narrator Helen Lloyd did a wonderful job of bringing the characters to life and conveying their personalities through her narration.

If you want to curl up and listen or read a good cosy mystery, with great wit and wonderful characters this is the book for you.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

I love murder mysteries set in sleepy towns and this was no exception. Berit Gardner is an author who recently moved to Great Diddling, a town dependent on tourist traffic and the few locals. While attending her first event and meeting the locals, someone is murdered! Berit gets involved in investigating and attempting to solve the murder. All of the characters were interesting and distinct, I liked getting to know all the townspeople. I don’t normally like multiple POVs but I thought it was well done and provided a lot of information here. The setting was immersive and was a great addition to the cozy vibes. The narrator did a great job bringing the cast of characters to life. I thought the story had great moments of comedy and I enjoyed the mystery as well. I was guessing until the very end

This book isn’t my usual genre but I love similar movies and tv shows and decided to read The Murders in Great Diddling. (Yes the double entendre is mentioned) Overall this was an amusing and quaint murder mystery. It felt very much like an extended episode of Midsomer Murders(which was referred to in the book) or perhaps a Hallmark murder mystery. I enjoyed that it was about someone writing a book, that added a reason and rationale for her curiosity to be indulged. The characters varied between interesting and one dimensional but it didn’t bother me. I loved the found family aspect of this book, I wasn’t expecting that and it was a pleasant surprise. The gory details of the murders are vague so you should be safe with this murder mystery even if you’re slightly squeamish. To me the book lacked much suspense which is the reason for 4 stars.

I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narrator. She was able to differentiate character voices without pulling me out of the story. My favorite event in the book was the book festival that occurred. I loved the idea of spending a weekend reading and getting to know fellow readers. I would absolutely attend a festival like that! This would be a lovely book to spend a rainy weekend reading while curled up with a cup of tea.

This was a fun little mystery- exactly what I was hoping for when I read the blurb and saw the cover. Quite perfectly narrated it had such charm. Was it mind-blowing? No, but that’s not what I expected picking it up. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC, my opinions are my own.

Living in the village of Great Diddling, Berit Gardner is a well known author suffering from writers block. When an explosion murders one of the villages leading citizens she is drawn like a moth to a flame to discover who-dun-it. This happenstance must surely help cure her writers block and Berit jumps in feet first. Filled with a cast of funny quirky folk Berit cannot but help herself from interviewing the villagers, drawing conclusions and putting her nose in the case despite the request of the local police to keep out of it and let them do their job. This was a fun cozy read that I enjoyed. I especially liked that is a book about books. 3 stars.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Dreamscape Media for a chance to listen/read an ARC audio version of this book.

A small village on the coast of Cornwall is the setting for a new cozy mystery series. Berit Gardner, an author herself, has come to Great Diddling to get away (and to write). Her agent sends her daughter, Sally, to Berit to be her new assistant (and to keep an eye on the writing process.) Berit, and the whole town, have been invited to a tea party at the estate of Daphne Trent. The town is quite unhappy with her nephew, Reginald, a London financier, who has pulled out of his business deals with a number of Great Diddling's inhabitants. It comes as no surprise when Reginald is murdered, literally blown up at the tea party. Berit decides she must figure out who is to blame. She makes a deal with DI Ian Ahmed to share information, but promises him to stay out of the official investigation. The motive will surprise and confound and luckily this is not the end of Berit. The village of Great Diddling is full of a wonderful cast of characters that are sure to make this new series a hit.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape for this audio e-arc.*

This was a cozy murder mystery with all the feels and excitement that you would find in any from this genre. There wasn’t anything that really stuck out or made this a must read for me. The story was still good and the characters were quirky and at times dense like you see in these stories.

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
The Murders in Great Diddling by Katarina Bivald
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 424 / Genre: Cozy Mystery
Audiobook Narrator: Helen Lloyd
Duration: 13 hours 30 minutes

Swedish-born author Berit moves to a quaint village in Cornwall in hopes of breaking a terrible case of writer’s block. Soon after moving in, she’s invited to a tea party, which ends in murder. Her curious instincts as an author lead her to conduct her own investigation while the rest of the village decide to make murder their “thing.” In an effort to revitalize their tourist appeal, they host a book festival honoring murder mysteries.

A cozy mystery in a town full of book lovers? I’m in! I really enjoyed this story, the setting, and the characters. I listened to the audiobook on this one and Helen Lloyd did a great job narrating.

The Murders in Great Diddling comes out tomorrow!

Thank you, @NetGalley, @PoisonedPenPress, @Dreamscape_Media, and @KatarinaBivald for my gifted copies.

This was fantastic! It has the interesting characters and charm of the Thursday Murder Club with the sophistication and engagement of a classic Golden Age mystery. I adored all the ways in which books were used.

I enjoyed this one! This had an intriguing cast of characters and an interesting storyline. The narration was fun to listen to and engaging. Definitely recommend if you like “cozy” mysteries!

'The Murders in Great Diddling' is a murder mystery, set with a literary backdrop. A classic instance where an author residing in a small town sticks her nose into a murder investigation, with a large cast of quirky characters make 'The Murders in Great Diddling' memorable. A highlight for me is that cast of characters, Bivald brings to life, exploring motives and personalities for a broad array of villagers. I also really enjoyed the literary references sprinkled throughout, cheering when my personal favorites got a mention.

I struggled a bit with the pacing, I can't quite put my finger on what wasn't working for me. The mystery made sense, and had enough twists and turns to keep you interested, It just felt like it took a long time to move the plot forward.

I was lucky enough to review this book in audio format. I enjoyed Helen Llyod's narration. Her use of varying voices and accents made it easy to follow a large cast of characters.

Thank you to Katrina Bivald and Dreamscape Media for the ARC in exchange for an honest review of 'The Murders in Great Diddling.'

My thanks for the audiobook ARC from NetGalley and Dreamscape Media. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Mystery
Language: Some profanity scattered throughout

I loved the dynamic between the author and the assistant. The small town dynamics were also fun. It was great to see how many people held secrets. The reveals were awesome!

I had the feeling this was going to be a cozy mystery, and it almost is—except for some swearing. It still has the mechanics of the non-professional sleuth working on the mystery, a cast of characters with quirks, and lots of fun.

Tell me what you think when you read this book.

Happy reading!

Rating: 3.5

A writer with writer’s block, a couple of murders, and a book festival in a small village in need of tourists

This story is not a quick cozy mystery resolved in a couple hundred pages, no, this is an intricate and intertwined story of murder, mystery, villagers coming together, and the how a writer overcomes writer’s block to write…a cozy mystery.

It seemed to me to lean more mystery thriller with a cozy tone. The prologue sets the stage. What’s it like to be so disliked that a village capitalizes on your death within a couple of weeks.

Book lovers would love all of the wonderful references. I really enjoyed the characters, though some times it felt like too many, because they were not the typical ones you’d find in cozy-ish mysteries. They were not all sunshine and light. The story while interesting and intriguing, is a slow burn. At one point, I thought I was almost done but I hadn’t gotten half way through.

Thinking through other book series, another thing that sets this one apart is that depth of the character backstories. In others, it is dripped through the series where here it is all presented, which also adds to the number of pages and slow burn. Once this was accepted, settled back for the ride. We got to see the characters evolve in this story instead of waiting for future books.

Books are at the center of this story and I loved it. Berit’s need to write the next one in her series. Daphne’s love of them so much she has them all over her home. The book festival the village puts together. The references and quotes to many authors and books. The discord between Daphne and Reginald over the family home being overrun with books. The attempted theft of books. And so on. It was wonderful.

I appreciate the author’s depth in the story but it did feel a bit long. I found that I had to go back over pages because I’d lost track of the plot when I put it down for a break. Despite this, I wanted to know who did it, not so much for justice for Reginald but more for how they managed to pull it off.

A good long read with lots of fun characters and a couple of murders to boot.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #PoisonedPenPress for the opportunity to read and share my thoughts on the story.
Happy Reading!

'The Murders in Great Diddling' is a cozy mystery book that includes lots and lots of books and many book lovers.

The mystery was nicely handled, with many twists, and a nice setting that worked to the story's advantage. The interesting set of characters also aided the plot a lot, as it wasn't easy to pinpoint who was the culprit.

However, I do have to point out that I would have wanted more involvement of the main character, the prestigious author was set out to solve the mystery. She was an entertaining character and she had a strong presence in the first part of the book and the ending chapters, but she kind of vanished in the middle part.

Still, the switching of POVs was smooth and one of the best that I've read so far.

Berit is in desperate need of a story idea for her next book, and with a deadline looming, she decides to write about the mysterious, decrepit village of Great Diddling. Then, while visiting the village, an explosion kills a local and just like that, Berit is part of the story. The characters in this book are eccentric and charming, almost as charming as this lovely book, which is guaranteed to make you forget your bad day

I had just finished Death Comes to Marlow and I was thinking "I wish I had something to read that would keep these vibes going." Then The Murders in Great Diddling dropped in my inbox. Berit Gardner is another eccentric, brusque, resident of a small village plagued with incomprehensible murders. Along with a large cast of characters, she attempts to solve the murder and get over her writers block.

There is something very Murder, She Wrote about Berit Gardner, but J.B. Fletcher's huge list of friends and acquaintances is introduced very slowly. It was difficult early on to keep all of the characters straight because they appear pretty rapid fire.

I, a sucker for books about books, loved the subplot about a hastily arranged book festival and I found the characters very charming.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.