Member Reviews

This was a nice, cozy little murder mystery that would be an amazing read on a rainy autumn day with a warm cup of tea. ☕️ I enjoyed the story overall, but I feel like I would’ve liked it more in a different setting—it's definitely not a summer read.

The book is set in a small village in the English countryside, filled with flawed and realistic residents. After an explosion, the residents of Great Diddling all become suspects in a murder. But there’s much more than just a killer being uncovered in this story. I loved that we got such a close view and background information on so many of the characters. It felt like being right there next to them, even though it got a bit confusing at times.

There were a lot of book references—the main character is a writer, there's a book and murder festival, a bookish scavenger hunt, and many other book-related activities. As a book lover myself, this was absolutely amusing.

I'm giving this book three stars right now because overall it was good, but it wasn't 100% up my alley. I think I might have found it more understandable if I had read the physical or ebook copy—even though the narrator was amazing, you need to give 100% of your attention to the audiobook to keep from getting lost in the story.

Thank you, NetGalley and Dreamscape Media, for providing me with this audiobook ARC! All opinions are my own.

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I'll have to give my final review after reading the physical copy. I was getting a little lost as an audiobook, but maybe having the book in front of me will help.. Final review to come later.

Overall, was interested in the premise and excited to finish what I started.

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Excellent narration of a book with many characters and a complex, entertaining plot. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the audiobook.

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I listened to this on audio book and the narrator was quite lovely -- great British accent and good voices. The story was a basic one -- someone gets killed, everyone hated him, and a Swedish author who had just moved to the village helps figure it out. To be honest it was perfectly pleasant but a bit dull. I didn't find the village characters that interesting or quirky so it kind of plodded along. A very nice cozy but I was hoping for something a little more stimulating. Sorry!

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This book looked to have everything I could want out of a cozy mystery read. There was a murder mystery but even better, it was a book about books. I loved the different ways that books were incorporated throughout the entire story from the author to book lovers to book collectors. That’s not all, though, there’s a book festival cobbled together in a short time frame. To be honest, at times, I forgot that this book was a murder mystery because there were so many tangents and back stories happening. I both enjoyed and struggled with this. I enjoyed it because of the love letter to book lovers feel; however, the mystery itself felt like an afterthought at times. Also, with all of the different direction the book went in, the pacing felt off and felt like it lost too much momentum at times. I will say, though, that the narrator for the audiobook was a delight and helped me to get through the story. Helen Lloyd was a superb choice to narrate this story and did well to get me invested in the different characters. If this book sounds up your alley, I would recommend reading it via audiobook.

Overall Rating: 3.5

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Author Berit Gardner moves to a small village called Great Diddling. she's avoiding her publisher while she tries to write her next book. With a deadline looming, Berit finds herself wrapped up in murders happening in the village.

I enjoyed listening to the audiobook version of this book. I found the storyline intriguing and engaging. The story is told in multiple POVs, but because its an audiobook, there were times I found it hard to follow as the book jumped from POV to POV and there weren't many pauses in between to recognize moving to a different POV. I did find the book to be a bit of a slow burn, but otherwise, I found this book to be fun.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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The Murders in Great Diddling by Katarina Bivald is absolutely my kind of contemporary cozy mystery with just the right amount of comedy. Reading the book was so much fin and the audiobook was absolutely brilliant!

I will preface this review with the fact that my attention was grabbed immediately by the title (that made me cackle out loud), the cuppa on the cover (tea is my main food group) and an author I had not come across before. It started strong and it just got better and better

Berit Gardner is having a bit of a time, not least a crippling writers block which is most unhelpgul in her vocattion as an author. Berit decides to up sticks and find inspo in a little village in Cornwall which was the epitome of English country favourites. This includes the obligatory village fete (bunting, fairy cakes, vegetable growing competitions, you know the type) however, at this fete, there is an almighty explosion and a most unalived individual

Berit wanted inspo and it was not so much as given, but deluged. However, a new covation is in sight, that of amateur sleuth and Berit has at it with much gusto!

I loved this book, I was giggling away, intrigued, cheering and growling, all in equal measure. The wrtiting flow is chipper and interesting, the characters brilliantly defined and the dialogue inspired. Brilliant!

Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, the author Katarina Bivald and narrator Helen Lloyd for this awesome ALC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

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