I really enjoyed A St Ives Christmas Mystery. It had interesting characters and a lovely setting. It was slightly darker than I imagined from the description but still enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Allison & Busby for my ARC.

Christmas theme. Tick! Mystery. Tick! Setting. Tick! I could go on but I can certainly say this book had everything I like in a good cosy Christmas mystery read. When Merrin McKenzie returns to St Ives for a change of pace she doesn't expect to come across a dead body in her new job as a cleaner.

I love teh characters in this book and the mystery of the dead man is written wonderfully. The author weaves a tale you can get stuck into and with the flow of the story it will take you no time at all to read this wonderful book. I love the wonderful descriptiveness of the setting and the suspense. It is a great read and I want to read more now.

Thank you NetGalley and Allison & Busby for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

"Something sinister is hiding beneath the festive surface of this charming seaside town"


When tragedy brings widow Merrin McKenzie back to live in St Ives from her current home in Bristol, leaving her young adult daughter Isla to complete her studies at Oxford, she knows adjusting might take time, even with the comfort of Christmas back in her hometown. Stepping back from her career as a solicitor, she agrees to clean holiday rentals for her friends who own two cottages nearby, after their change-over person had let them down at the last minute. The couple also own a restaurant business in the town, which means they are always short of time, especially with the Christmas rush just around the corner. Not fond of housekeeping at the best of times, Merrin anticipates dirty laundry and sandy floors, but on her first day, she didn't sign up for a dead body, neatly tucked up in the guest bedroom of one of the cottages.

When Inspector Louis Peppiatt is called in to investigate, he at first questions why a fifty-something woman is so calm and collected about her discovery, or why she is quite so forthright and in his eyes, interfering with her constant questions and suggestions, even insinuating at one point that she might be implicated as a suspect in the person's demise. It isn't until much later that Louis will realise exactly who this formidable and determined woman is, and her excellent credentials for offering her help and services in an investigation which is much more complex than he had at first thought and which quickly turns more ugly and dangerous than he could have imagined, with multiple violent crimes involved. Something sinister is hiding beneath the festive surface of this charming seaside town and as the case unfolds, a dark side to the beautiful Cornish coast emerges, steeped in the history and lore of the past.

The reverberations of Merrin's discovery also echo far beyond this small Cornish town and ultimately involve police forces from several different and geographically diverse authorities. They also reach out as far as Oxford, to include Isla and her friend Maggie, which directly affects not only their University placements, but their off-campus living arrangements too. At first Isla is despairing of her mother's involvement with the investigation, as she was never in favour of her having sold up and moved out of the family home quite so soon anyway. However, once the facts surrounding the case become clearer and Isla realises that her own and definitely Maggie's safety is under threat, she is only too keen to have Merrin work alongside Louis to help uncover the perpetrators and see them brought to justice.

It is down to the wire as to whether Christmas is going to pass Louis and his team, or Merrin and her family and friends by, or if there is any hope that the season of goodwill might herald in an altogether better New Year for them all!

...

Oh My Goodness! This is definitely a new cosy series I shall be following avidly, with not too long to wait, as I see that episode #2 is due out later in 2025.

Deborah Fowler is an author who definitely knows how to weave an excellent storyline, full of many threads and replete with plenty of sneaky twists and turns along the way. Whilst I might have needed to suspend belief just a little at the many coincidences which came together so neatly to solve the case, the dots took a very convoluted route to join and complete the circle, but come together they did, and in the most satisfactory of ways. Cornwall also has a rich, well-documented history and rather dubious claim to fame, when it comes to pirates smuggling contraband into the country completely under the radar, so to have this theme brought bang up to date, made for a satisfying read, in a storyline which was face-paced and ever-changing, presented in well proportioned and sharply focused chapters.

Alongside the many crimes which were tangled in this web of lies and deceit, there was a profusion of characters, who, love or loathe them (and there was plenty of opportunity for both), were all relatable, even if I did connect with some of them more easily than others. Coercive control was also one of the important themes of the book, together with grief, the vulnerabilities of adults who have difficulties communicating, and friendships both new and those re-kindled.

I have come to the conclusion that all 'armchair detectives' tend to be female and of a certain age, with Merrin McKenzie being no exception. They all manage to rub their respective police forces up the wrong way, with their ability to spot clues which are often obvious, yet over-looked, as well as having the knack of wheedling information out of both potential witnesses and suspects, without them even realising it. This love/hate relationship between amateur sleuth and a police contact who is usually male, single and 'damaged', tends to blossom into mutual respect and friendship quite quickly, although with Merrin's grief still fairly new and raw, I shall be interested to see the development of the characters and their relationship, going forward. Peppiatt is at the stage where he is probably ready to move on in his private life, with the inherent complications and complexities having been all but ironed out, but will Merrin want to take the risk of being hurt again by the dangers of the job, or risk upsetting Isla who is far from ready for a new male influence in her life?

The author also writes with authority and personal experience about real, named locations she knows well and that they happen to be in Cornwall, one of my most favourite parts of the UK, is all the better. Whilst descriptions of individual sites are kept fairy low-key in their description, there is more than enough detail to offer a genuine 'feel' for them, evoking a good sense of time and place. She has also wonderfully captured the uniqueness of the Cornish people, in their imagined appearance, words, turns of phrase and deeds. I could almost imagine myself sitting on a bench at the seafront in St Ives, with my fish and chips from Clara's place, trying to shield them from the thieving beaks of the persistent and ever-hungry seagulls, whilst passing the time of day with one or two of the locals. And all that before moving on to enjoy a pleasant few hours browsing the culture on offer in the wonderful 'The Tate St Ives'!

My first cosy mystery of 2025 and it couldn't have been a more fulfilling distraction, just what I need right now!

I enjoyed this book. The characters are well rounded and the story flows well. The setting is well described and appealing . I think this book will appeal to fans of cosy murder mysteries. I hope this is the beginning of a series as I would read the next one.

A very enjoyable read revolving around a newly widowed mother restarting her life in her home town, with mysterious deaths that she becomes involved i. Solving together with the local police. Characters are created fully with backgrounds., and the linking of information and clues is done well.
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Deborah Fowler’s A St Ives Christmas Mystery combines the charm of a Cornish Christmas with the intrigue of a cosy murder mystery, making it a promising start to a new series. Merrin McKenzie, recently widowed and seeking solace, returns to her picturesque hometown of St Ives, but her attempt at a fresh start quickly takes a sinister turn when she discovers a young man’s body in a holiday rental. The novel weaves a compelling mix of personal tragedy, small-town charm, and unsettling secrets, with Merrin thrust into a web of coincidences that lead her to uncover a darker side of her idyllic seaside town.

While the story develops at a gradual pace, it allows for rich character exploration, particularly Merrin’s journey of adjustment and grief. The beautifully detailed descriptions of St Ives provide a vivid and atmospheric backdrop, transporting readers to the wintry Cornish coast. Though some may find the pacing slow or certain characters less than engaging, others will appreciate the layered approach to building suspense and the interplay between Merrin’s amateur sleuthing and the local police’s investigation. With themes of loss, resilience, and the hidden complexities of seemingly tranquil communities, A St Ives Christmas Mystery delivers a thoughtful and atmospheric read.

A St Ives Christmas is a well written cozy mystery. I enjoyed the plot and setting. Cozy mystery fans will enjoy this book. I received an advance ebook from the publisher and Netgalley. This is my unbiased review.

This is the first book I’ve read by author Deborah Fowler, but it won’t be the last. With likeable and interesting main characters, good supporting cast (including a parrot and a dog), and an interesting plot made this a great first entry. Looking forward to more from this author!

A cozy crime tale, St Ives Christmas Mystery (2024) by Deborah Fowler is the first book of a new mystery series. After her husband, a policeman was killed on duty, Merrin McKenzie quits her legal practice and moves back to her childhood hometown of St Ives - on the West Cornish coastline. Reuniting with her old friend, Merrin agrees temporarily to clean her two holiday cottages, only to discover a dead body in one. A surprisingly integrated mystery unfolds with the disappearance of a local teenager and the death of a fisherman years earlier. A delightful read and police procedural, with its well-rounded characters and easily flowing narrative that is a four stars rating. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without any inducement. With thanks to Allison & Busby publishers and the author, for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes.

2.75 stars rounded up. If you like your cosy mysteries and accept the quirks of the genre (amateur sleuth, police divulging details they never would in real life, coincidences, etc), then you’ll probably love this. For me, it just felt a bit… I don’t know, I got major “debut writer” vibes from this, and yet the author has clearly published a lot. The tone of voice was quite newbie for me - that slightly prim and correct style of writing, rarely using contractions so speech sounds a bit stilted (like most people would say “I’d rather”, but here it would be “I would rather”. And a lot of “telling” rather than “showing” the reader. You could drown in the cojncidences here (Merrin seeming to always find the clues for the police, and the whole Oxford bit full stop (seriously, what are the odds of all that?). The over repetition of Clara calling Merrin “darling Pearl” virtually every time, and Jack calling her “my maid” over and over… yes, we got the message of CORNWALL, loud and clear thanks.

As I said, if you like your cosy mysteries - especially the fluffy amateur sleuth end of the range - you’ll probably love this. I’m not sure it’s a series I’d continue with myself at the moment though, given how many books I have on my TBR pile.

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

Less Than Cosy..
Tragic circumstances bring Merrin MacKenzie back to St Ives in Cornwall - but with Christmas on the horizon she foresees some cosy creature comforts ahead, even given her situation in what is, after all, her hometown. What she did not foresee was her discovery of a very dead body in a local holiday cottage. As the case gathers pace, it becomes clear that something less than cosy is afoot in St Ives. A solid and well paced mystery with a well crafted cast of characters and a beautifully depicted backdrop. The next in the series will be well anticipated.

"A St Ives Christmas Mystery" is a cozy mystery set in England. The main characters were likable and interesting. Merrin was a solicitor and married a policeman, so she understood legal issues as well as thought things out (rather than making random guesses). She often came across clues that she passed on to the detective on the case, Louis. They worked well together, but Louis often felt like Merrin was making connections that weren't there...so she sometimes felt like she needed to get further proof. Louis and the police did most of the investigating, and we also follow that investigation.

This was a clue-based mystery that can be puzzled out, though generally Louis and Merrin came to the correct conclusions as fast as the reader could. There was no sex. There was some bad language (with about a third of that being British bad language). Overall, I'd recommend this interesting mystery.

I received an ebook review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

A St Ives Christmas Mystery is the first book in a new cozy mystery series. The pace here is somewhat slow, more character than action driven as the story builds gradually an we get to know the characters who are all new since it's a new story, The setting is lovely and beautifully described, An enjoyable start. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This story introduces Merrin McKenzie, a lawyer whose police officer husband is stabbed and killed at the beginning of the story. The story moves forwards 7 months and Merrin has moved back to St Ives, where she grew up. He friend Clara asks her to help out by standing on for her missing cleaner by cleaning her holiday lets. Merrin is probably the world's worst cleaner but she agrees to help. Then, she stumbles across a body whilst cleaning and finds herself suspected of murder by Inspector Pepplatt. Eventually, the real story emerges with a satisfying conclusion. As a Cornish resident, I really enjoyed the descriptions of the St Ives area and I also found the characters enjoyable and, in most cases likeable. This was a pleasant, easy read and I'm looking forward to Merrin's future adventures.

Merrin is home following a tragedy, and for the time being, she’s taking time off from her career as an attorney to help some friends ready some holiday cottages for rental. Instead of finding a messy house, she finds a body. This is a lovely holiday mystery set on the coast of Cornwall

Thank you NetGalley and Allison & Busby Limited for a copy of "A St. Ives Christmas Mystery" in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was the first book in what I hope will be a very long series! It hooked me from the first page with the interesting characters, descriptive setting and scenery. The story starts and ends on April 12th - one year apart. In Bristol on April 12th Merrin McKenzie experiences the worst day of her life. Her beloved husband Chief Inspector Adam McKenzie has been stabbed and does not make it.

Seven months later Merrin has moved back to her childhood home of St. Ives with Horatio the rescue African Grey Parrot with a serious attitude problem. Merrin and Adam had met in college where they both read law. Adam went onto the police force and Merrin into family law. They have one daughter named Isla who is studying at Oxford.

Clara ropes Merrin into helping her clean their holiday lets because their cleaner left without notice. Clara and her husband Tristan own a busy restaurant that takes up all their time. While cleaning one of the cottages, Merrin finds a dead young man. After calling 999 Merrin stays with the young lad. When Inspector Louis Peppiatt arrives he thinks Merrin is a suspect because he thinks she tucked him in and finds it odd that she sat with him.

Clara takes advantage of her friendship with Merrin again when she sticks her in as a waitress at the restaurant. She also shows up with William - "the ugliest dog in the world" - who is an absolutely adorable character. Merrin quickly bonds with this odd dog and even Horatio takes to him immediately.

Isla thinks there is a link between the dead lad and her landlady's missing nephew. So many questions: why didn't the aunt report James missing? Why is she so angry when Isla tried to help? And why so reluctant to give DNA? What is the landlady hiding - it becomes a huge piece in this complicated puzzle.

There is also an interesting link with a fisherman who washed up 3 years ago with the exact same injuries and cause of death as young James. We also have the cleaner who reappears and is rather unfriendly and hostile. Leading Merrin to believe that she might have known James.

When another body turns up, suspicion falls on Steve Matthews who drives a van for a shady character named Rick, but everyone believes in his innocence. Enough so that Merrin agrees to be his solicitor pro bono.

As all the pieces fall into place, Inspector Peppiatt places himself in great danger to save an innocent. As everyone gathers with their loved ones for Christmas, all the stories come out and everything wraps up neatly.

The story ends on April 12th, the first anniversary of Adam's death. Merrin has fit back into the St. Ives community, she has Horatio and William and hopefully many more stories and adventures in the future. Easily my favourite new series of the year.

Cozy mystery!

Merrin McKenzie remembers the day her husband Adam died. It was an ordinary morning beginning with toast and coffee. Then the telephone call! Her beloved husband has been killed, slain by an efficiently wielded knife attack.
Months later and Merrin has sold their family home in Oxford and moved back to the lovely village she grew up in, St Ives.
Helping out her friend Clara, Merrin who doesn’t clean’, has been persuaded to help out with the ‘changeover’ cleaning for a couple of Bed and Breakfasts Cara owns.
Only one contains the body of a young man laid out peacefully on the bed. Bizarre!
Next there’s police involvement, and a somewhat tenuous clue of her daughter’s land lady’s nephew being missing!
The tale flowed along at just the right pace. An enjoyable read.

An Allison & Busby ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

widow, lawyers, new-series, cozy-crime, friends, friendship, drugs-issues, drug-trafficking, smuggling, coercive-control, Cornish-coast, amateur-sleuth, local-law-enforcement, local-gossip, lobstering, local-history, cafe, cooks, holiday-homes, due-diligence, felons, families, family-business, family-drama, family-dynamics*****

Fifty-four year old family solicitor Merrin McKenzie was recently widowed when husband CI McKenzie was killed on the job. She just can't face staying in her empty house and consoling friends what with her daughter Isla up at university. She and her African Grey Parrot (Horatio) move house back to St Ives where she grew up. There she reconnects with childhood friends who help her to acclimate as well as asking her to do some housekeeping tasks at the Holiday house they rent. And blessing her with a very odd doggo (William) whose owner had a stroke. After finding the first body she meets with Inspector Louis Peppiatt (who eventually becomes a friend) as well as a constable nearing retirement who remembers her from school days. It isn't until the second body that she is introduced to the Border Force and the local courts. This is a new series and I hope to read everything this author brings out!
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected proof copy from Allison & Busby via NetGalley. Thank you! Avail NOW
##AStIvesChristmasMystery by Deborah Fowler #NetGalley @AllisonandBusby #CozyCrime #NewSeries

I was looking forward to this Christmas read.

The protagonist, Merrin, who is a lawyer, decides to sell her home in Bristol and move back to St Ives, where she grew up. I tried really hard to like her & her pets, but failed. For me, the storyline at times loses its way and I was struggling to continue. The book has interesting and uninteresting characters. I did enjoy the character of Cara Tregonning, Merrin’s school friend. Cara’s character was full of humour throughout the book. The writing style was not for me but the description of St Ives was atmospheric and enjoyable.

I give a 3 star rating as the book was not for me. I would recommend to friends

MY THANKS TO NETGALLEY FOR THE OPPORTUNITY OF READING AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW. ALL MY OPINIONS ARE MY OWN.

Moody, a little dark and plenty of atmosphere make this an enjoyable Christmas mystery. If you are looking for the usual holiday tropes, this book is not for you.