A Body in the Village Hall: An Utterly Gripping Cozy Murder Mystery

A Kate Palmer Novel, Book 1

By: Dee MacDonald

Narrated by: Jane McDowell

Length: 7 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Kate Palmer has relocated to Cornwall for a quiet life. Moving into picturesque Lavender Cottage with her sister, Angie, the little village of Lower Tinworthy should be the perfect place for their fresh new start. But within weeks of their arrival, there’s a death in the close-knit community....

A woman is found dead in the village hall, with her own kitchen knife next to the body, covered in blood. Kate, a practice nurse at the local medical center, begins to piece together the clues. Fenella was at the center of village activity, and there seem to be plenty of people who had reason to dislike her. But did any of them hate her enough to kill her?

As Kate gets drawn into life in Lower Tinworthy, she begins a close friendship with Detective Inspector "Woody" Forrest, who is near to retiring - and determined to crack his last case. Together, they set about solving the mysterious crime.

But when someone breaks into Kate’s home and leaves a warning note on her pillow, it becomes clear the murderer is prepared to do anything to keep their identity hidden.... Will Kate work out who’s responsible before she becomes the next victim?

If you love murder mysteries by Agatha Christie, Faith Martin, or Joy Ellis, then this novel will have you listening late into the night!

©2020 Dee MacDonald (P)2020 Bookouture

Great cozy mystery

I like the main character and enjoyed this first book in the series. Narrator was good, but was a little stilted at times. I am hoping her narration flows more effortlessly in the next book, as I will definitely be listening to more of this series.

A simple who done it mystery

This story was easy listening, but not particularly gripping. This book was nice for a change of pace, but lacked the suspense of other mysteries.

Brilliant New Series!

If you like Betty Rowlands, especially her Melissa Craig series, then you'll like this first Kate Palmer book.

Kate is a different kind of sleuth: fun

I find I love the "cozy" series of books, and this new series is no different. Characters are unique and fun. The mystery is well-laid-out.

Even with 2 murders in the book, there is no horrible gore. The story is the characters' interactions and relationships.

Good fun, and a good read

I've read worse...

The main character is an "enabler" who constantly whines about alcoholic sister she lives with.

Characters grated on my nerves

Weak story, characters not believable, especially main female character. Her stupidity hard to take. will probably return.

Not worth the buy…

Not worth it. I knew who the murdered was easily… and I’d be fine with that if the book had a good character development or a good plot … this one has neither. Seems like the author just desperately wanted something published.
The narrator only makes it worse…but I don’t think it’s the narrator‘s fault, it’s just really hard to narrate this in any way emphasizing either the plot or the characters (although the American accent she put on for one of the characters was just so fake it made me put the speed up)
The setting is cliche but generally a good one for a murder mystery (a small village in England) - just VERY poorly executed. I’m sure a seasoned author could have made this into a good story with more in depth characters.

Mediocre Storyline & Characters, Narration is Bad.

This storyline and the characters are mediocre at best. I couldn’t care about any of the characters. Audiobook listeners: the narration, particularly when she tries to do an American accent, is hard to listen to. It’s truly awful and sounds robotic.

Suspense created through the heroine's stupidity

So disappointing. Another story about a man coming to the aid of a stupid female.

Dismally underwhelming...

worst American accent ever! overall she was a great narrator but that cop's voice was uncomfortable to listen to.....