Review: "The Murders in Great Diddling," Katarina Bivald

 

By Liz Soares

Berit Gardner has writer’s block. Her agent is hounding her to write another successful novel, but she is bereft of ideas. Berit moves to Little Diddling, a rather rundown village in Cornwall, in hopes of a fresh start and inspiration.

She is not disappointed.

Berit loves her new home, Wisteria Cottage. The village seems filled with interesting characters. She feels the stirrings of a book…But the real excitement starts at a tea party at the local manor house. There’s an explosion—and the heir to the family fortune is killed.

Detective Chief Inspector Ian Ahmed is soon on the scene, but Berit runs an investigation on her own.

The dead man is Reginald Trent. He was threatening to sell several properties in the village, which would close down several business. So he has a lot of enemies. Plus, he seemed to be having money troubles. Who is this strange man, Gerald Corduroy-Smith, who Trent seemed to have dealings with? Could that really be his name?

Reginald’s aunt, Daphne Trent, is the eccentric lady of the manor. The estate is overflowing with books—and some of them could be quite valuable. She and Reginald did not get along.

Sima Kumar, village leader, wants to capitalize on the murder to draw tourists to the village. She conceives of a literary festival to attract visitors. Sima is polished and accomplished, but she had a relationship at one point with Reginald—a relationship she doesn’t want to talk about.

Then there are Mary and Eleanor Hartfield, the elderly sisters who run the village bakery. Their scones are tasty, but what did they do before they came to Great Diddling?

This warmly written mystery features a likable cast of characters and lots of humor. The literary festival, with its panel of fake authors (no real ones would come) and its “reading day” in which all the participants sit around with books from Daphne’s collection, is both charming and laugh-out-loud funny.

Berit plays an important role in solving the mystery, and yes, gets her mojo back. I was happy for her, but rather sad to be leaving Great Diddling.