3 out of 5 stars.
I would like to thank Wisheart Press for providing me with a free ARC of this book, via Netgalley, in exchange for an open and honest review.
‘A Scone to Die For’ is a good start to potentially another great cosy crime series. Yes it suffered from the first book jitters, and I felt some of the characters (including the one who “done it”) weren’t describe that well until just before the big reveal, so didn’t fit into image I’d conjured up… but I can forgive Ms Hanna for that as it was still a good read all the same.
And yes, yes it did seem like I was playing “how British can you be” bingo at the beginning due to all the slang, local places and foods poured on top of the reader… but again, this is just the author trying to get a new series established and I can accept that sort of thing in a first book. If it’s still happening by book three… well, then we need to talk!
As a fan of Morse, Midsomer, Lewis on the TV and Inspector Wexford, Dalziel and Pascoe and so on in the books… I was sure to enjoy the setting, story line and all around cosiness of this mystery – and it did not fail to deliver.
Well-paced, though a little scattered at times, and a good mix of believable, likable and engrossing characters. Great start to a series and I am curious to see where it goes from here.
Would I recommend this book to others?
Yes I would. See all the positives listed in my above review – they are why I would recommend ‘A Scone to Die For’ to lovers of the cosy crime the world over. This is up there with M. C. Beaton’s Agatha Raisin and then some. If you are a fan of those, you are going to enjoy this story too.
Would I buy this book for myself?
I am tempted, but me being me, could not commit myself to it until I had read more in the series. The potential is there to be a great bit of escapism into a world of cosy crime in Oxfordshire… and I am more than happy to hunt myself out the next book if I can just to see if I am right.
In summary: Good stand-alone first book of a series, potential to be a great series of must buy and reads for lovers of the midlands (UK) set cosy crimes. Definitely worth a read.
Until next time,
Janis.
Janis's Journal 