Murder on the Menu
The first book in a NEW cosy mystery series!
Still spinning from the hustle and bustle of city life, Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker is glad to be back in the Cornish village she calls home. Having quit the Met Police in search of something less dangerous, the change of pace means she can finally start her dream catering company and raise her daughter, Daisy, somewhere safer.
But there’s nothing like having your first job back at home to be catering an ex-boyfriend’s wedding to remind you of just how small your village is. And when the bride, Cheryl, vanishes Jodie is drawn into the investigation, realising that life in the countryside might not be as quaint as she remembers…
With a missing bride on their hands, there is murder and mayhem around every corner but surely saving the day will be a piece of cake for this not-so-amateur sleuth?
Purchase Links
http://mybook.to/murderonthemenureveal
A Brush With Death
Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker is back!
When a body turned up at her last catering gig it certainly put people off the hor d’oeuvres. So with a reputation to salvage, Jodie’s determined that her next job for the village’s festival will go without a hitch.
But when chaos breaks out, Jodie Parker somehow always finds herself in the picture.
The body of a writer from the festival is discovered at the bottom of a cliff, and the prime suspect is the guest of honour, the esteemed painter Duncan Stovall. With her background in the Met police, Jodie has got solving cases down to a fine art and she knows things are rarely as they seem.
Can she find the killer before the village faces another brush with death?
Both these books can be read as standalones. They are humorous cosy mysteries with a British female sleuth in a small village, written in British English and with mild profanity and peril. Each book ncludes one of Jodie’s Tried and Tested Recipes!
My review
These two books are glorious! For me they’re exactly what cosy mysteries should be – character driven, lots of fun, a plausible plot, enough tension and red herrings to keep us on our toes, and an ending that’s satisfying, but still leaves wanting more in the series.
Jodie is a great heroine. She’s wonderfully human in being imperfect, has an engaging and energetic personality and comes over as a likeable, genuine, nice person. She has good relationships with her mother and daughter Daisy, although the former is definitely hard work at times! I love the repartee and teasing that goes on within the family: a warm, homely touch. She’s a dedicated divorced mum, and gave up her beloved job with the Met after an incident that left her daughter worrying every day that her mum might not come home. She’s thrown herself whole-heartedly into her new official career as a caterer, and also into her new unofficial one of amateur sleuth. She’s well qualified for both these roles, and her skills in all areas are called upon frequently.
The two novels are utterly delightful, both the sort of book that it’s so hard to put down once you’ve started reading. The humour is lively and witty, the pace of the writing is brisk and the plots are clever and well developed. You really do get sucked into the action and care about Jodie and her family.
I’m hoping this will turn into a nice long series!
Purchase Links
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brush-Death-Nosey-Parker-Mystery-ebook/dp/B08CTX44K5
US – https://www.amazon.com/Brush-Death-Nosey-Parker-Mystery-ebook/dp/B08CTX44K5
Author Bio
Fiona Leitch is a writer with a chequered past. She’s written for football and motoring magazines, DJ’ed at illegal raves and is a stalwart of the low budget TV commercial, even appearing as the Australasian face of a cleaning product called ‘Sod Off’. Her debut novel ‘Dead in Venice’ was published by Audible in 2018 as one of their Crime Grant finalists. After living in London, Hastings and Cornwall she’s finally settled in sunny New Zealand, where she enjoys scaring her cats by trying out dialogue on them. She spends her days dreaming of retiring to a crumbling Venetian palazzo, walking on the windswept beaches of West Auckland, and writing funny, flawed but awesome female characters.
Social media links
https://www.facebook.com/fiona.leitch.1/
https://www.instagram.com/leitchfiona/
I’m loving this series too!