Blog Tour: May Day Murder by Julie Wassmer

Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for May Day Murder by Julie Wassmer. May Day Murder is the third book in the Whitstable Pearl Mysteries, a series of crime novels set in the charming coastal town of Whistable. Here are my thoughts on the latest addition:

Title: May Day Murder (Whistable Pearl Mysteries #3)
Author: Julie Wassmer
Published: April 7th 2016 by Constable

Blurb: It's springtime and Whitstable is emerging from hibernation.

While neither the restaurant nor detective agency is too busy, Pearl resolves to spend some time at the family allotment. But her best friend, Nathan, has persuaded one of his favourite actresses to open the May Day festivities at Whitstable Castle and involves Pearl in his plans.

Like Pearl, Faye Marlowe is a Whitstable native, but having left the town more than two decades ago, the star has been living in the South of France since her agent's phone stopped ringing. Charming but 'sensitive', she arrives with a small entourage and though her presence in the town causes a stir Pearl's mother Dolly remains unimpressed, choosing to remember Faye Marlow when she was plain old Frankie Murray, the daughter of a local whelk merchant.

Nathan soon realises he has made a mistake with this invitation and his doubts are confirmed when Faye is nowhere to be found on the morning of May Day. And as 'Jack in the Green' puts on his impressive costume to lead the parade, the actress's dead body is discovered - tethered to the maypole on the Castle grounds . . . and so it's left to Pearl and DCI Mike McGuire to unravel the mystery of the May Day murder.

*First of all I would like to thank the publishers for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review: After reading and enjoying the first two books in the series, I was excited to get my hands on the latest addition, May Day Murder. As usual, the star of the story is lovely Pearl, owner of a successful oyster restaurant turned private detective, her attention to detail and intuition never fail her and she soon finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation again. 

With the murder investigation, an old friend comes back to the picture, DCI Mike McGuire. His relationship with Pearl has gone from hot to cold several times already and he has been quite distant lately but, as with the previous stories, their chemistry is obvious. I was happy that in this installment, we get a bit more insight in their relationship and their feelings and I think there's a very interesting future ahead for these two. 

But the story in May Day Murder revolves around Faye Marlowe, an actress from Whitstable who left in her youth to become quite a famous actress. Now, she is back with all her secrets. I sensed that Faye had something to hide since the beginning, but I really couldn't put my finger on it. When her murder starts unraveling some of her secrets, just as Pearl and McGuire, I started collecting clues about what might have happened to her. I did have my suspicions but, as usual, the author managed to surprise me at the end.

Once more, Julie Wassmer has delivered an enjoyable and interesting story, set in the always charming town of Whitstable. If you enjoy cosy crime fiction and you still haven't picked this series, then you are missing out. I am already looking forward to more stories with Pearl and her lovely lot. 

Rating: 4 stars

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2 comentaris

  1. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my new book, May Day Murder, and giving it such an excellent review! I am thrilled that you enjoyed it, Alba, and very pleased to say that although the Whitstable Pearl Mystery series was originally going to be a trilogy (with May Day Murder the last book of the three) there will now be more books and I'm currently writing the fourth in series. So there will be much more mystery to come - and a chance to discover if Pearl and DCI Mike McGuire will finally end up together....Thanks to you, Alba, and to everyone who is reading my books. Julie Wassmer

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    1. Thanks for your kind words Julie. I'm happy to hear that there'll be more books, I certainly want to know if Pear and McGuire are really made for each other or not. In any case, I'm sure they'll manage to uncover some more mysteries.
      Alba x

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