Review: Murder at the Cornish Book Club
Back in April, I wrote about the first book in the Maddie Penrose series Murder at a Cornish Teashop. The second book featuring Maddie and her grandmother Nor has been released and it gets a bit meta as it revolves around a death within Nor's book club group.
The book club members include local bookshop owner Quentin, his wife Rowena (both an academic and a pagan), William (a lobster fisherman who loves the classics), Suki (an romance novelist), antique store owner Harry, his wife Gwen whose acting career is featured almost every week on the BBC, plus Julia and Marge and Celia and... you get the idea. In just four pages, there is one less member in the book club.
As I had wished for in my review of the first Maddie Penrose book, we get more about Nor and DI Tom Trevelyn in this newest installment. I'm still hoping for more about Roger, the bartender at the Two Pelicans pub. Maybe in the third book?
Maddie still has the habit of making lists on bits of blank space in her grandmother's recipe book (this time on the cheese scone recipe page). I get the need for the lists, but why does it have to be in the book that contains all of the recipes needed for the tea shop? Is there nothing else available to write on? Couldn't Maddie buy herself a pocket notebook or even just use the notes app on her phone? I just don't get it.
As can happen with the second book in a series, the plot in this one is tighter, partly because there is less exposition to deal with. The action is paced well and readers are provided with just enough information to understand what Maddie (and Tom) are thinking.
I also enjoyed the commentary on publishing throughout this book. Why are some genres considered "better" than others? How do you define authorship? In an age of AI and LLMs, it is a topic we will discuss and deliberate more and more as time goes on.
4 lattes out of 5
SIDE NOTE: This is the second time I've reviewed more than one book in a series and I'm wondering if it's something I should continue. I'm considering a different type of posts for these types of books: a way to share that a new book in the series is available and maybe just a peek at the new story line.
Disclaimer: This eARC was provided by Bookouture via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
