MURDER FEST
Pearl’s detective agency takes a back seat as she prepares to offer a warm welcome to a group of special visitors. A local Arts Festival is being held to honour a cultural exchange visit from representatives of Borken – Whitstable’s Twin Town in Germany.
Yet very soon, personality clashes surface among the participants; local politicians try to use the festival for their own ends while others jostle for improved billing on the festival programme. Tempers flare, old feuds re-surface and on the eve of the first event, a cryptic message – Murder Fest – is received by the local police. Before DCI Mike McGuire has a chance to investigate, the festival commences with an unscheduled event when a celebrated author is found brutally murdered . . .
Soon the only ‘Arts’ on display are dark ones, as Whitstable’s celebration of local culture transforms into a real-life murder fest – offering Whitstable’s Pearl Nolan another mystery to solve.
ISBN: 978-1472130082
Publication date: 9th May 2019
Page count: 304
Imprint: Constable
Reviews
Murder Fest
When a celebrated author is murdered just as a local arts festival gets going, the folk of Whitstable are aghast.
But Pearl Nolan, who runs a detective agency in the Kent seaside town, knows how competitive – and unsavoury – some of the other participants are. Although surely not so ruthlessly ambitious that they would kill for it?
Will DCI Mike McGuire solve the crime? Or admit defeat and ask Pearl to help?
I adore the cosy crime genre – you get all the thrills without any of the gore
Murder Fest
This is another outing for Pearl Nolan, amateur sleuth and gastronome. This time a delegation has arrived from Borken, in North Rhine Westphalia, a town twinned with Whitstable (as it is in real life!).
Great festivities have been organised to welcome the group, an evening of scrumptious delicacies highlighting the wonderful array of locally sourced food (don’t forget that Pearl owns the Whitstable Pearl, a high quality restaurant); and after all, Whitstable is well known for being a foodie heaven (as much as a pretty town with no shopping/café chains and it even still has a sewing machine shop!).
There is much partying but inevitably there is a going to be a body (or two) along the way. Blake Cain – successfully published author B J Cain no less – is the victim. But quite why he has been targeted is unclear. He seems to have been slain quite ritualistically, with orchestrated music playing in the background, only his legs bound… Pearl, of course, is soon on the case hunting down clues and bringing the perpetrator to justice.
The Pearl Nolan mystery series is a wonderful way to explore Whitstable and environs through fiction. The author is clearly proud of where she lives and that comes through so clearly in her writing. If you love cosy mysteries, then get acquainted with Pearl (and her mum and her cats!) and enjoy a trip to Whitstable through the eyes of this very convincing author.
Murder Fest
‘Proves, yet again, she’s mistress of her craft.’
Murder Fest
This is the best book of the series so far as not only have you got brilliant descriptions of the area but now also the clothes they are wearing so you can now have a picture in your head about all that is wonderful in Whitstable. The murder kept you guessing until the end, very well written as I did not even think about that person. Even though there was a lot going on it all flowed along really nicely. I just love Dolly and Pearl, what a pair of characters, all we need now is a walk round town to see where they live and the places in the books. Their houses sound so quaint and pretty. Brilliant work from Julie Wassmer and could you hurry up with the next one please.
Murder Fest
The tang of sea air and shellfish is all-pervasive.
In Julie Wassmer’s latest mystery, set in her home town of Whitstable in Kent, a leading writer lined up for the literary festival is found with a dagger through his throat.
It falls to Pearl Nolan, a restaurateur who also runs a one-woman detective agency, to identify the killer.
Pearl is having an on-off affair with a rising star of the local constabulary, who has to be persuaded that her assistance is essential to the case.
Along with a collection of wonderfully eccentric suspects comes the bonus of the recipes for dishes served in Pearl’s harbour-front restaurant. Inspired by the Golden Age crime writers, Wassmer gives us a delectably fresh take on a familiar format.
Murder Fest
‘As light as a Mary Berry Victoria sponge, this Middle-England romp is packed with vivid characters’
Murder Fest
‘Thoroughly enjoyable with a host of wonderful characters – I adore Dolly! – and evocative descriptions of Whitstable. Perfect for foodies too. Pearl is great and the ongoing will they/won’t they love story with McGuire is compelling. Comforting, cosy and entertaining with excellent Agatha Christie-style reveals. I love these books!’