The Poison Pen Letters is book 2 in Fiona Walker’s The Village Detectives series, a cozy mystery series featuring a group of amateur sleuths in the village of Inkbury in England.
Phoebe, an author and one of the members of the Village Detectives, receives a notice of her own death, followed soon after by the death of her postman while delivering a package to her. Juno, another member of the Village Detectives, is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, with the assistance of the other members, Felix and Mils.
I found the book a bit confusing at first, not having read the first in the series, but I was soon caught up on all the characters and their relationships, so if you haven’t read the first book I think you’ll be okay jumping into this one. The mystery itself is self contained, so in that aspect the book may be read as a standalone.
The mystery was interesting, especially as it came out that Phoebe had a bit of a mysterious past and we learned more about that past as the story progressed.
As usual in a cozy mystery, there are a number of suspects, and quirky characters (personally I loved Juno’s mom and her fiance, Dennis), and lots of red herrings to confuse the reader. I really enjoyed the relationships between the characters in the book. I especially found the relationship between Felix and Phoebe to be realistic since it was not always perfect and rosy.
Getting to know the characters in this book has made me want to go back to read the previous book in the series, and I will be looking to see what the Village Detectives are up to in the next book. I think anyone who enjoys a good cozy mystery will enjoy reading The Poison Pen Letters.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The Poison Pen Letters publishes on November 8 2024.
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