Hi, everyone!
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Mini Book Reviews for book #3, MURDER UNEARTHED and book #4, MURDER UNTIMELY in the Kat and Mouse Mysteries series by Anita Waller. I am catching up in this fabulous series because I have been allowed to read book #5 by Bloodhound Books before publication and will be sharing a blog post for that book shortly.
Below you will find book descriptions, my mini book reviews, the author’s bio and social media links. I love this cozy British mystery series! Enjoy!
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Book Description
Kat and Mouse are back in the latest instalment of the bestselling Kat and Mouse Murder Mystery Series!
When DI Tessa Marsden is called to a road traffic accident, she is disturbed by the crime scene she must investigate. She now has a double murder to contend with; two dead girls from the same village.
Realising the murders aren’t linked, Marsden summons the help of the Connection Investigation Agency, run by Kat, a church Deacon, Beth, (known affectionately as Mouse), a computer expert, and Doris, Beth’s feisty grandmother.
When it is discovered that one of the murdered girls was pregnant the case takes an unexpected turn.
Can DI Marsden, with the input of Kat and Mouse, solve the case before another body appears?
Meanwhile, the agency has been asked to track down the long lost son of Ewan Barker. Will Kat, Mouse and Doris find him and reunite him with his father?
This might just be their toughest investigation yet…
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Mini Book Review
MURDER UNEARTHED (Kat and Mouse Mysteries Book #3) by Anita Waller is another great addition to this series. This is a British cozy mystery series that is unlike any American cozy series that I have read, not just in the truly British turn of a phrase or word usage, but while it truly is a cozy, with the murder behind the scenes, it is still written in a gritty and realistic way. All of these books can be read as standalones, but I love reading them in order to keep track of the characters’ growth and continuing interactions.
All of the ladies of Connection, Kat, Mouse (Beth) and Nan (Doris) are wonderful characters that keep me returning for more adventures. I also enjoy the tie-in with the local police, DI Tessa Marsden and DS Hannah Granger. Ms. Waller gives you intricately plotted cases for the P.I.s and the police to solve separately and together. With two teenage girls missing on the same day, all of the ladies were very busy and I was quite satisfied with the solution.
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Book Description
Kat and Mouse are back in the latest instalment of the bestselling Kat and Mouse Murder Mystery Series!
Early one morning, in the grounds of Chatsworth, a body is discovered by one of the estate groundsmen. DI Marsden and DS Granger battle through snow-covered roads to begin their investigation.
Meanwhile, at the Connection Investigation Agency, Doris, Kat and Mouse are busy juggling their caseloads, while trying to show their new trainee receptionist the ropes.
When the police learn that the body belongs to Nicola Armstrong, a resident of the nearby village of Baslow, it soon transpires that Nicola was the mother of a child who disappeared ten years prior to her murder.
Soon, the Connection investigators are brought in to help but when a second body is found at Chatsworth, the case takes a disturbing turn.
Can the police and the female sleuths get to the truth before more life is lost? Or is the fate of those involved already sealed?
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Mini Book Review
MURDER UNTIMELY (Kat and Mouse Mysteries Book #4) by Anita Waller is a great addition to the series with some changes happening at Connection. This book can be read as a standalone, but all of the characters lives are as interesting and realistic as the mysteries and crimes, so I do recommend reading them in order for the greatest satisfaction.
Kat, Mouse and Nan have hired a new receptionist/investigative trainee, Luke. Luke fits right in with the ladies and loves the job as much as all of the ladies are happy with him. While DI Marsden and DS Granger work the cases of two murdered women, Doris takes Luke under her wing and oversees him on his first case for Connection.
Once again, Ms. Waller has written tightly plotted intertwining mysteries that kept me turning the pages. These books are cozies because the murders are behind the scenes, but everything else reads likes a realistic crime novel. The main characters are always intelligent and entertaining and the secondary characters keep me guessing. This is a must read series for me!
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Author Bio
Anita Waller was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire in 1946. She married Dave in 1967 and they have three adult children.
She has written and taught creative writing for most of her life, and at the age of sixty-nine sent a manuscript to Bloodhound Books which was immediately accepted.
In total she has written seven psychological thrillers and one supernatural novel, and uses the areas of South Yorkshire and Derbyshire as her preferred locations in her books. Sheffield features prominently.
And now Anita is working on her first series, the Kat and Mouse trilogy, set in the beautiful Derbyshire village of Eyam. The first in the series, Murder Undeniable, launched 10 December 2018, and the second in the series, Murder Unexpected, launches 11 February 2019.
The trilogy has now been promoted to a quartet following the success of the first book; she is currently working on book three, Murder Unearthed. Book four doesn’t have a title, a plot, a first sentence… but she remains convinced it will have!
She is now seventy-three years of age, happily writing most days and would dearly love to plan a novel, but has accepted that isn’t the way of her mind. Every novel starts with a sentence and she waits to see where that sentence will take her, and her characters.
In her life away from the computer in the corner of her kitchen, she is a Sheffield Wednesday supporter with blue blood in her veins! The club was particularly helpful during the writing of 34 Days, as a couple of matches feature in the novel, along with Ross Wallace. Information was needed, and they provided it.
Her genre is murder – necessary murder.
Social Media Links
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/anitawaller2015/?ref=br_rs @anitawaller2015
Website: www.anitamayw.wixsite.com/anitawaller
Twitter: https://twitter.com/anitamayw @anitamayw
