It’s a real pleasure today to be helping launch the blog tour for Murder on the Dancefloor by Katie Marsh, and sharing my publication day review. Published today (29th March) by Boldwood Books, this is the second in her Bad Girls Detective Agency series, and now available as an ebook (free via Kindle Unlimited), in paperback, and as an audiobook. Thank you, as always, to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my advance reading e-copy (provided via Netgalley).
I’ve been a fan of Katie Marsh’s writing for rather a long time now. Before she joined Boldwood, she wrote the most wonderful stories full of love that inevitably broke my heart, but that always ended on just the right emotional note with a bit of hope for a happier future – you’ll find reviews of all her earlier books if you pop her name into my search bar. But I was so delighted to find that she’d made such a smooth transition to cosy crime – perhaps not entirely what I was expecting, but How Not To Murder Your Ex was a complete joy from beginning to end, laugh-out-loud and extremely clever, a testament to the power of female friendship, and I loved every single moment (you’ll find my full review here). As I closed the last page, I was already looking forward to seeing what life has in store for these wonderful women that I’d taken to my heart – and delighted that there wasn’t too long to wait…
They DID promise her a killer hen weekend…
Jeanie’s getting married, and – despite her completely impossible four sisters – her best friends Clio and Amber are determined to give her a bachelorette weekend to remember. They’re in matching pink T-shirts and the drinks are flowing…
But the night turns out to be unforgettable for all the wrong reasons when a girl turns up dead on the dancefloor. And – even though she’s a stranger – she is wearing one of Jeanie’s hen T-shirts.
Who is she? And why are the police convinced that the hens are involved? Can the newly-formed Bad Girls Detective Agency solve the murder? And in time to get Jeanie up the aisle?
Unputdownable mystery set on the English coast – perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club, Bad Sisters and How to Kill Your Family.
Dressed as My Little Pony (don’t ask…!), Jeanie is enduring her hen weekend, the whole event choreographed by her control freak sister – and there are three more sisters too, none of them anyone’s ideal company, along with her mother who’s very much on automatic pilot after the loss of her husband. Jeanie’s still grieving too – but this weekend is all about “fun” (allegedly…), so thank goodness for besties Amber and Clio at her side. Six months on, and the Bad Girls Detective Agency has had a few successes – but their next case is one they can’t help stumbling over, a victim of stabbing, most definitely dead, lying on the dance floor wearing one of the hens’ T-shirts. Jeanie was already having doubts about her impending marriage – fiancé Tan hasn’t been at all himself recently, and she was worried he might have been having second thoughts too – but this feels like one of the worst omens possible.
But the weekend continues in accordance with Nicola’s spreadsheet, more “fun” along with the stag party who were also at the club that night – but so does their investigation, with Amber trying to get one over on her former police colleagues, Clio dashing in without any thought to her own personal safety, and the day of the wedding fast approaching for poor Jeanie. And the story gets darker and darker, with drug finds and underworld connections, moments when they all find themselves in very real danger, individuals who aren’t who they appear to be intent on thwarting their efforts, and a situation that gets closer to home than they’d ever expected – and with multiple suspects for that initial death on the dance floor.
The whole story is told at breakneck speed, lurching from one crisis to the next – and I particularly liked the way the frenetic pace was marked by a countdown, both from the murder and to the time of the perhaps ill-fated wedding. The characterisation is as fantastic as ever. There’s the really special friendship between those wonderful Agency ladies, every exchange laugh-out-loud but often really touching too – and a whole other layer with the relationships between the family members, the sisters truly horrendous until their family loyalties slowly come into play. The mystery at the story’s core is endlessly intriguing, a real page-turner with its multiple twists and turns, unexpected discoveries and clever bits of misdirection – but this time there’s a convincing family drama that plays out too, with a fair bit of emotion attached, and that was something I really enjoyed.
Everything I loved about the first book – although I’d say you’d be fine if you chose to read this one as a standalone, just to get the flavour – and the most perfect addition to a series I’m thoroughly enjoying. Sheer fun from its beginning to its unexpectedly emotional ending – and one I’d very much recommend.
About the author
Katie Marsh wrote romantic fiction before turning to crime. Her debut novel was a World Book Night pick and her books are published in ten languages.
She lives in the English countryside and loves strong coffee and pretending to be in charge of her children. How Not to Murder Your Ex, the first in her Bad Girls Detective Agency series, is out now, published by Boldwood Books. The next instalment, Murder on the Dancefloor, follows in March 2024.
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I have How Not To Murder Your Ex on my Kindle. Must get around to it sometime.