Homocide in Herne Hill by Alice Castle

Val Penny ♦ November 14, 2018 ♦ 1 Comment

Homocide in Herne Hill is the fourth book in the series written by the English author Alice Castle. I very much enjoy this series of books and find the heroine, single Mum Beth Haldane most engaging.

The author has a fine eye for observing people, noting their idiosyncrasies and reproducing them in her books. In this book we are introduced to Beth’s new friend, Nina. They meet as Christmas approaches and Beth Haldane’s best friend Katie has gone away until new year leaving Beth feeling a little lonely. At her son Ben’s Nativity play she meets another single mum, Nina.

Nina is a lively character and certainly has an interesting way with words. She often mixes up well known phrases, which is very funny. However, dogs are dying in an unexplained series of occurrences in Beth’s area of London. It is very suspicious.

Nina knows of Beth’s reputation for solving mysteries and she has a puzzle she wants Beth to solve, centred on the solicitor’s office where Nina works in Herne Hill. Nina tells her she feels something dodgy is going on at the solicitor’s she works at and Beth, unable to resist a puzzle, puts herself and her new relationship on the line to get to the bottom of the mystery. As the plot thickens it threatens to drag in not just Nina and her boss, but several of the yummy mummies of Dulwich, too. Beth is about to find out just how far some people will go to keep up appearances.

Homocide in Herne Hill is another excellent book by a fine author of cosy crime. I highly recommend it.

The Author

Alice Castle lives in South London with her two children, two stepchildren, two cats and her husband. She was a feature writer on the Daily Express for many years and has written for most other national newspapers. She has a degree in Modern History from St Andrews University, is the British Royalty expert for Flemish TV, and lived in Brussels for eight years. Her first novel, Hot Chocolate, sold out in two weeks and her second, Death in Dulwich, is to be published in September 2017 as the first in the London Murder Mystery series.

Val Penny