I loved this book and its Cornwall setting. It begins with the heroine, former Londoner Nova, fretting that no one will show up for the book club she runs at the local Community Center. Luckily a few people do straggle in, led by the overwhelming Phyllis, who is so entirely bossy that she’s allowed to bring her smelly dog with her wherever she goes. She’s joined by the affable, older Art, who reads romances to his now blind wife who loves them, a painfully shy teen, Ash, and a man named Michael who seems to have come from afar to join the club but seems to have read little of the book they’re discussing.
The discussion is going well until Michael gets a text and abruptly charges out, leaving an awkward silence in his wake, with the club breaking up shortly afterwards. But it’s not until the next morning that things begin to go really wrong, when Nova arrives at work and finds that the roof fund, which was kept in a tin in the office she apparently forgot to lock, has disappeared. Since the book club was the last group in the building, suspicion immediately falls on Michael. Further investigation reveals that he has vanished, and not only that, his elderly mother has died after a fall down the stairs.
While this takes the heat of the theft off Nova, there’s still the overriding problem of the money, as the Community Center may be forced to close as unsafe without the needed roof repairs. Her personal life is not exactly stress free either. About to be married, she and her fiancée are living with his parents while they look for a house. For her wedding Nora would prefer a registry office affair and a drink in the pub with friends after, but her fiancée’s mother, Pamela, a controlling person, wants nothing more than a big church production, and so the big white dress, the fancy wedding favors, flowers, photos and everything else concerned is headed like a freight train toward the reluctant bride.
Meanwhile, she can’t seem to put a foot right at work, and the book club, headed up by Phyllis (who has a bit of a Miss Marple obsession), decides to investigate the theft, Michael’s disappearance, and the possible non accidental death of his mother. Her boss disapproves when Nova gets drawn into their sleuthing, and her fiancée is none too thrilled about it either. He thinks she should quit her dream job and stay home where he can take care of her (reader, you may reach a conclusion about the fiancée sooner than Nova does).
This tale is told with a charming, light touch that still manages to evoke fully dimensional characters, all of whom you’ll come to be fond of, even overbearing Phyllis. There’s some real emotional heft at the heart of the book and the mystery part is excellent as well, topped off with a great show down in the final scene. I could not have enjoyed this book more. — Robin Agnew