Tea and Cake and Death

In Tea and Cake and Death, the second book in the Bookshop Detective Series, Gareth and Louise Ward have written another cosy crime story about two former police officers who, although they are now bookshop owners, still find crimes to solve in their neighbourhood.

Garth and Eloise, with the assistance of their dog Stevie, are constantly involved in community book groups and promotions including the big annual event - The Battle of the Book Clubs - which they organise as a fundraiser for a group looking after people with cancer. All goes well until a month before the event when a member of the community is poisoned at a book event. Several other readers follow the same fate. 

When the bookshop owners investigate they discover a link with similar deaths in 2016. They also suspect that these attacks may be directed at them and relate to an arrest made in England before they left the police force and moved to New Zealand. As the day of the Battle of the Book Clubs approaches it is imperative that they discover the perpetrator of these crimes.

The Cicada House

When Caitlin inherits a large sum of money she takes the opportunity to leave England and travel back to Australia where she was born. Her husband is leaving her for another woman so she needs time to rethink about her life and also to try to find information about her mother who had travelled to Australia with a band before Caitlin was born.

Caitlin finds herself living in an old house, The Cicada House, by the beach on the Victorian coast. Here she has the chance to reflect on her life so far and consider what the future may hold. As she encounters many of the locals Caitlin finds the need to reconsider how she has approached people in the past. Gradually she begins to enjoy the new life she is encountering in Australia, especially the weather and being able to swim in the sea, a short walk from the house.

Then one day Caitlin meets David who makes some of the repairs that the house badly needs. David also encourages Caitlin to assist him in some of the tasks. Caitlin looks forward to David's visits but then begins to discover that all is not as she would expect.

The Cicada House by Ella Ward is a story about how a lonely woman reconstructs her life when she encounters new opportunities in a different environment. The novel also incorporates time travel into the plot, adding another dimension to Caitlin's story.

The Bookshop Detectives: Dead Girl Gone

Eloise and Garth with their dog, Stevie, run the bookshop, Sherlock Tomes. They have a loyal clientele who regularly visit the store and keep them entertained. Then they are told that famous author, Isabella Garrante, wants her latest novel to be launched at their bookshop. There is so much to do to get the shop ready for the big event but then a strange envelope arrives at the shop with the message that they should investigate the disappearance of seventeen year old Tracey Jervis twenty years earlier.

Eloise and Garth were members of the police force in England before moving to New Zealand to start a new life. Their initial fear when they received the envelope was that it was connected to a criminal in England who they had helped put in prison. Before long they discover that they need to be worried about dangerous people closer to their new home including members of the Black Dogs motor cycle gang. As their investigation continues, with the assistance of a local police officer, they have a suspect for Tracey's disappearance but how are they to prove it?

The Bookshop Detectives: Dead Girl Gone by Gareth and Louise Ward is an entertaining romp as Eloise and Garth encounter danger as they investigate this cold case.