Murder on a Country Walk - Julia Bird Mysteries #6

 

 

Murder on a Country Walk is the sixth Julia Bird village cozy mystery by Katie Gayle. Released 11th Sept 2024, it's 250 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free. The earlier books in the series are also available on KU. 

This is such an engaging modern village cozy with a genuinely appealing female amateur sleuth who's late middle-aged, intelligent and earnest, and generally well meaning. Despite a long career in social services in London, a recent divorce (her husband married their (male) gardener), and other major curveballs, she maintains a mostly positive outlook on life. Having acquired a cozy cottage in a cozy village in the Cotswolds, she's ready for the next adventure which includes a cozy garden with some chickens. The only fly in the ointment is the sudden preponderance of murdered people... Once again, she's into the breach to solve the suspicious deaths.

The author has a deft touch with humour and there were several scenes which surprised a grin or giggle out of me. The characters are well rendered and (mostly) believable within the allowable framework of the genre. It's peopled with the usual small town eccentric characters, and the plot moves along at a good pace.

I also liked that instead of the usual trope-y antagonistic and incompetent local police force, protagonist Julia's ally from the earlier books, DI Hayley Gibson is back on the case once again. They strike up a surprisingly good cooperation again and make a good team.

The main mystery is self contained in this volume, so it works well as a standalone. There are currently six books extant in the series making it a good candidate for a long weekend binge read or buddy read. Genuinely well written and fun to read.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.