The Campervan Detectives is the debut book in a cozy mystery series by Maeve Haran. Due out 28th July 2026 from Bookouture, it's 287 pages and will be 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 throughout. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.
This is a cute series opener with an appealing mature female protagonist who catches her husband and former best friend in flagrante, burns her bridges, impulse buys a vintage VW camper van and hits the road with her faithful pup Sam Spade as her copilot, but without much of a plan otheriwse. Happily, she ends up in coastal village Winching which has fond memories from her childhood, and even more fortunately, she stumbles into a support network in the form of a varied ensemble cast of women who take her in and make sure she lands on her feet.
The murder of a local harridan draws the ladies (who are all RV adventurers) into amateur sleuthing, and to everyone's surprise, they're quite good at it. The climax, denouement, and resolution are satisfying and self-contained. The final chapter foreshadows book 2 which is due out from the same publisher in late 3rd quarter 2026.
The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 7 hours and 49 minutes and is capably read by (the improbably named) Fenella Fudge. She has a warm, well modulated alto voice and does a super job with a wide range of regional accents, a variety of ages, and both sexes. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.
Four stars. It would be a good choice for public or home library acquisition, or for very light summer holiday reading.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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