Introducing the three unlikeliest sleuths you’ll ever meet…

Every Thursday, three retired school teachers have their ‘coffee o’clock’ sessions at the Thirsk Garden Centre café.

But one fateful week, as they are catching up with a slice of cake, they bump into their ex-colleague, Topsy.

By the next Thursday, Topsy’s dead.

The last thing Liz, Thelma and Pat imagined was that they would become involved in a murder.

But they know there’s more to Topsy’s death than meets the eye – and it’s down to them to prove it…

The title says it all! Along with the opening line “to be involved in anything like murder quite simple it was something they would never set out to do!! I knew then it was going to be a really good read.

The three retired ladies, Thelma, Pat, and Liz, who all taught at the same Primary school together, met weekly for a coffee and chat. One week they saw an ex-colleague and friend who appeared to be in trouble and set them on the path of trying to find out what was going on, especially when she was found dead the following week.

I really loved this book, it’s was so well-written, with good use of language, and a smattering of humour. I smiled at some of the names that were used, like ‘Mandy Pinder-that-was’ for an ex-pupil from their school and a son’s girlfriend the ‘Celtic Poet’. Just two examples that made this book stand out to me.

The three friends have to be my favourite characters, they were very different from one another but came together to see their sleuthing through and get justice for their friend. I also have this lovely picture of Ness the older woman chasing young Jake!

A Spoonful of Murder was a very easy read and felt like a modern-day Agatha Christie. I could not put the book down. It has a good mixture of humour, sadness, and mystery which kept my interest throughout and I didn’t want it to end.

Well done J.M. Hall for an excellent read, I shall definitely be recommending this delightful and interesting book to my family and friends.

J.M. Hall is an author, playwright and deputy head of a primary school. His plays have been produced in theatres across the UK as well as for radio, the most recent being Trust, starring Julie Hesmondhalgh on BBC Radio 4.

His first novel, A Spoonful of Murder, is about retired primary school teachers who turn to sleuthing.

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