Murder in Little Shendon by A.H. Richardson is an old fashioned murder mystery where everyone in town is a suspect.
While a very slow-burn, this book drew me right in! While a bit repetitive, I still couldn’t wait for the reveal to learn what had happened!
Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way.
My Thoughts on Murder in Little Shendon by A.H. Richardson
This story begins with a bang, but then it slows way down. Though not in a negative way, the story was just definitely a slow-burn.
I really enjoyed the storyline and the mystery! I also liked meeting each of the characters of the village and slowly getting more of the “big picture.” It was a lot of fun trying to piece together the puzzle using the small bits of information that we were given.
Now that I have completed the book, I may have to schedule a re-read to see if I pick up on any clues that I had missed the first time around!
Beware, the negatives:
Unfortunately, because of the way that the story is organized, I found it to be quite repetitive. For example, we read about the conversations that each of the three men had with various people, and then we hear a summary of those conversations when they all meet up later on, and then once again with other characters from time to time. Though I can see that this is a great way to highlight what elements of the conversations were important, it was just a bit irritating to me. There were also a number of phrases that kept popping up a bit too frequently for my taste.
My Favorite Passages from Murder in Little Shendon
Anyone can look; everybody looks, but seeing is quite another thing.
“All of life is difficult,” she said slowly, and dropped her eyes down to her tea cup once more.
The murders had thrown a dreadful threatening web over the entire village, and everyone, it seemed, was caught up in its dark threads.
My Final Thoughts on Murder in Little Shendon
Overall, I really enjoyed this read! I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of old-fashioned murder mysteries!
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Thanks for reading!
What is our favorite murder mystery?
I get a bit frustrated when authors rely too much on the same phrases, it becomes glaring and distracting, but this does sound like a good cozy mystery.
Yeah, I totally feel the same way. Once I pick up on the same phrase used three times, I start getting irked.
Yes, it's easy to do, but it one of those things authors should double check. I read a book where every character said 'My brows knitted together'…
Still, this one sounds like a lovely, old-fashioned murder mystery! Great review, as always, Erica!
Oye vey! That's certainly a repetitive phrase that should have been caught!!
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