The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths

Elly Griffiths won an Edgar Award for The Stranger Diaries which introduced us to DS Harbinder Kaur. Now Harbinder’s back with a new murder to solve – that of ninety-year-old Peggy Smith who lived in sheltered care. Because of her age, the doctor writes the death off as natural causes, but Natalka, the visiting caregiver, smells a rat. Peggy was still spritely and busy, and then there’s her business card: Mrs M Smith, Murder Consultant.

Peggy isn’t much missed by her money-grubbing son Nigel who has her cremated quickly and her flat boxed up, ready to sell. She is missed by her neighbour, eighty-year-old Edwin and Benedict, the former monk who runs the Coffee Shack on the waterfront below Peggy’s flat. The three of them used to meet over coffee to talk murder mysteries and solve cryptic crosswords. We soon learn that Peggy helped several well-known crime novelists with their murder plots, particularly Dex Challinor, who lives in a fancy part of town and is a best-selling author.

The story takes us into the world of publishing, book marketing and literary festivals as Natalka, Edwin and Benedict team up to solve Peggy’s murder. They are an unlikely set of allies: Natalka is from Ukraine and talks like a spy – she thinks she’s being followed too. Elderly, gay Edwin is refined and charming while Benedict swirls a heart pattern on Natalka’s cappuccinos, which she never seems to notice.

DS Kaur promises to look into the case, and a new murder that might be linked has the police on the job, but it’s getting hard to rein in Team Natalka. The three sleuths head to a literary festival in Aberdeen to talk to some of the authors who might have used Peggy’s services. As tension mounts, and the team assemble more facts and get to know each other, the story builds to a several showdowns and nail-biting moments.

There’s a ton of humour too – I found myself laughing out loud not only at the interactions of Natalka, Edwin and Benedict but also with Harbinder’s wry mutterings and ongoing stress over her parents and how to tell them she’s gay. You can tell that Griffiths – herself a best-selling author – has had a lot of fun sending up the hype around publishing and the ever ingenious gimmicks marketing departments come up with to sell books. This series is shaping up to be as welcome as Griffith’s hugely popular Nelson and Galloway series.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue link: The Postscript Murders