A lovely new series

A brand new series from H.Y. Hanna.
It has the usual abundance of humour, pets and quirky characters that has become synonymous with the author.
The character development was very good. I particularly liked Bertie who is the source of most of the humour in the story. Nick Forrest, author and former detective, also made an interesting character and a possible romantic interest for Poppy in the future. The cottage and its garden sounded really beautiful in an old fashioned sort of way. I enjoyed watching Poppy come to appreciate it.
The mystery itself was quite good. I enjoyed following Poppy as she tried to figure out what had happened but it was quite obvious who the killer was. Despite this I liked the story. It was lots of fun and entertaining and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

I voluntarily reviewed an advance reading audio copy.

5 people found this helpful

Twit alert!

I can’t make up my mind about this book. The main character seems to be some sort of wimpy twit who couldn’t stand up for herself in a wind storm which for me, detracted from the actual story. Does this reflect badly on the author (whose other books I’ve loved), or is it the fault of the narrator who made Poppy sound like a 10 year old afraid of her own shadow? I’m going to reserve judgement until book 2.

2 people found this helpful

Worth persevering

I've seen comments about the wimpiness of the main character, and at the start of the story I did find it rather annoying. Possibly the way it is read accents that. But as the story continued that lessened and I really got into the story. Will definitely try the next in the series.

1 person found this helpful

Interesting introduction to the series.

The story, a little slow to start or to develop an attachment to the heroine, Poppy, meanders through a series of red herrings and eccentric characters.

The audiobook eventually gathers pace to a full paced walk, reflecting my experience of village life, we never do anything at speed, even Murder! The characters, although slightly larger than life keenly reflect the author’s and my experience of academia.

The actor’s performance added to the whole story and created a rich picture of Poppy and her life in the flower nursery. I was very impressed with the actors rich and full bodied performance and will be one reason to try another book next month to enjoy alongside ‘The Cherringham Mysteries’. Autumn will be a pleasure; listening to this in front of a big log fire.

1 person found this helpful

I liked it

Nice little book. Neat story. Good characters. Set up for next book, which I have already downloaded.

Enjoyable Cozy Story

I enjoyed this cozy crime story, and found the main character likeable, however I did want to shake her - she’s annoyingly timid at times. I also found the voice of the main character rather grating; but it suited her personality.

brilliant

brilliant story well written and well read. very easy to listen to and to keep up with. loved it. can't wait for the next one.

Aarrgghh

I only managed to get just over an hour in & realised I was spending more time shouting at the soppy Poppy than I cared to spend. Are there really people as dim & wet as her,, if so please don’t let them breed. I can’t give a review of the whole book as I would rather eat a bucket full of dirt than listen to anymore of this drivel. With a lead character who appears to have the IQ of a flip flop and to be about much use as a single one I feel sorry for the narrator, or I would if she wasn’t trying to sound like a breathy femme fatale when characterising a complete drip.
As you’ve probably gathered by now I’m not best pleased with this book, about the only thing that is halfway decent is the picture on the cover!
If you are considering buying this book please do so, but gift it to someone you really don’t like. If you have an IQ of more than 6 this book is not for you, go & listen to your children’s Noddy books, they have more intelligent & believable characters.
I’m off to have a large gin to help get over the trauma of listening to this twaddle.

3 people found this helpful