The Rockpool Murder by Emylia HallMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Three and a half stars.
The third outing for our unlikely detectives, consisting of Jayden West, a former PC turned campsite manager, Ally Bright, the widow of a former detective, and Gus, a retired geography teacher turned author.
Baz Carson, legendary rock star, is turning seventy and has invited his ex-wife, remaining band mates, manager, children, grandchild, the son of the love of his life, and a former lover to his new mansion Rockpool House in Cornwall for a birthday bash. Meanwhile, Ally meets Baz' former lover Tallulah at the gallery where she is about to exhibit some of her artwork. The two women form a bond, so when Baz is found dead floating in his pool just hours after he and Tallulah meet for the first time in thirty years she begs Ally for help in discovering who killed him, even if the police think that there is no foul play. Then a second person at the party is killed, and everyone is arrested, including Saffron who has been hired to cater the party.
There are lots of tensions between the guests which only intensify after the second death.
In my review of the last book in this series I complained that there was too much personal history, but that wasn't a problem with this novel. In fact, I love that PC Mullins is starting to become a more rounded character (and indeed person) as the series progresses.
However, I did feel that in the attempt to keep the reader guessing about whether Baz was murdered, and if so by whom, and whether there is a link to the murder of the second person there were too many red herrings. It may of course just be sour grapes because I thought *someone* was clearly the guilty person almost from the start and turned out to be totally wrong. Also, even after the event, I have trouble in recalling who did what and why.
Final shout out to the covers of these books, I love them.
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.
Also available on Kindle Unlimited.
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