A Murder of Crows by Sarah Yarwood-LovettMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Dr Nell Ward is an ecologist. While surveying an old manor house for evidence of bats and other protected flora and fauna she comes within a few feet of the murder of a young woman. When Nell falls under suspicion, having made an appointment to see the victim later that day, being at the murder scene, and having (for very good reasons) covered up the entrance to the tunnel in which the murder occured, she knows that she must clear her own name. Also, it seems that Nell's professional expertise will be needed to identify the murderer.
I enjoyed reading this novel but I have to say I found it slightly confusing. The blurb makes it clear that Nell is acting as a detective, but there are quite a few chapters from the investigating police officer's POV so I wasn't sure who exactly was detecting. Similarly, there is more than one romantic interest for Nell - as if the author wanted to keep the reader guessing as to who Nell would pick - which was odd because when the book starts Nell is enamored of her assistant/fellow ecologist Adam.
The second thing I found, if not confusing perhaps a little passé, was that Nell has a secret identity. Although I don't think it is really a spoiler I will put it in spoilers to be safe. (view spoiler)
My biggest gripe is that this felt like a load of red herrings were thrown into the plot to disguise the obvious nature of the murder. The victim felt very much like the second Mrs De Winter in Rebecca, Nell seemed a little like Temperance Brennan in Kathy Reichs' books (without the social awkwardness) and I'm not sure how this is going to develop into a series, I mean how many murders in a small town would require an ecologist to shed light on the scene?
I don't think that this is yet as accomplished as Richard Osman or Faith Martin as the blurb suggests but I would definitely be interested to read the second book to see where this goes.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
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