Middle-aged mystery solving dinner ladies - what’s not to like! I loved the idea of this as its so different. I was not disappointed. Another bump in the road was that there was the time worn (and needs to be retired) misunderstanding which just needed people to talk to clear it up. It is used all too often as a lazy attempt to create false tension in the narrative.

The Dinner Lady Detectives on Apple Books ‎The Dinner Lady Detectives on Apple Books

This is a super cute, easy read. Some readers guessed the murderer pretty early on but I didn't! I enjoyed the fact that the characters where multidimensional and there was an open discussion of mental health and the impact of being close to crimes, it was very thoughtfully done!

Books Multibuys

This is the fourth book in the Dinner Ladies Detectives series. It's near half term break and Halloween is just around the corner. Village life and Summerview School are again upended by the unfortunate death of a faculty member. It looked like a natural causes until a puncture would from a hypodermic syringe was found and murder was declared. Who would have wanted Mr. Weaver dead? What was the strange symbol found on the tree by his body? Who are the people dressed up in PE clothes, capes, and masks running around the village and meeting secretly in the school at night? Will the school canteen pass the upcoming health and safety inspection? And will Margery and Clementine Butcher-Baker be able to discover the truth?

A Frightfully Fatal Affair by Hannah Hendy | Goodreads

Clementine and Margery Butcher-Baker work together at the least popular school in the area. They are also married. Their history of solving murders leads a local police officer to ask for their help in his latest case. He needs one last success - and the school needs the bad publicity to go away.Mrs Hughes?' Margery said, struggling to find her voice. 'You can't mean Caroline Caroline Hughes?' Their calm life is shattered when their kitchen manager is found dead in the school's walk-in freezer. The police are adamant that it's an open-and-shut case of accidental death. Margery and Clementine are convinced there's something far more nefarious going on, and they take it upon themselves to investigate.

The Dinner Lady Detectives By Hannah Hendy |The Works

The plot of the story is brilliant. It’s humorous and fun even though there’s a murder to solve and nobody believes it to be a murder. It got better and better the further along it got and I could not for the life of me guess the murderer. So all in all, this was a success. Margery and Clementine are a hoot. They live in a small village in the English countryside and are Educational Centre Nourishment Consultants (aka Lunch Ladies) at the local school. They are partners, and sleuthing partners end up being their second “day job” as they attempt to get to the bottom of, what they feel, is a mysterious death of their less than perfect coworker, Caroline. As they stumble their way into an investigation, we can see a few twists, turns, and a true mystery unfold. I was surprised a few times, and really enjoyed how the story unfolds. Those where I can't empathise with the main characters at all and I really can't read it to the end (and I hate not finishing a book); On the whole, then, reading this was a lot of fun. I found myself laughing out loud at some of the absurdities and the chaos that Clementine and Margaret wrought. If they somehow chose to stop being dinner ladies and start up a detective agency instead, I think it would be great. Those where I find it difficult to empathise with the main characters, although I read the book to the end - but I won't buy any others in the series; andIf I could describe TDLD I would say it’s Victoria Wood’s Dinnerladies meets Diagnosis Murder. It honestly is the definition of a cozy murder mystery. And I LOVED it! MY THOUGHTS: There have been a few good muder-mysteries released this year featuring older protagonists. I was hoping that The Dinner Lady Detectives was going to join the group but it became evident very early on that this was not to be. I love classic mysteries--the closest modern equivalent is the cozy-- and especially enjoy those with a British setting so I had high hopes for this one. As many have pointed out, it's a slow start. I'm usually okay with that, especially in a first in series book when characters and setting have to be established. My main problem in this one was that there were so many unlikeable characters-- one of whom was Clementine, who is the partner of Margery. I wasn't sure at first if they were indeed a couple since there seemed to be no moments of tenderness between them; and I found Clementine to be more than a bit of a bully. While it's a bit of a cozy "feature" that the victim be unpleasant, I found most of the other characters to be either inept, silly, surly, or stupid.

The Dinner Lady Detectives: A charming British village cosy

The Dinner Lady Detectives by Hannah Hendy is a fabulous contemporary cozy mystery that is just perfect in every way! Dewstow, small town that represents the safest place to live and how the neighborhood represents. Well, for a starter it showed that whenever gossip around and something can be held to be gossip, that certain person could spread the words all over. What is happening and can be seen clearly not only in the small town but what that character does, represent it all. Next, about the pond that Margaery and Clementine broke when they had a car crash was quite hilarious. That would be a problem in a small town with a talkative neighborhood which they had at that time. The hilarious pond which everybody hates but never bothers too much to talk about it represents what it would be like in a small town as Dewstow represents in this book. Also, this speedometer stuff on this small town is well-known that no driving fast in this town, you old lad.

Creative Play

I clearly read far too many dark and twisty books, as this wasn’t quite there for me in terms of thrills, BUT it wasn’t meant to be - and for that, I thoroughly enjoyed it! When more dirty deeds happen and random acts of vandalism, have they bitten off more than they can chew?