Published: March 2nd 2021 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Format: Kindle, Hardcover, 336 pages
Genre: Police Procedural
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Harbinder Kaur #2)
To be honest, when I started this book, I did not know that it was the second in the Harbinder Kaur series. I had always thought that “The Stranger Diaries” was a one-off, which was fine with me since it did not resonate and I was fine saying good-bye to the characters. Then along came "The Postscript Murders” and something about the name Harbinder tickled a little part of my brain. Glad that I stuck with the book since I enjoyed "The Postscript Murders”, and the characters, considerably more.
When Peggy Smith is discovered by her care worker Natalka, the police immediately write it off as a heart attack considering that she was elderly and on medication, but Natalka wasn’t believing it. Not after she finds a postcard with the words, “We are coming for you” tucked next to where Peggy’s body was found. Natalka decides to run her theories past her friend’s -- café owner and ex-monk Benedict and former BBC employee Edwin. What finally convinces the trio is a business card with Peggy’s name and a job title of “murder consultant” combined with numerous murder mysteries being dedicated to her. Now with Peggy’s son, Nigel, in a hurry to sell off his mother possessions, and a book stolen out from under them, Det. Sgt Harbinder Kaur is starting to show an interest. But the trio can’t wait for Harbinder to get fully on board so they head out to a literary festival to round up their suspects. This is where the story takes all sorts of twists, both in Aberdeen, Scotland, and back home in Shoreham-by-Sea, England.
Elly Griffiths has built depth to the characters with background stories that are both explained and those that are left to the readers' imagination. The typical who-done-it is not obvious from the beginning so when all is revealed, there is a bit of a surprise for both the reader and in some ways, Harbinder herself.
When Peggy Smith is discovered by her care worker Natalka, the police immediately write it off as a heart attack considering that she was elderly and on medication, but Natalka wasn’t believing it. Not after she finds a postcard with the words, “We are coming for you” tucked next to where Peggy’s body was found. Natalka decides to run her theories past her friend’s -- café owner and ex-monk Benedict and former BBC employee Edwin. What finally convinces the trio is a business card with Peggy’s name and a job title of “murder consultant” combined with numerous murder mysteries being dedicated to her. Now with Peggy’s son, Nigel, in a hurry to sell off his mother possessions, and a book stolen out from under them, Det. Sgt Harbinder Kaur is starting to show an interest. But the trio can’t wait for Harbinder to get fully on board so they head out to a literary festival to round up their suspects. This is where the story takes all sorts of twists, both in Aberdeen, Scotland, and back home in Shoreham-by-Sea, England.
Elly Griffiths has built depth to the characters with background stories that are both explained and those that are left to the readers' imagination. The typical who-done-it is not obvious from the beginning so when all is revealed, there is a bit of a surprise for both the reader and in some ways, Harbinder herself.
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