Rhyme of the Magpie...Review

About the book:
For readers of Laura Childs, Ellery Adams, and Jenn McKinlay, the high-flying new Birds of a Feather mystery series from Marty Wingate begins as a British woman gets caught up in a dangerous plot when her celebrity father disappears.

With her personal life in disarray, Julia Lanchester feels she has no option but to quit her job on her father’s hit BBC Two nature show, A Bird in the Hand. Accepting a tourist management position in Smeaton-under-Lyme, a quaint village in the English countryside, Julia throws herself into her new life, delighting sightseers (and a local member of the gentry) with tales of ancient Romans and pillaging Vikings.

But the past is front and center when her father, Rupert, tracks her down in a moment of desperation. Julia refuses to hear him out; his quick remarriage after her mother’s death was one of the reasons Julia flew the coop. But later she gets a distressed call from her new stepmum: Rupert has gone missing. Julia decides to investigate—she owes him that much, at least—and her father’s new assistant, the infuriatingly dapper Michael Sedgwick, offers to help. Little does the unlikely pair realize that awaiting them is a tightly woven nest of lies and murder.

When Julia's estranged father suddenly goes missing, she finds herself unwillingly drawn into the mystery of his disappearance. Along the way, she meets his new assistant and must reconcile with her step-mother. With birds, wind-farmers vs environmentalists and an Earl who wants his estate to earn money, Julia just wants to go back to her relatively normal life.

This took me some time to get into, but I love the British setting and the fact that the heroine is a mature late 30s, rather than a young, perky ingenue. And while I didn't love Julia, I found myself drawn into the story. I didn't find it completely predictable and there were some laugh out loud funny moments.

I have enjoyed Marty Wingate's Potting Shed series. This new series has promise and I look forward to more.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book. You can learn more about Marty Wingate here. You can see other tour stops and reviews here. You can purchase your own copy here.

Read 8/15

* * *
3/5 Stars

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