Daggers at the Country Fair by Catherine Coles

Daggers at the Country Fair (The Martha Miller Mysteries)

by Catherine Coles

The next instalment in the Martha Miller Mysteries from bestselling author Catherine Coles!

Winteringham Village 1947

As a thank you for her previous brilliant crime solving, amateur sleuth, Martha Miller is guest of honour at the Winteringham Country Fair. However, this time she is looking forward to simply judging dog shows and eating cream teas rather than apprehending a killer!

And Martha is just beginning to enjoy spending quality time with Vicar Luke Walker away from the prying eyes and gossips of her own village, when disaster strikes, and the local teenage femme fatale is found stabbed to death behind the tea tent by Martha’s trusted red setter Lizzie!

But who would want to kill such a young girl and why? Someone in the village has secrets to hide and it seems Martha and Luke have another case to solve!

Let the investigation commence!

Find out if Martha and Luke can catch the killer in a brand new Martha Miller mystery from bestselling author Catherine Coles.

What readers are saying about Martha Miller!

'An utterly charming 1940’s mystery. Definitely a new series addiction!' Bestselling author Debbie Young.

"Poison at the Village Show" is pure mystery buff entertainment and has all the qualities expected of an English mystery.' James Cox, Editor-in-Chief, Midwest Book Review

Perfect for fans of Lee Strauss and Beth Byers!

Reviewed by annieb123 on

4 of 5 stars

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Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Daggers at the Country Fair is the second Martha Miller historical cozy by Catherine Coles. Released 26th Sept 2022 by Boldwood Books, it's 246 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free. The first book in the series is also currently available on KU, and a third book is due out in late fourth quarter 2023. 

This is a well written and whimsy filled historical cozy set just after WW2 in rural England.Village life seems to be settling down for "newcomer" Martha Miller, but she's as surprised as anyone when she's invited to open a village fair in a neighbouring village. When murder conspires to draw her and her charming "Watson", vicar Luke, the game is certainly afoot again. 

It's a fair play mystery, and readers will enjoy evaluating the clues as they come along. The author is adept at providing background story, so although it's the second book in the series, it works fine as a standalone read. 

Four stars, with two books extant and a third due out in late 2023, it would make a nice mini-binge or buddy read. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes. 

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Reading updates

  • 16 April, 2023: Started reading
  • 16 April, 2023: Finished reading
  • 16 April, 2023: Reviewed