"The residents of Llanelen are brimming with excitement. Antiques Cymru, a regional take on the popular national TV show, is coming to the Welsh town and people are flocking from miles around, hoping their attic treasures turn out to be worth a fortune. On the day of filming, quiet local sheep farmer Haydn Williams brings a generations-old long-case clock for evaluation, while the woman he's always admired from afar, Catrin Bellis, turns up with a cherished handmade quilt. Will either hear surprising good news about the value of their family heirlooms? By the end of the day, Catrin turns up dead, her quilt missing. Who could have wanted this shy, quiet woman - who had been overshadowed by her parents for her whole life - dead? Delving into Catrin's past, spa owner and amateur sleuth Penny Brannigan is surprised to discover that Catrin had at least one enemy. And as Penny's romantic life heats up with a new love interest, she realizes that a mysterious document hidden in Haydn's clock could hold the key to a long-forgotten secret and a present-day murder. Murder on the Hour is a light-hearted traditional mystery featuring a charming heroine set in an enchanting Welsh town"--
In Murder on the Hour, the 7th book in the Penny Brannigan series, a popular Antiques Roadshow-esque show is coming to Llanelen and after local woman Catrin brings in an old family quilt, she is found dead in her home. Meanwhile, Pennny meets one of the judges at the Antiques show and Gareth, soon retiring, begins to contemplate his life after retiring and life without Penny.
One of the biggest draws of this series is how vibrant the characters are. It's so easy to fall into a story when you feel like you're a part of the locale. And that's what this series excels at doing, along with the really great plots to sew everything together into a great cozy mystery.
The main plot, Catrin's murder, was riveting, one of those plots where you think you have a pretty good idea of what's going to happen and then suddenly it all gets blown to shreds and off you go again.
There is one line in the book that sticks with me. "When your parents are telling you about your grandparents and great-grandparents, you don't care. And then, when you're older and you do care, your parents are no longer alive to answer questions or recount family history." So, so true. I've recently begun researching my mother's side of the family and have hit a brick wall. There's no one alive who can answer the questions I have,. So sad that people never get the time to record or write down all those family stories and so many are lost.
Overall, a great read and one that I will recommend to other readers.
Reading updates
-
Started reading
-
24 December, 2015:
Finished reading
-
24 December, 2015:
Reviewed
-
Started reading
-
24 December, 2015:
Finished reading
-
24 December, 2015:
Reviewed