The Mysterious Miss Mayhew

by Hazel Osmond

[Leah]

Last year I read my first ever Hazel Osmond novel Playing Grace. It was quite a dark read, and I remember that I did quite enjoy it, so I was pleased to be offered a review copy of Hazel's latest novel The Mysterious Miss Mayhew. I loved the bright blue cover, with the chairs and table, and the flowers around the edges. It's cute and quirky, which I like. I couldn't wait to get stuck in to the novel and I'm very pleased to report that I loved it even more than I did Playing Grace.

As I said, Hazel Osmond's first three novels were quite dark novels. In tone, with their characters, and I was delighted that The Mysterious Miss Mayhew was a lighter read. So much lighter in fact, there's still a bit of mystery - with "mysterious" in the title, that's hardly a surprise. But it's not dark or gritty, there's no deep, dark secrets waiting to come out and while Fran Mayhew is indeed quite mysterious, I actually guessed her mystery pretty early on. It's not that big a mystery, not that well hidden, and was relatively easy to put together (not that I'm complaining - I quite like feeling proud when I figure out a plot twist).

The Mysterious Miss Mayhew is set in Northumberland - yay for books set up there - it's closer and closer to where I come from, which is Stanley, near Durham. I liked the setting, the North East is a good setting, rarely used in Chick Lit novels. But the setting is secondary to the fabulous characters. Meeting Tom and his young daughter Hattie was delightful. Hattie is the most inquisitive, gorgeous little child there is, she's full of questions and loves to play pirates, and her dad absolutely dotes on her which was so lovely to read. Then there's Fran Mayhew - she of the mysterious variety. I loved how outspoken she was, how unfiltered, it was super refreshing for someone to say it like it is and not edit out the bad stuff. Sure, it gets her in to trouble a few (or ten) times, but that just endeared her to me more. She's obviously got a secret of two, and there's a reason she's come to Northumberland and I liked ferreting out the mystery.

It's very hard to write in words just how much I loved this delightful novel. Even the villians of the piece didn't make me angsty and wish for their heads on a platter. They were just nuisances to be dealt with. I raced through the novel in a couple of days - no mean feat for a book just over 500 pages but it never felt like it was that long (except when I was trying to keep hold of it - I definitely prefer e-reading when books are so bloody long, I tell ya) and it was all such a delight. Seeing Fran and Tom interact, seeing the world through Hattie's eyes, meeting all the rest of Tom's family and friends and colleagues at the magazine where he works. It was lovely, and humourous, too. I loved that it was a lot more playful that Playing Grace, it's a great new direction for Hazel Osmond and I hope it's one she sticks with because The Mysterious Miss Mayhew was an absolute pleasure to read.This review was originally posted on Girls Love To Read