The Dinner Lady Detectives: A charming British village cosy mystery
£1.90
Murder is a dish best served ice cold…
Margery and Clementine are enjoying a peaceful middle-age together in the small, idyllic town of Dewstow, and eagerly awaiting retirement from their work on the front line serving meals to the students at Summerview secondary school.
Their calm life is shattered when their kitchen manager is found dead in the school’s walk-in freezer. The police are adamant that it’s an open-and-shut case of accidental death. Margery and Clementine are convinced there’s something far more nefarious going on, and they take it upon themselves to investigate.
As they inch closer to the truth, it becomes clear that someone will stop at nothing to keep the pair quiet. Will the perpetrator get their just-desserts before their time runs out?
A delightful, quintessentially British cosy mystery perfect for fans of SJ Bennett and Robert Thorogood.
Praise for The Dinner Lady Detectives
‘This cosy crime novel has some hilarious moments and is perfect to curl up with.’ Heat
‘A brilliant read! Bella
‘A brilliant whodunnit!’ Closer
‘The plot is great, the character cast is spot on, and the dialogue and humor is so quick, smart, and addictive. Margery and Clem play off one another brilliantly. I cannot wait to read the next book (please say there will be one!!!!!!) and highly recommend this gem.’ NetGalley review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘What a fun mystery. I would definitely call this a cozy mystery on the line of Murder, She Wrote! I love the dinner ladies and their interactions. I love the relationship between Clem and Margery.’ NetGalley review ⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘The characters are beautifully written and I came to love them within the first few pages and was rooting for them all the way to the end. At times I wanted to stop reading because I just wanted the experience to go on for longer.’ NetGalley review ⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Had me hooked from the start right until the end. It was just a lovely cosy read that felt like coming home on a cold and dark night. I loved it.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Additional information
| Publisher | Canelo Crime (18 Nov. 2021) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 3867 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 247 pages |
by Paul Hurst
I like the characters and enjoyed the book.
by M Adams
As an older lady myself I do find it a bit annoying when I read stories where elderly ladies can’t manage basic technology! Especially as these two can’t be that old if they are still working. However the story line was good and I never guessed who did it till the end which is obviously a sign of a good story.
by El Funkmeister
Let’s get one thing straight – there is only one Richard Osman and the opinion that this or that writer is not quite as good as him does not stop him/her from being vey good as well. Just because a writer is not #1 does not mean that he/her is not also very good.
It was the Thursday Murder Club which got me into cosy crime (after 65 years of life and a lot of reading) and I have come to categorise cosy crime books into three types:
1. Those where I can’t empathise with the main characters at all and I really can’t read it to the end (and I hate not finishing a book);
2. Those where I find it difficult to empathise with the main characters, although I read the book to the end – but I won’t buy any others in the series; and
3. Those where I can empathise with the main characters, the book is well written, the solution to the mystery is not too obvious and I intend to go on with the series.
In other words, the plot can be as ingenious as you like but, if I don’t like the characters, I don’t like the book.
I do like Hannah Hendy’s characters in this book – all the characters, not just the main two (Margery and Clementine). The book is well written and the plot is up there with the best.
I intend to buy the others in the series (I think there are 3 others as I write this).
I have docked the book a star purely because Hannah Hendy is not Richard Osman – but 4 out of 5 is still really very good!
by Fred Jones
Loved the idea. Liked Margery and Clementine, the bickering, in bed by 9 dinner ladies who become dumb but determined amateur detectives when their manager is found locked in the freezer. The plot has huge holes, the clues are ridiculous, but the writing is excellent and it is a cozy mystery. I laughed all the way through, the book is so much fun. Jenny Funnell is a lovely narrator who has a great voice that helps the story come to life.
by Barbara
Seem to be lot of “cosy” stories at the moment so thought I’d try one of these.
Not one of best books I’ve ever read, bought 3 so I’ll persevere but characters not very believable
by S Riaz
I was in the mood for a light read and this fit the bill very well. Margery and Clementine are dinner ladies in a small town called Dewstow, working at Summerview Secondary School. When Caroline Hughes, the elderly kitchen manager, is found dead in the walk-in freezer, everyone is shocked. The ladies interest in piqued and, when they manage to sneak into the freezer, they find a crime scene, rather than the scene of an accident. However, the police seem to think that there is no crime to investigate, so it is up to the women to discover who was responsible.
Although, obviously, it is unlikely that the police would fail to investigate, I was happy enough to gloss over the faults. Margery and Clementine are a lovely couple and their colleagues are the usual mix of people with faults who make up this world. Even the suspect is a mix of unsympathetic – often playing unpleasant tricks on people – but secretly often kind and charitable. This is full of everyday humour about both the investigation and the issues of living in a small town and working with other people. I will definitely read on.
by Denise Dodd
“The Dinner Lady Detectives” by Hannah Hendy. It’s only 290 pages so quite an easy read.
It’s about a group of dinner ladies at a school but mainly two lady characters called, Margery and Clementine. It’s a nice read it made me chuckle in some places, the characters are of the older generation which is nice, they do try to solve a murder but it’s done very lightly. It is not overly descriptive which I really love, I just want to get to the crooks of the story and not have to go through all the descriptive nonsense around it. I really couldn’t care what colour the curtains are or how thick the carpet is, I just want the story, so when I get a book that’s not spending a page and a half on description, I think that’s wonderful and this book certainly does not go over the top in descriptive writing.
It is a delightful cozy read and easy to do if you want something in between books that have been a bit hard going, this is a nice one to pick up read in a couple of days. I would say the beginning of the book was a bit slow to get going for me, it got better just over halfway but on the whole a good read and I would recommend it. 7/10
by Amy
I can’t believe I am only just discovering this series! I love a cozy mystery and this one was like a breath of fresh air. I immediately liked Margery and Clementine as characters, I thought they were written brilliantly. The personalities of the team of fellow dinner ladies who they work with, their characters were fantastic and their personalities meant I was imagining people who I’ve worked with taking on the personalities of the kitchen staff. It was really refreshing to read about these two characters, solving the death of their friend but not everything goes to plan, it was hilarious to read the blunders they made in their sleuthing. I loved this so much I’ve brought the series. Totally enjoyable, light hearted mystery.