The potting shed murder

Daphne Brewster and her young family leave the stress of their London life for the bucolic Pudding Corner in the English countryside. Daphne soon becomes known as the Vintage Lady as she starts a small business painting furniture and selling antiques. She works to become part of the local community, even befriending outcast single mother Minerva, who is part of the so-called Witches of Cringlewic. When the genial headmaster of the local primary school, Charles Papplewick, is found dead in the potting shed at his allotment, his wife Augusta loudly accuses Minerva of murder. To clear her friend, and due to her general nosiness, Daphne investigates, learning that the idyllic English countryside is a hotbed of gossip and long-hidden secrets. It turns out that there are several villagers who have reason to want Papplewick dead, and Daphne sifts through their motives. The lovingly described setting; the charismatic Daphne, a strong Black woman in a mixed marriage; well-delineated, eccentric secondary characters; and plot twists aplenty blend into a satisfying cozy series starter.

Murder disrupts an interracial family's adjustment to a rural English town. Londoners Daphne and James Brewster aren't sure how well they'll fit into the tiny Norfolk village of Pudding Corner. Daphne, "an immaculately presented thirty-something Black woman," has an edge to her, and James, "a blond and blue-eyed white male," knows that while he may fly under the radar, his wife will always speak her mind. But when a road rage incident over a London parking spot spooks the couple, they feel that a move to the country may be the safest option for them and their three children. They fit into their new home remarkably well: Daphne's neighbors are eager to buy her restored and hand-painted furniture, and their children thrive at Pepperbridge Primary School, where Charles Papplewick runs a tight ship. Not long after the Brewsters' arrival, however, the headmaster is unfortunately found dead in the potting shed on his beloved allotment. It takes nearly half the story for the local constabulary to decide that his death is a murder, but once they do, Daphne naturally gets sucked into the investigation. Sutton's unfolding of her narrative is peculiar: Following an introduction to the people and places in the village, the prologue seems more like a flashback. And after the murderer is unmasked, a true flashback revisits motives already revealed and introduces characters never mentioned before. The convoluted and sometimes redundant plotting deflates Sutton's otherwise crisp storytelling, giving the formidable Daphne's debut just a mite less punch. Here's hoping for a return of Sutton's heroine with the same pizzazz but a little less woolgathering. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.