Book Review: A Spoonful of Murder by J.M. Hall

 My Rating :

 3.5⭐️ 

As the story begins, we meet Liz, Pat and Thelma, former colleagues and retired teachers of St. Barnabus’s Primary School who meet up every Thursday at the Thirsk Garden Centre café sharing gossip and tidbits about their lives and families. On one particular Thursday, they bump into Topsy, another ex-colleague, former nursery nurse at the same school, and her daughter Kelly Anne. Topsy is in the early stages of dementia , a condition that has worsened since the death of her husband . KellyAnne is her only caregiver. While the friends appreciate KellyAnne’s taking care of her mother and sympathize with their situation, they also sense that there is something that is not quite right when Topsy shares some disturbing facts . This prompts the friends to visit her at her home. They come to know that recently Topsy has been the victim of financial fraud and has lost all her life savings.  When Topsy is found dead in her home the following week Liz, Pat and Thelma suspect that there might be more to her death than meets the eye.

Though Topsy's death is attributed to her “muddling” her medication , the friends take it upon themselves to investigate both  her death and the bank fraud which occurred prior to the same, all the while dealing with their personal family concerns. Added to the mix is Paula, Topsy’s cleaner and former employee at the school where Topsy and the ladies were employed who has nothing good to say about KellyAnne , Paula's stripper/call center worker son, a real estate agent with dubious intentions, a builder with a corrupt agenda and a bank employee who is definitely hiding something. 

J.M.Hall’s debut novel, A Spoonful of Murder is a charming cozy mystery with three smart, inquisitive and determined protagonists, a  good dose of humor and an interesting premise. The story touches upon issues such as elder care and financial exploitation of vulnerable individuals by fraudulent entities, both of which are important issues. However, the narrative does take a while to pick up the pace, and only does so after the halfway mark. I found the writing a bit long-drawn and repetitive in parts and it took a bit of effort to focus as I waited for the mystery to unravel. There are multiple red herrings and numerous sub-plots which are a bit difficult to keep track of and do distract from the primary track. Though my attention wavered at points I was happy with the way the story is ultimately wrapped up. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books, UK for the digital review copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.