A Most Malicious Messenger

By Katherine Black

What it’s about?

Menacing texts lead to murder in an English village, in this unmissable, witty mystery by the Dagger Award–nominated author of A Most Unusual Demise.

May Morrigan is in her bookshop one morning when she—and everyone else in the shop—receives an anonymous text. It contains a reference to a Shakespeare quotation—and seems to be aimed at the vicar and his partner, Juan. The next morning, one of them is dead.

Meanwhile, May’s elderly mother, Minty, is staying with her, her old friend Fletcher, and her two dogs. To her dismay, Minty is quite preoccupied with death herself lately. She also keeps reminiscing about her past in ways that make May wonder what secrets she’s hiding. 

As disturbing texts continue to arrive, the Blackheath residents are threatened with further revelations and titillations. Then Fletcher becomes the focus of the tormenting texter . . . and barely escapes an attempt on his life. It’s time for May to send a strong message—and block this killer permanently . . .

What I think:

Not going to lie, I initially wanted to read this series because of the sausage dogs on the cover! I have a couple of mini dachshunds myself so it definitely appealed!

This is such a readable book!

I’m a big fan of a cosy mystery and this is a great one!The characters are eccentric and brilliant, quirky but relatable.

I love the friendship between May and Fletcher and how accepting they are of each others’ interests and foibles.

May’s mother, Minty, had me genuinely laughing out. Katherine Black is absolutely brilliant at writing comedy that is farcical but never loses its heart. Minty gets herself into some sticky situations and I loved her matter of fact way of dealing with things.

The mystery at the heart of the book is intriguing and kept me guessing. I felt like I was along May and Fletcher as they worked to unravel the clues that were keeping the whole village busy.

This is a gem of a book – the absolute perfect read for such a stormy weekend. I will absolutely be reading more of the series and looking forward to seeing how the characters develop in the future.

Thank you to Love Books Tours for my gifted copy of the book and for inviting me to be a part of this brilliant blog tour.