Julia Bird’s picturesque Cotswolds life is everything she’d dreamed of. Until, that is, she discovers a dead body in the library…

Julia Bird had imagined the quiet of rural life would be soothing after years in the city, but she finds she can’t just sit still. Determined to throw herself into village activities, she joins the library just in time to attend a talk by celebrated local author Vincent Andrews.

Charming, devilishly handsome and talented, Vincent teases the crowd with a reading from his forthcoming novel. Set in a village bearing strange similarities to Berrywick, with characters the audience start to recognise, Vincent hints of dark secrets to be revealed, to gasps of outrage from the room. The meeting ends in uproar, and, just hours later, Vincent’s dead body is discovered behind the bookshelves …

As one of the last people to see him alive, Julia feels morally bound to help the police investigate. With her trusty Labrador, Jake, at her side, she decides to do her own sleuthing on the sly and quickly discovers that Vincent’s personal life is messy, his finances are in disarray and his book sales are declining. But most of all, remembering her neighbours’ faces at the book reading, Julia wonders if one of them could have lost the plot enough to kill…

As Julia interrogates the suspects, she walks straight into another scene of murder and mayhem, and realises Vincent’s manuscript is now missing. There’s someone out there who’s deadly serious about keeping their secrets unpublished… Will Julia be able to stop them, before anyone else gets hurt?

Brilliantly twisty, this completely thrilling cozy mystery is perfect for fans of M.C. Beaton, Helena Marchmont and Clare Chase.

Readers love Katie Gayle:

‘Wow! I need to get my breath back after that!… Moves along at a break-neck pace.’ Fiction Books Blog

‘Fantastic… I can’t say enough good things about this book. I just loved every minute.’ Fireflies & Freekicks

‘Katie Gayle never fails to keep me laughing, entertained, and trying to figure out the mystery til the very end. I absolutely adore this book… 10/10… This book is absolutely perfect!’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

‘Undoubtedly rollicking good fun. If the need to escape reality for a few hours presents itself, I can highly recommend this hilarious hullabaloo of a read.’ NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars

‘There is so much I adored about this book!… The perfect mixture of humour and mystery makes this book an absolute page turner that I would highly recommend to everyone!’ Victoria Wilks Blog

‘Thrilling and immensely enjoyable… An absolute joy to read… Will have readers laughing out loud and keep them glued to the pages from beginning to end.’ Bookish Jottings

‘Uplifting, endlessly charming and highly original cosy mystery… Filled with drama, action, twists… A fabulous, and much-needed, piece of escapism in these times.’ Readers Retreat