Just when you thought it was safe to go back to Dulwich… Ben, when she stumbles across a shocking new exhibit on display. Before she knows it, she’s in the thick of a fresh, and deeply chilling, investigation.
Just who is The Girl in the Gallery?
Join Beth in adventure #2 of The London Murder Mystery series as she tries to uncover the truth about a secret eating away at the very heart of Dulwich.
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I enjoyed tis book so much that I now own the whole series! A great read for anyone who enjoys cosy mysteries.
I loved Death in Dulwich and was pleased to see there was a follow up. It was great to see Beth again and find her in the midst of a new crime to solve and lovely to see potential love interest, DI York back again. A really engaging and intriguing plot with many twists and turns make this a fantastic cosy mystery and a series that I will continue to read with great interest.
Excellent book in a fabulous series. I thoroughly recommend Alic Castle’s novels. I enjoyed this book very much and have bought several copies as presents for friends too.
Favorite Quotes:
Katie wrinkled her brow. She and Beth were among the few that could pull off this feat in Dulwich, since Botox had become a hobby of the mummying classes.
Zoe was a dream babysitter, one of those swotty girls who’d been liberated from terminal uncoolness by J. K. Rowling’s wondrous invention, Hermione Grainger, patron saint of over-achieving girlhood everywhere.
She tiptoed further down the corridor, thanking the Lord for her soft soles. Angie Douglas might well turn her nose up at such comforts, and she was never going to argue that these lumpen shoes represented the most stylish choice out there for a woman of her build, but there was a lot to be said for rubber. She felt like the hippo in Fantasia creeping up on a load of half-starved gazelles.
Though much prettier –and a lot less wrinkly –the women were like the velociraptors in the Jurassic Park films: hyper-vigilant; alert to every threat; and presumably, every bit as deadly if anyone dared threaten their young.
Beth felt as though she was getting shorter by the second as he stood up. By the time he was upright, she was like Alice in Wonderland after drinking the shrinking potion.
My Review:
I enjoyed the premise and various storylines which picked up shortly after the first book left off, although I struggled more than a bit with the pacing with this installment and was waffling on the overall rating until I sorted through my favorite quotes and was thus compelled to give it a four-star rating due to the author’s wickedly clever wit alone. While I adore her skills, I didn’t feel as fully engaged with this narrative as I had been with the first book as there was a multitude of loose and rambling story threads to throw me off-track. Yet I reveled in the vibrant character depictions and deviously humorous observations, inner musings, and foibles of this quirky ensemble. My main annoyance was while the storyline of the floundering investigation advanced at an excruciatingly slow rate; in the final pages, it was resolved so quickly it felt anti-climatic. However, I remain eager to read the next installment and am well pleased to announce two new additions to my Brit Vocabulary List with “argy-bargy,” which the Urban Dictionary told me was “a heated discussion, perhaps one that has become bad-tempered enough to amount to a spat or minor quarrel,” and is actually of Scottish origin; and OAP which Mr. Google told me was an Old Age Pensioner and what is now my official designation… I wear it with pride!
In the second book, Girl in the Gallery, Beth once again finds herself at the center of a new mystery. Again, she finds herself at odds at times with Inspector York. However, they do make a great team, and they do work well together most of the time. Castle does a great job of continuing to build not only the main characters but the secondary characters as well. Not only is this a great mystery, Castle also touches on some really important social issues. I love the setting, and as with the first book, I’m anticipating the next book in the series. As she asks, her friend, “And anyway, seriously, what else could possibly happen in Dulwich,” we all know Beth will be back. She has a knack for murder mysteries, and I for one can’t wait until she’s back.