A Very Lively Murder (Three Dahlias Mysteries Book 2)

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The story felt like a delicious puzzle to get stuck into and I found myself getting my notebook out to jot down ideas, very much like one of the characters in the book. Praise for A Very Lively Murder'A truly entertaining crime novel in the Three Dahlias series, very much in the Agatha Christie tradition, and I hope this series will continue' Shots Magazine'Will please those who liked the opening book' The Critic'Fiendeshly clever' Bucks Herald Praise for Katy Watson'An absolute treat of a read with all the ingredients of a vintage murder mystery: a country house, mysterious dead bodies and three actresses all keen to catch the killer. This is a jolly romp of a murder mystery that looks at how generations can work together and draw strength from each other under the premise of one some might say weak connection – that they have all played a fictional detective. A murder mystery with a nod to the golden era, three strong female lead characters and a locked room scenario.

Dahlia Lively is a character in a set of books supposedly written from 1930 onwards and each of the chapters in this book begins with a quotation from one of the novels that has reference to something that will occur in the chapter. I enjoyed this book every bit as much as the first one and hope that we see the three dahlias again soon. The plot is well concieved, and has several layers - and there is a good cast of characters (literally, as the action is centred around the filming of a movie). I enjoyed the first book in the series and loved coming back to some of my favorite characters… I will be waiting with bated breath for the third installment. After the events at Aldermere, Posy Rosalind and Caro are trying to fit into their new roles but someone has murder in mind and it looks like Rosalind could be in their sights!Caro, too, had her arms folded tightly across her chest, her eyebrows furrowed, as she tried to make sense of it.

This time around our plucky heroines are off to Wales to shoot The Lady Detective, the new movie based on the Dahlia Lively series of mysteries as written by Lettice Davenport from the 1930s to 1960s. This is such a good story, as with the previous book, this is a little more intricate than the usual cosy crime. Not only did I enjoy spending time with these characters again but I loved the respect that Watson has for the genre. During the filming the pair realise that Rosalind is being targeted by a dangerous killer and contact Caro Hooper (the star of the tv series as Dahlia) to help them with their investigation.The Three Dahlias refers to Dahlia Lively a fictional lady detective and the three different actresses who have played her over the years. However, I think that the author provides enough explanation that this one can be read as a stand alone.

But when Rosalind suffers two almost fatal near misses on set it's clear that there is the sender of the notes means to do more than just upset her, and so when one of the cast members is killed it's time for the Dahlias to do what they do best (after acting of course) - find a killer.I just love reading murder mysteries like these - there are the three leading ladies, a filming in London, and lots of sleuthing in a locked room mystery setting and ahhhh it was just such a fun read. After a lot of pages of- nothing-happenings and Rosalind being threatened, but won't go to the police -later (which is around 168 pages or half mark of the book) we finally get the first body dropped. I discovered this series about two weeks ago and since then I devoured the first book in the series (The Three Dahlias), the fun Christmas short story (Dahlias Decks the Halls), and now the second book, (A Very Lively Murder).