Published By: Michael Joseph
Pages: 400
Released On: 08/10/2026
Nina is a promising young journalist. She’s also an alcoholic.
Once a week, she attends a recovery group in the local church hall. When a stranger walks in one night, the group think they might have a new member. Until he promptly drops dead.
The police believe it’s nothing more than an accident. But the group soon realise there’s more to this mystery than meets the eye, when they discover a cryptic crossword clue hidden in the dead man’s pocket – the answer to which is Murder.
As more mysterious and threatening clues start appearing in a newspaper crossword, Nina and team must work to crack this cryptic case. Can they solve the clues, and catch a killer?
Or will the next crossword spell death for one of them…
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I’ve been so excited about this book. This is her debut and it was interesting to read a new voice.
Each chapter heading is a cryptic crossword clue that is answered within the chapter. You don’t need to answer them to read the book but it makes for a fun little extra game whilst reading it – a bit like what Alexandra Benedict does with her books. I am no good at cryptic crosswords and out of 40+ clues I managed to get one, and I was so pleased with myself.
This is such an accomplished debut. I have read a lot of cosy crime books in my time and as much as I enjoy them, they can get a bit samey and formulaic. But this had everything I expected from the genre but it felt fresh and exciting.
I made the mistake of starting it in bed one night which meant I was up a lot later than I’d have liked because I just wanted to read one more chapter.
Is it a little implausible? Sure. Is that a negative? Not in my books. All cosy crime books are exaggerated to an extent. Take the great Agatha Christie – her crime novels are not 100% realistic but you enjoy them all the same, for the story, for the world you’re entering. So yeah, sure, some bits might be a bit unbelievable but I liked those moments; it adds more layers to the story and makes it even more fun.
It’s a little slow going at first, which doesn’t necessarily have to be a negative. It gives you time to get introduced to everyone and find your footing. But it probably really kicks in around halfway, so I do advise you stick it it because the payoff is worth it.
Alys hasn’t focussed solely on the crime. Yes that’s the main plot, obviously, but she’s given each character their own story and given them so much depth that there are other plotlines going on. And she hasn’t sugar-coated the difficult topics such as alcoholism, which roots it more in reality.
I saw a couple of low-starred reviews and whilst I completely understand that we all like different things and no one book can be a five-star read for every single person, I was surprised to see them. Sure it wasn’t necessarily anything new but it’s so well done that it doesn’t matter and the familiarity of it almost became comforting.
Unsurprisingly I didn’t figure out the whodunnit.
It’s perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Robert Thorogood.
Is it the best cosy crime novel I’ve ever read? No I don’t think so. But I think it’s such a promising debut. It’s so clever and original, which keeps a saturated genre fresh. The characters are well written with their own histories and I loved reading about them. The whodunnit itself was layered and mysterious, if at times a tad implausible (but I didn’t care). I’d say this is a solid debut and I’m looking forward to what she does next. But I think this is going to be a popular book around the Christmas tree this December.
Books By Your Bedside 