The second book in this modern mystery series takes place the winter after the previous book, with Ally and her young friend Jayden having established a bit of a name for themselves in the local area as the Shell House Detectives. A fiery chef is murdered in the nearby village of Mousehole (which is apparently an actual real place, as is Tom Bawcock’s Eve, around which the action takes place) and although the Shell House Detectives don’t want to get involved, the fact that the murdered man may turn out to be their friend Saffron’s absent father brings them into it.
I continued to enjoy the friendship between recently widowed older woman, Ally, and new father Jayden as this adventure tests the boundaries of that friendship. There wasn’t nearly as much Gus as I would have liked, as Ally struggles with any potential feelings she may or may not have for him. Mullins still really tries to be a “loveable rogue” while still being just a bit of a dick (but getting better at not being so). We see a bit into Jayden’s marriage and seeds are obviously being planted for future storylines there.
The murder itself and its solution is a bit of a damp squib, and gets solved pretty much by accident, without any active work from either the protagonists or the police. But then this series seems to be much more about the characters than the crimes. It’s about Ally coming out of her shell; Jayden’s deep love of fatherhood; Saffron’s grief; and the relationships between all of them. There’s a few too many side characters, each with their own PoV chapters, but it’s still a very pleasant read, and I’ll probably dive into the next one too.
