Review: The Chidham Creek Murders (Solent Murder Mystery Book 18) by Pauline Rowson

                                                                 

Print Length: 322 pages

Publisher: Jofee Books (September 10, 2024) 

From Goodreads.com:  A secretive celebrant. A multimillionaire heir. A staged murder.

The house smells of death. Not rotting flesh, but a mustiness that wraps itself around Detective Andy Horton as he enters. He makes his way to the living room and rapidly takes in the scene.

Juliette Croft, a professional celebrant, is dead in her living room, sprawled on an orange velvet sofa with empty bottles of champagne and medicine neatly arranged on the coffee table beside her.

Horton is immediately suspicious — it’s all too neat and tidy. The champagne glasses are dry, and there’s no smell of alcohol on the body.

When Horton tries to notify Juliette’s next of kin, he discovers the sole beneficiary of her will is one Rodney Pierce, a multimillionaire businessman.

But Rodney says he’s never heard of Juliette, and it’s not like he needs the money.

Then another body is discovered on the shores of Chidham Creek and the case takes a shocking turn . . .

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My Rating: 2 stars out of 5

I had a lot of issues with this one. To begin with when I requested this book, I did so not only because the synopsis sounded interesting, but because it was billed as a brand new crime thriller. It wasn't until I looked at GoodReads until I realized it is not actually a new series as Netgalley made it seem, but actually book number eighteen in an established series. 

Of course, this made it hard for me to keep track of all of the different officers working alongside Horton, especially since there wasn't anything really identifiable about any of them that made one stand out from the rest which I thought odd for a series with this many books. There were also some references to other people and events that I assume happened in the prior novels, but which made no sense to me coming in this far in. Where it gets tricky though, is we also were introduced to a bevvy of other characters on top of the police force. I'm talking victims, members of the families Juliette had performed services for, and other characters that filled various other roles (including ones just on the periphery of the story). It all made for a jumble of names that meant more often than not I had no idea who was being spoken about, or what their role in the story was meant to be. 

I also feel as though a good chunk of this novel could have been edited out as there were parts that dragged on and weighed the story down. Two examples of this that come to mind are during the investigation when the cops sit around speaking on what happened as though they are speaking facts, when it's only their suppositions without any facts to back it up. Another was at the very end when everything had wrapped up, and yet pages went on where Horton sat with one of his other colleagues (the normal medical examiner who had been on holiday) and she went on and on about how one of the deaths might have been accidental vitamin overdose. It was unnecessary as the story had already been wrapped, and nothing was gained by including it. There were also many other instances of there being just too many details (or story-lines that were happening on the periphery) that again added nothing to the overall story. 

If you are a long-time fan of this series, I can see where you would enjoy this story. But if you're brand new like me, I highly suggest skipping it and maybe starting back at the beginning so you decide if the author's writing style is something you enjoy without the hinderance of everything already being so well established.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.