A welcome return to home ground for Kitty and Matt as they seek to solve the case of a murdered farmer and uncover all the secrets and lies surrounding him, his farm and his family.

I love this series and have been reading it for a few years now and still enjoy every installment that gets released. There is something special though, when the cases are closer to home and so can more easily include Kitty and Matt's support network including Alice, Chief Inspector Greville and of course Bertie.

This particular case has plenty of red herrings, twists and multiple viable suspects so it moves along quickly and is a thoroughly enjoyable read overall. The drama of the finale was particularly effective and I thought that the opening murder was actually more gruesome than what we normally see - a nasty death for a nasty victim. There is some discussion of sexual assault which is darker than we normally see in this series and which I think added to the more mature turn that we've been seeing over the last few books.

This installment of the series is a great historical fiction mystery that's dramatic and tense and even with the darker elements it remains a fun read as you try and solve the case alongside Kitty and Matt.

4.5* 

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a digital review copy of "Murder in the Countryside" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.