Too much cringe.

Molly Kimball and her mother Nina move to Cambridge, England to help out their aunt Violet in running her bookshop. The bookshop has been in the family for over 400 years, but it seems aunt Violet has forgotten to get with the times. The back-catalogue hasn’t been updated since the Great War.

Molly makes fast friends with Daisy who runs a tea room across the street and Kieran and Tim who run a bike shop or are builders or servers, the story is a bit unclear on that point.

A lot of things happen fast in this story. One evening plans for the bookshop are made to host events, the next morning a wall is knocked through to make an entrance to the backroom where those events will be hosted. With the help of Myrtle - an old friend - the first event is hosted two weeks later. At the end of which Myrtle is found in the backyard, stabbed to death with a knitting needle.

Aunt Violet is an easy suspect - it appears the knitting needle came from her knitting bag. Certain that her aunt - who she has know all of two weeks - cannot have committed this crime, Molly sets out to investigate.

Well, investigate. People seem to fall over themselves to present alternative suspects, motives and other clues to Molly.

It’s all too easy. Is it too much to ask to have a MC that has to struggle at least a little bit?

The only problem Molly seems to have is that she knows nothing of her mother’s background and family. This is an issue for her, otherwise she would not get so riled up by someone asking about it. And while, yes, it seems strange that Molly knows so little about her mother’s side of the family (considering how close she and her mother are), but such things do happen and a comment as “Maybe Americans don’t place the same importance on family as we Brits do.” is uncalled for. (And rather laughable since plenty of Brits still send their kids off to boarding school.)

And yet, I did not hate the book. At least not until the author thought it fit to explain the concept of advanced reader copies and gave Fiona the same nervous tick as Ruth earlier in the book.

Other reviewers have commented on the author’s need to explain British customs to the reader, but none have mentioned the cringe worthy dialogue that results from the author’s desire to show off her knowledge. When Molly tells Kieran a picture of her went viral, Kieran asks if it was on page three (enabling the author to explain page three photos). Please, dear author, if you want me to think sympathetically of your MC’s love interest do not have him ask “so were you ever topless in a national newspaper?” Particularly not on a first date.

I wish there was less focus on a knitting needle as a murder weapon, ‘cause every time it was mentioned my mind fluttered off to the thought how unlikely a knitting needle is as a murder weapon: it has a blunt point, is relatively thin. You’d probably need considerable force to pierce the skin with one. Particularly, if you have to go through several layers of clothing, including a (thick winter)coat.

The scene where the murderer confesses is laughable. And of course, the missing will is found. Tidy Tom had used it as a bookmark.

That was the last cringe.