The year is 1959 and Judy Dimont, Devon's most famous sleuthing reporter, is as busy as ever!
Not only are her hands full vying for the title of ace reporter for the Riviera Express after a new hotshot journalist appears on the scene, by the name of David Renishaw, but she is also trying to deal with the impending Christmas visit of her domineering mother...and now, bodies are once again turning up in the delightful seaside resort of Temple Regis.
And on top of all this, Judy has been asked by her old friend Geraldine Phipps to look into the suspicious death of an old socialite acquaintance of hers many years before. Where to even start with this one?
Can Judy solve the mysteries of the murders happening now and the suspicious death from the past, while negotiating the ups and downs of her personal life, against the backdrop of political machinations in picturesque Temple Regis? She is going to give it a damn good try!
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This is my first Judy Dimont Mystery and it is 1950s-fabulous!
A cosy murder mystery set between the Wars is normally my preference - such as an early Poirot - but I have to say that this book has dug a great big place in my heart for the 1950s!
As book four in the series, it did take me a little while to get my head around all the characters in Temple Regis that have been established in the first three books, but I was soon off and running with the goings-on in Devon's prettiest sea-side resort. There are some great characters here - small town stick-in-the-muds, cranky old timers, thrusting new-comers and all the eccentrics you would expect to find in a Devon sea-side resort - all beautifully written to fit into the post-War years of the Fifties, with all the promise of the Swinging Sixties ahead.
I particularly enjoyed that Judy and many of her female compatriots (be they of a past or new generation) are beautifully written to be strong, intelligent and more than able to hold their own. I also loved that Judy is a woman in her fifties with an amazing past - this was so refreshing, as a reader in my fifties myself. It was very interesting to see Judy and her female friends coping with life in a small traditionally minded town, and the plot-line about women standing for election to become MPs in the male bastion of the House of Commons was great.
The plot-lines are complex and weave together in an engrossing way. I found I was ahead of Judy about the identity of one of the characters here, but it was lovely see see her put the pieces together and catch-up, once she was past the distracting visit from her mother! There was still plenty left for me to find out by the time I got to the end of the book, but I was not expecting a cliff-hanger!
Although Temple Regis is fictional, I lived some years in Torquay as a teenager and found many delicious little nods towards Torbay, Dartmouth and the surrounding area here, which absolutely charmed me. You ca also tell that the author is most certainly a cat person - another tick from me!
This is one of those books that draws you into a series. I am intrigued to find out where the next book will go, as I am now very fond of Judy and her friends - with a soft-spot for Terry and his camera obsessed ways, who reminds me of my own father in his 1950s hey day. But I have also enjoyed Died and Gone To Devon so much that I will be going back to read the first three books too, over the next few months, for the back story - always a massive compliment from me!
If you like your murder mysteries intelligent, cosy and nostalgic, then I highly recommend Died And Gone To Devon. If the vibe from the excellent Father Brown series with Mark Williams appeals to you, then this will too.
Died And Gone To Devon is available now from your favourite book retailer!
From the book cover of Died And Gone To Devon:
Temple Regis, 1959: Devon’s prettiest seaside resort is thrown into turmoil by the discovery of a body abandoned in the lighthouse.
It’s only weeks since another body was found in the library – and for the Riviera Express’s ace reporter-turned-sleuth Judy Dimont, there’s an added complication. Her friend Geraldine Phipps is begging her to re-investigate a mysterious death from many years before.
What’s more, Judy’s position as chief reporter is under threat when her editor takes on hot-shot journalist David Renishaw, whose work is just too good to be true.
Life is busier than ever for Devon's most famous detective. Can Judy solve the two mysteries – and protect her position as Temple Regis’s best reporter – before the murderer strikes again?
The Judy Dimont Mystery series begins with The Riviera Express, then continues with books two and three, Resort To Murder and A Quarter Past Dead, before this latest installment. All are available now!
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