What do you think?
Rate this book
Bunch Courtney Investigation #5
Deadly Plot
When the body of Nario Costa is dug up in Wyncombe's Victory Gardens, Bunch Courtney's investigations unearth far more than an escaped POW!
What at first appears to be a cold case takes a darker turn as she uncovers links far beyond her Sussex home -- and the body count begins to rise!
What at first appears to be a cold case takes a darker turn as she uncovers links far beyond her Sussex home -- and the body count begins to rise!
250 pages, Paperback
Published February 2, 2024
1 person is currently reading
1 person want to read
About the author
Jan Edwards
41 books42 followersJan Edwards - winner of the Arnold Bennett Book Prize with Winter Downs - Bunch Courtney Investigation #1.
She also has the Winchester Slim Volume prize and British Fantasy KEW award. Plus a joint British Fantasy Award for best Small Press (Alchemy Press).
Her latest book. In Her Defence - Bunch Courtney Investigation #2 is available now in paper and kindle formats!
Her short fiction can be found in crime, horror and fantasy anthologies in UK, US and Europe.
Jan edits anthologies for The Alchemy Press and Fox Spirit Press, and has written for Dr Who spinoffs with Reel Time Pictures as well as a short story in the accompanying book.
More details available at : http://janedwardsblog.wordpress.com/
Newsletter signup https://www.facebook.com/Janedwardsbo...
She also has the Winchester Slim Volume prize and British Fantasy KEW award. Plus a joint British Fantasy Award for best Small Press (Alchemy Press).
Her latest book. In Her Defence - Bunch Courtney Investigation #2 is available now in paper and kindle formats!
Her short fiction can be found in crime, horror and fantasy anthologies in UK, US and Europe.
Jan edits anthologies for The Alchemy Press and Fox Spirit Press, and has written for Dr Who spinoffs with Reel Time Pictures as well as a short story in the accompanying book.
More details available at : http://janedwardsblog.wordpress.com/
Newsletter signup https://www.facebook.com/Janedwardsbo...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 28, 2024
Set in World War II, this book is number 5 in a series, but each can be read as a stand alone. Here, a body is found buried in a shallow grave in the Victory Gardens, and the owner is an incomer!
This is the point in the history of the minor aristocracy where things fall apart, stately homes are requisitioned, staff called up to fight, etc.
The story is well plotted and has a great sense of time and place. Here we have thorough research, lightly worn. The characters are well rounded and believable. I really enjoyed it.
This is the point in the history of the minor aristocracy where things fall apart, stately homes are requisitioned, staff called up to fight, etc.
The story is well plotted and has a great sense of time and place. Here we have thorough research, lightly worn. The characters are well rounded and believable. I really enjoyed it.
January 29, 2024
I have loved every single one of the Bunch Courtney Investigation books, so I was very much looking forward to reading Deadly Plot. I knew I was in for a treat, and I wasn’t wrong.
In this book a body is found buried in a local allotment and Rose ‘Bunch’ Courtney is hired to help with the investigations, alongside her many other duties and responsibilities.
Bunch is a fabulous character. She’s determined she will not become a typical housewife and to be honest I doubt she’d even find the time. She very much needs to be busy. She is still grieving and trying to accept her own limitations whilst doing everything she can to support the war effort and help solve this most recent murder. I love how curious and intuitive she is. She is an asset to the team.
I love the relationship she has with her family and her colleagues. I do find her quite amusing at times. Her dedication to everything she does is admirable, especially considering the potential risks to her own life.
I love the language throughout this book and the setting. Obviously, I wasn’t alive during the war, and I’ve never been to Sussex, but this book transported me to that time and place. I was immersed in the story. There is such a diverse and fascinating cast of characters. I loved it!
If you love a good murder mystery, historical fiction, and/or books set during the war then look no further. If you’re new to the series though, start with book one, Winter Downs.
**Many thanks to Jan Edwards for my advance kindle copy for review**
https://chataboutbooks.blog/2024/01/2...
In this book a body is found buried in a local allotment and Rose ‘Bunch’ Courtney is hired to help with the investigations, alongside her many other duties and responsibilities.
Bunch is a fabulous character. She’s determined she will not become a typical housewife and to be honest I doubt she’d even find the time. She very much needs to be busy. She is still grieving and trying to accept her own limitations whilst doing everything she can to support the war effort and help solve this most recent murder. I love how curious and intuitive she is. She is an asset to the team.
I love the relationship she has with her family and her colleagues. I do find her quite amusing at times. Her dedication to everything she does is admirable, especially considering the potential risks to her own life.
I love the language throughout this book and the setting. Obviously, I wasn’t alive during the war, and I’ve never been to Sussex, but this book transported me to that time and place. I was immersed in the story. There is such a diverse and fascinating cast of characters. I loved it!
If you love a good murder mystery, historical fiction, and/or books set during the war then look no further. If you’re new to the series though, start with book one, Winter Downs.
**Many thanks to Jan Edwards for my advance kindle copy for review**
https://chataboutbooks.blog/2024/01/2...
February 23, 2024
When the body of Nario Costa is dug up in Wyncombe’s Victory Gardens Bunch is faced with another mystery to solve. Is it simply a case of an escaped POW or is there more to this cold case than meets the eye.
It rapidly appears that various local dignitaries may be involved, officialdom is keep to steer her away and the body count is rising.
Deadly Plot is the fifth in the series Bunch Courtney Investigates. It has a complex and intriguing plot which draws the reader in and holds the attention until the dramatic final chapters. As always in Jan Edward’s books the background has been meticulously researched and the sense of period is totally convincing. The fact that the author manages to do this from book to book is a testament of her skill.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the next one in the series.
It rapidly appears that various local dignitaries may be involved, officialdom is keep to steer her away and the body count is rising.
Deadly Plot is the fifth in the series Bunch Courtney Investigates. It has a complex and intriguing plot which draws the reader in and holds the attention until the dramatic final chapters. As always in Jan Edward’s books the background has been meticulously researched and the sense of period is totally convincing. The fact that the author manages to do this from book to book is a testament of her skill.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the next one in the series.
February 22, 2024
Deadly Plot by Jan Edwards
It’s 1941 and all land and gardens are being turned over for growing vegetables or keeping livestock in order to feed the country. However, one allotment produces more than it bargained for. The body of an escaped Italian POW is dug up in Wyncombe's Victory Gardens. This at first appears to be a cold case, brought to light when someone was stealing vegetables.
Bunch Courtney is charged with following up on the vegetable thief but of course she unearths far more than that. Things take a darker turn as she uncovers links far beyond her Sussex home. There is a war on after all.
This is a very well researched novel. If you like period stories with a crime element then you will enjoy this.
Brilliant fast-paced read which kept me awake into the small hours.
It’s 1941 and all land and gardens are being turned over for growing vegetables or keeping livestock in order to feed the country. However, one allotment produces more than it bargained for. The body of an escaped Italian POW is dug up in Wyncombe's Victory Gardens. This at first appears to be a cold case, brought to light when someone was stealing vegetables.
Bunch Courtney is charged with following up on the vegetable thief but of course she unearths far more than that. Things take a darker turn as she uncovers links far beyond her Sussex home. There is a war on after all.
This is a very well researched novel. If you like period stories with a crime element then you will enjoy this.
Brilliant fast-paced read which kept me awake into the small hours.
January 28, 2024
Wow this is another fab read. Bunch Courtney is a fab character this book set in wartime Somerset is a real rollercoaster involving secrets and murder. It’s worth reading this series from the beginning as the stories and characters develop over time but it’s a great series to get involved with. 4.5* from me
February 24, 2024
The latest instalment in the Bunch Courtney series doesn’t disappoint. Set in 1941 when digging for victory was a catchword, the body of Nario Costa, an Italian POW is discovered buried in an allotment plot in Victory Gardens. The plot (I chuckled at the double meaning of the word plot in this book) belongs to a newcomer, Marion Cawston who’d done little to ingratiate herself with the locals and therefore suspicion is rife.
Supported by an excellent cast of characters, and the prerequisite research a novel set in this period requires the story motors along collecting many more intriguing twists and turns. The obsequious Reggie Tallboys and The POW camp officer, Hamish Campbell. Very quickly Bunch’s investigations put her in danger as the story delves into more than just an escaped POW and stolen vegetables, the action moves right to the top of the Italian fascist party and at the end …
I won’t spoil it and tell you how it ends, let's just say it’s a surprise.
Supported by an excellent cast of characters, and the prerequisite research a novel set in this period requires the story motors along collecting many more intriguing twists and turns. The obsequious Reggie Tallboys and The POW camp officer, Hamish Campbell. Very quickly Bunch’s investigations put her in danger as the story delves into more than just an escaped POW and stolen vegetables, the action moves right to the top of the Italian fascist party and at the end …
I won’t spoil it and tell you how it ends, let's just say it’s a surprise.
December 17, 2024
The book was good I enjoyed it.
December 21, 2024
The year is 1941. Women are doing everything now from driving trucks to welding aircraft frames with so many men away at war. Food is rationed, there are blackouts at night and virtually every available piece of land is planted with much needed crops and vegetables. Those who can’t fight are manning the Home Guard and Civil Defence. DCI William Wright and DS Carter have been called to the Victory Gardens allotments in Wyncombe where, buried beneath the parsnips and brassicas, a corpse has been found, and a crowd has gathered. The Honourable Rose Courtney, Bunch to her friends, takes an immediate interest. After all, she’s been a great help to the Sussex Constabulary in the past and is now their Consulting Detective. The body is identified as Nario Costa, an Italian POW, and Bunch helps Wright with an interview but then he is called away to a brutal kidnapping, leaving Bunch in charge of this very cold case. Her enquiries show the victim was one of three men who escaped from a nearby camp and while two were recaptured, he was not, and was killed some months ago. There are more suspicious deaths to come, but together with running the estate, preparing for Christmas and supervising her Land Girls, will Bunch have the time and skills to solve this murder?
This is the fifth exciting and excellently researched story in the series featuring Bunch, set in Sussex during World War II which has Britain firmly in its grip. The family home, Perringham House, is inhabited by army personnel and Bunch herself is still living at the Dower House with her formidable Granny Beatrice who is still determined to marry Bunch off, Henry Marsham being the number one runner at present. Her mother died recently and her father is away on important foreign office war work. Granny’s committees and network of friends have proven invaluable at hunting out much needed gossip in the past together with Bunch’s many contacts, even though the family disapproves a little of her helping the police, especially as she does seem to find herself in some very dangerous situations. Bunch, for all her obvious privileges and wealth, is a hard worker and not afraid to get stuck into all manner of jobs and with now five cases in two years under her belt, I do hope there are more to come.
This is the fifth exciting and excellently researched story in the series featuring Bunch, set in Sussex during World War II which has Britain firmly in its grip. The family home, Perringham House, is inhabited by army personnel and Bunch herself is still living at the Dower House with her formidable Granny Beatrice who is still determined to marry Bunch off, Henry Marsham being the number one runner at present. Her mother died recently and her father is away on important foreign office war work. Granny’s committees and network of friends have proven invaluable at hunting out much needed gossip in the past together with Bunch’s many contacts, even though the family disapproves a little of her helping the police, especially as she does seem to find herself in some very dangerous situations. Bunch, for all her obvious privileges and wealth, is a hard worker and not afraid to get stuck into all manner of jobs and with now five cases in two years under her belt, I do hope there are more to come.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews