Marrow Jam

5☆ I Highly Recommend This, Wonderfully Compelling, Uplifting, Light hearted, Witty, Cosy Murder Mystery!<br /><br /><br />Marrow Jam is a wonderfully compelling cosy murder mystery with a fabulous cast of characters and a good dose of light hearted humour which will have you giggling out loud!.<br />A Perfect Read for lockdown.<br /><br />The story starts with Miss Beattie Bramshaw being questioned by the police. She was found in the allotment on her hands and knees with some incriminating items. <br />Especially as there has just been a murder and Beattie could be a potential suspect.<br />​<br />The story then jumps back several weeks to before the incident and Elmesbury<br />Annual Village Fete.<br /><br />Beattie and Phyllis are best friends. They have both just entered the great bake off competition at the fete, which they do every year.<br />But Phyllis entry for the cake &amp; jam was a bit of a disaster. <br /><br />Beattie is secretary of the Elmesbury WI club, and she prides herself on her bakes. <br /><br />You see Yvonne Richards, was a judge at the fête and her body has just been discovered only a short distance from the allotments, where Beattie was found! Could Beattie really of murdered Yvonne?<br /><br />I loved how this book featured characters from the older generation it made a refreshing change and I certainly loved reading about the WI, it's something that has always fascinated me and would of loved to of joined a club.<br /><br />Marrow Jam is such a feel good read, the murder mystery aspect was perfectly plotted and with a few suspicious suspects I had great fun becoming a sleuth.<br />The plot was superb, cosy, very funny and witty, the characters were an eclectic loveable bunch and the village community setting was delightful.<br />This is my first book by Susan A King and I can't wait to read more!<br /><br />So if you are looking for an Uplifting, Light Hearted, Fun, Witty, Cosy Murder Mystery, with Memorable Characters then I can't Recommend Reading Marrow Jam by Susan A King Enough! <br />​<br /><br />​Thank you to Rachel Random Resources for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.<br />​<br /><br /><br /><br />You can Find this Review and all my Other Reviews on My Blog :- <br /><br /><a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://dashfan81.blogspot.com/2020/05/blog-tour-marrow-jam.html">https://dashfan81.blogspot.com/2020/0...</a>

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://donnasbookblog.wordpress.com/2020/04/27/blogtour-bookreview-for-marrow-jam-by-susan-a-king-rararesources/">https://donnasbookblog.wordpress.com/...</a><br /><br />I thought that this story was great and I loved the characters!<br /><br />The book was very well written and I loved the flow that the author had to the story. It was a top notch cosy mystery and the perfect book to escape with for me<br /><br />The story was brilliant, it was easy to follow and I was happily dipping in and out of the book over the course of an afternoon. I thought that the characters were excellent, they were really well developed and they worked well together too – I loved their interaction, I was giggling in places and I loved that about the book, the author really brought country life, to life!<br /><br />I will definitely be looking out for more books from this author in the future, this was a delightful read and already want to read more!<br /><br />It is 4.5 stars from me for this one, rounded up to 5 stars for Goodreads and Amazon - it was a fab story and it is definitely one that I will be very highly recommending!

Get ready for the WI ladies, led by the inimitable Beattie Bramshaw, in this humour packed murder mystery! This brilliant story had me laughing out loud so much I had to read some of it to my husband. It is a hilarious read, with great characters, developing relationships and just so funny - exactly what I needed!<br /><br />This story has a mysterious murder, a multitude of possible murderers and a determined, community leader, with a rambling way of explaining things but a keen eye for detail that will hopefully help solve the case! There's also a secret admirer of her who she is annoyed at because his prize marrows keep helping him win best in show! This is a fantastic, funny community drama which is told with great humour with a side helping of romance. It is a story I have absolutely no hesitation in highly recommending - what a superb story to escape our current realities in.<br /><br />I requested and was gifted a copy of this book and this is my honest opinion after choosing to read it and literally laughing my way through it.

MY REVIEW<br />?I loved this book! It is a perfect light read that made it a story to follow with ease, but for me the chapters were the right size that I could easily read to a suitable point at the end of a night to stop. That didn't mean that I always found it easy to stop. I wanted to keep reading because I loved the characters and their day to day lives.<br /><br />?Having been in a WI myself, I could pinpoint those characters in my own group which made me chuckle (but none of our characters look to have murderous tendencies!)<br /><br />?This is the first Susan King that I have read and I am so pleased with it that I am diving straight into the next one to review that too.<br /><br />????/5<br />@rachelsrandomresources @susan.king63

Five proper W.I. stars for a cozy mystery, Marrow Jam by Susan A. King. While I’m handing out stars, I may as well give the author her Best in Class rosette and her Best in Show trophy. This humorous and agreeable English country village mystery is a winner!<br /><br />All the characters that a story, set in a small, close-knit village English village like Elmsebury, requires are here. Beattie is our heroine and she should be! She is the secretary of the Elmesbury W.I., a fastidious spinster who lives in a charming cottage, bakes delightful pastries, and monitors everything in a decorous way. Her best friend is Phyllis, a nice lady who is not the force of nature that Beattie is. The postmistress, hard of hearing, the Vicar, the small tavern, constables confused and inept, the classic and idyllic village green and the annual summer Fete are all delightfully portrayed. <br /><br />The story is told, to the minute, during September, 1999 with flashbacks to the momentous events of the summer. It all begins In July, 1999 with Beattie and Phyllis at the annual Fete and Beattie’s entry in the Great Bake challenge, a Caribbean coffee gateaux with coconut butter cream and mango glazed coffee beans. Will Beattie win the coveted Fete trophy for Best in Show or will Douglas Sparrow and his prize marrow prevail…again?!<br /><br />But the story really begins with Beattie being interrogated for hours by the Constable in September. Someone has been murdered. Beattie wasn’t involved in that, but as she eventually tells the Constable, she has been involved in plenty of other happenings. Happenings that alarmed the whole village, including Douglas Sparrow and other village men.<br /><br />With plenty of details, such as a magical Walnut Loaf, the events of the Bring and Buy sale, and even agriculture and fertilizer, the charming details and well-told story will delight you. As will the happy ending, when we learn that even the redoubtable Beattie just wants to be loved.<br /><br />Congratulations to author Susan A. King for a cozy visit to Elmesbury, and I hope there will be more Beattie stories forthcoming! Thanks to Rachel’s Random resources for a review copy. This is my honest review.<br />

Beattie is being interviewed by the police having been found on an allotment with a deadly weapon in her hands She tell s them “if I was going to do anything amiss I wouldn't have the 12cm kitchen knife it would have been the 14cm one”. Someone is dead, someone Beattie had crossed swords with and she is giving her version of events which began at the local fete where Beattie entered her coffee and mango cake and won her class. Doug Sparrow yet again won best in show with his enormous marrow and Beattie was determined to bring him down a peg or two. And so we get the tale from the show onwards. I really enjoyed this. It's a Miss Marple/Father Brown with humour. Think local villages and W.I and we are in 1999 and so have a little technology to hand. This is a cozy crime with a smile, a little romance, a little mystery and a larger than life character that reminded me of Madam Arcarti (without the seance). A wonderful enjoyable read that cheered me up no end!<br />For more reviews please see my blog <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="http://nickibookblog.blogspot.co.uk/">http://nickibookblog.blogspot.co.uk/</a><br />or follow me on Twitter@nickisbookblog<br />

I never realised I could be so gripped by a book with a marrow in the title, but I loved this book sooo much! I was either absolutely beside myself laughing because of Beattie (the main character) or on the edge of my pillow (reading in bed) needing to know what will happen next. For me this book had everything, so cleverly put together and every character developed so well that I felt like I knew them all, like I was laughing along with them! I cannot wait to read more from Susan A King!

A thoroughly warm and lovely read, a warm hug of a murder mystery. Great characters, great mystery, I really enjoyed it.

*I received a free ARC of this book with thanks to the author and Rachel Gilbey at Rachel’s Random Resources blog tours. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*<br /><br />Part cosy mystery and part slapstick rom-com, Marrow Jam is a delightfully chaotic romp through a small village murder investigation.<br /><br />We first meet Beattie Bramshaw in an unusual and compromising state in a police interrogation room. Completely unflappable in the face of DI Grayson’s accusations and exasperation, she proceeds to take us back seven weeks to the village fete and the start of the whole vendetta. The vendetta being related to Beattie’s nemesis, Doug Sparrow and his incredibly large marrow, of course. The murder of the competition judge is barely a sidenote in Beattie’s account of her increasingly demented escapades!<br /><br />We don’t just get Beattie’s view of events though. Susan A. King allows some of the side characters, most notably Beattie’s faithful – if frustrated – sidekick and best friend, Phyllis. Phyllis has problems of her own that keep her from devoting her full attention to Beattie’s marrow madness; her husband has taken up with another woman and left Phyllis all alone, except her unenthusiastic dog and her over-enthusiastic friend. But can anyone find love in Elmesbury, or are they stuck with walnut loaf and wishes? And what, or who, exactly is that despicable Doug Sparrow wishing for?<br /><br />At first I found Beattie amusing but also fairly irritating… an experience which I am sure many members of the Elmesbury WI would be all too familiar with. As the story unfolded, however, and she let slip snippets of information about her childhood, and showed real concern and loyalty for her friends, Beattie grew on me. This effect applied to all of the characters in the book, as the author cleverly duped us into judging them on first appearances, then revealed their warm hearts, soft feelings, witty tongues and open minds. By the time I turned the last page, I was thoroughly invested in, and attached to, the little village and its eccentric inhabitants.<br /><br />Plus, there is a well-written and thoroughly intriguing murder mystery to unravel as well, between Beattie’s recklessly impulsive crusade and Phyllis’s search for companionship (preferably someone who won’t get her thrown in prison). Whilst I did get to the bottom of the mystery before Beattie – to be fair, her mind was on many, many other things – that didn’t affect my enjoyment one bit, as I followed the comedic romp of the characters from speed-dating disasters to allotment rendezvous.<br /><br />Marrow Jam is a standout standalone of a wacky rom-com cosy mystery that left me longing for more from Beattie Bramshaw and her unique approach to amateur investigation.<br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /> Beattie studied Phyllis’ slumped shoulders and her heart went out to her. Having resigned herself to the solitary existence of spinsterdom many years ago, it was now an effort to recall the deep-seated pain which had accompanied the break-up of her own engagement. The unhappy event had been life changing; the catalyst which had driven her to dedicate her life to the honing of her skills and become the undisputed Elmesbury WI crafts aficionado. The diversion had served its purpose well, material objects having an undeniable element of reliability. She could always depend on a generously-filled shortcrust pie to elicit the required congratulatory comment but people, she had come to discover, were a source of constant disappointment — so much better to live one’s life vicariously and avoid the inevitable regret.<br /><br />– Susan A. King, Marrow Jam<br /><br /><br />Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog<br /><a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpress.com/2020/05/01/blog-tour-marrow-jam-susan-a-king/">https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpres...</a>

Marrow Jam is a light hearted comic mystery with plenty of memorable, if not slightly mad, characters. <br /><br />The story starts with Beattie being arrested trespassing on the local allotments. The police are convinced that they’ve got their woman after a body was discovered not far from where she was found. She takes them back through the events that lead to her arrest and tries to convince them of her innocence and find the killer in the process.<br /><br />I loved the fact that the story was full of older characters and your typical granny types either. Beattie is one of those characters that you’re not quite sure if you like her but she grows on you eventually. She’s very competitive, fastidious and doesn’t suffer fools but as the story unfolds you see why she is the way she is. I also had a soft spot for her best friend, poor put upon Phyllis, who just can’t say no to her friend. <br /><br />The story was also set in 1999 and I enjoyed some of the nineties references which took me back to my childhood. <br /><br />Overall I would say it felt more like a humorous story than a mystery but that’s just a minor thing.<br /><br />Marrow Jam is a fun filled story that’s the perfect escape from these trying times.