The Charity Shop Detective Agency cover art

The Charity Shop Detective Agency

The Charity Shop Detective Agency Mysteries, Book 1

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The Charity Shop Detective Agency

By: Peter Boland
Narrated by: Zara Ramm
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About this listen

Put the kettle on and discover an utterly charming new cozy murder mystery set in a sleepy English seaside town.

Fiona, Sue, and Daisy, three retired ladies who volunteer at the local charity shop, Dogs Need Nice Homes, can’t believe their favorite customer is dead.

Eighty-six-year-old Sarah Brown was found murdered in her hallway by her delivery man, a domino clutched in her hand—with a name scratched on it.

When another person is found dead with a domino in their hand, and with the police making no progress, the ladies will need to help unmask a serial killer. At least they have Fiona’s scruffy-haired terrier cross to assist them.

With plenty of tea and cake along the way, and despite squabbles with their rivals, the Cats Alliance across the street, the Charity Shop Detective Agency is born.

Fans of The Thursday Murder Club, Janice Hallett, Simon Brett, Ian Moore, and Sarah Yarwood-Lovett will adore this exciting new talent in cozy crime.

©2023 Peter Boland (P)2023 Podium Audio Amateur Sleuths Cosy Crime Detective Mystery Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Fiction Murder Exciting Feel-Good Witty

Critic reviews

‘Witty and knowing.’—Diamond Dagger Award-winner Simon Brett, OBE
All stars
Most relevant
I hesitate to weigh a book, ultimately, on its price. Ideally creativity's value is all else first. And I'd be racing to defend the absolute right of creativity to be itself regardless of nit-picking issues of minutiae. On that basis alone, I honestly congratulate the author and the narrator.

To the reader considering their next purchase? This book is rather shamefully derivative and thinks to make light of that by appearing to pay homage to those writers, mentioning some by name. I would imagine there are dozens of authors who jump on the wagon of a newly successful concept, in this case Richard Osman's, whose books are less worthy than this offering. I have no research on that and can't comment. Maybe it's the best of that class, I wouldn't know. The book fails, for me, to reach a level where homage is no longer derivation, through its lack of pace, vocabulary, structure and voice - style.

Yet that paucity would have gone less noticed if the narration hadn't signally drawn attention to it. The narrator isn't unskilled, doesn't appear to lack the necessary abilities to be worthy of an Audible performer. I would hazard, rather, a lack of empathy for the characters. The result was a rather stilted portrayal where characters are not made individual by the empathy the speaker has for them, but by the decision that, for example, X character shall have Y voice and be the 'get to the point, yet likeable' leader, whereas A character shall have B voice and be inappropriately self-deprecating and slow in thought, etc etc. As a result they become two-dimensional, lacking any nuance at all.

The plot outline is fine for its genre. It would have been improved without the dozen times I felt it necessary to sputter 'as if' aloud at it, when characters too ridiculously missed a clue or observation.

All in all, not a terrible fist of a detection novel, but that is faint praise to set against a price commensurate with other, mightier, authors.

Not value for money, I'm afraid.

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Good story and characters really enjoyed it, who knew the world of charity shop was like this?

I’m partial to a bit of this

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Decent cosy crime story, a bit drawn out in places but never the less an enjoyable listen. and at least now I know what really goes on behind the scenes in charity shops......I'll happily try the next book.

Cosy and entertaining

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I love the narrator, makes this a really great listen. Would definitely recommend. Lovely light read.

Lovely read

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This was a good one to have on a vacation. Easy listening for the airports etc. As always Zara Ramm's narration was excellent.

a good light read

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