【 THE SEASIDE MURDERS 】

book #2 in The Secret Detective Agency series

Genre: Cosy crime (historical, WWII)
Audience: Adult
Author: Helena Dixon
Published: April 2025
Publisher: Bookouture
Pages: 260 (eBook)

The sweet and simple nature of this series is what makes it so enjoyable to read. After finishing book one, I was ready to tuck into some more cosy crime adventures with the same characters, but the unexpected added bonus is the character development that occurs along the way. This is a series that is absolutely worth reading in chronological order because of this reason.

In The Seaside Murders, we see the team back together again solving a mysterious murder that happens at Jane’s hometown. This of course means the whole thing takes place at her family estate, where she lodges with Arthur and Benson who are down to help solve the case. With some appearances from Jane’s trying celebrity mother thrown in, too.

Undercover as always, they are pretending to be at the seaside for Arthur’s health. All the while, they are slowly putting the puzzle together to work out why one of the POWs from the nearby camp has been murdered, how he’s been murdered, and who did it. And it was quite a good little mystery – certainly one that I couldn’t make heads nor tails of until all was revealed at the end.

I enjoyed the different historical aspects of the war that were brought into this one. Of course, with any Golden Age cosy crime you can run the risk of becoming extraordinarily repetitive if you lean on too many of the easy-to-reach Blitz tropes. But setting the whole plot at the seaside added a new flavour to this one. One of the key ways that Dixon has brought the reader into the 1940s and the reakity of the Blitz, is by introducing a plot whereby stock is going missing from various shops whenever an air raid happens. This was a fascinating part of the plot and not something I’ve ever come across before (seems like an ingenious bit of crime to me!)

The ending of this one had me STRESSED. Tensions were high and I was becoming increasingly worried for my beloved cast of characters. I won’t say more than that, but whew, the stakes were certainly raised in this one. I’m really barracking for Arthur and Jane to become a thing, too. It’s so clear that all these cases they’re working and the time they’re spending together is drawing them closer to each other. And they so totally like each other – they just haven’t realised it yet.

So all in all, another great mystery full of some fun twists and great characters. This is turning into a super fun cosy crime series and on point for drumming up exactly the kind of atmosphere you would want from a book like this.

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Title: The Seaside Murders
Series: The Secret Detective Agency
Author: Helena Dixon
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A pretty seaside town, a body on the beach, and a boatload of clues. Can super-sleuth Miss Jane Treen solve the mystery?

England, 1941. When Jane Treen is summoned to her boss’s office at the end of a long day, she smooths down her tweed skirt and makes them both another strong pot of coffee. Brigadier Remmington-Blythe slides a folded copy of the evening newspaper towards her, with one small article circled in red ink. A body has been found on an English beach in the little seaside town where she grew up, and he wants her to investigate.

Jane is used to managing secret agents and spies, but she is now part of The Secret Detective Agency, England’s answer to solving the most mysterious murders. Making her way to the coast and brimming with curiosity, she’s heartened that shy and handsome codebreaking genius Arthur Cilento will be joining her to help her wade through the fishy goings-on. Although Jane doubts he will appreciate her bringing her beloved one-eyed cat, Marmaduke…

Together, Jane and Arthur drop anchor in her crumbling childhood home overlooking the sandy beach where the body was found. Surrounded by potential suspects, their eyes are on a devious doctor, an eccentric artist and a secret sweetheart. But as Jane and Arthur are searching for the truth, those giving evidence start to clam up. One thing seems they need to reel in the killer before they’re out of their depth…