Saturday, May 22, 2021

The Postscript Murders

 Elly Griffiths is on a roll with this new mystery series.  The first book in the series was The Stranger Diaries and now she has written book number two, The Postscript Murders.  

 This book has one of the best lines I have ever read in a murder mystery novel...

"That's how I know I am old, he thinks.  Because sometimes it does take him by surprise. He sees a wizened old man in the mirror and wonders whether a geriatric burglar has broken in."

I sometimes look in the mirror or at myself on the zoom screen and wonder that myself.  I will have to remember that line and use it myself one day.

The Detective Inspector of this series, Harbinder Kaur is an unusual personality for this protagonist. Harbinder,  a gay, Sikh woman working with her partner Neil, who is always getting on her nerves, make a entertaining duo as they are solving murders.  

In this novel we meet Natalka, an Ukraine caregiver at an elder care facility, who along with Benedict, an ex monk and Edwin, one of the residents of the facility play the amateur detectives when one of the other resident's death is suspicious.  This unusual cast of characters runs around trying to piece to together a wide variety of clues that will lead the reader on quite a wild ride. There are suspicious looking men with Russian accents following them.  There are old mystery novels that may have clues.  There is talk of World War II spies and innocent old ladies who sit around and make up murder schemes.

It all comes together for a entertaining mystery that keeps you trying to out the pieces together until the satisfying end.

I enjoyed this second novel even more than the first and look forward to getting to know Harbinder Kaur even more as Griffiths continues to develop this character and this series.

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