CLOCK STOPPED DEAD PB: A wonderfully witty British cosy mystery for fans of Richard Osman

It's a welcome return to the retired teachers who meet in a garden centre cafe and it's JM Hall's best yet.A Clock Stopped Dead is an entertaining cosy murder. It's a pleasure to catch up with Liz, Pat and Thelma at Thirsk Garden Centre cafe, Yorkshire.This is the oddest mystery to date. In this third outing for the retired teachers, they are confronted with a bizarre event. A charity shop apparently goes missing. There's quite a bit of suspicious activity at play and a death and it keeps you guessing until the end.Alongside the mystery we also have more insights into Liz, Pat and Thelma, who, being retired teachers you can see how they connect together well, as well as leading their separate lives. They're very well written.A Clock Stopped Dead is a curious, unique read and that's where its qualities lie.If cosy mysteries are your bag, then give how about giving this a try.It may be a third outing, after A Spoonful of Murder and a Pen Dipped In Poison, but it can still be read as a standalone.

I'm so pleased to be back with Pat, Thelma and Liz once again, as they really are amazing characters who are ultimately the novel's major strength. JM Hall has observed these women so well - not only do I recognise them from the female teachers I know myself, but even though we are very different I can definitely relate to them as the story progresses. I love how the author writes with a humour and honesty that really allowed me to be drawn into the novel and invested in its outcome.A Clock Stopped Dead begins with a supernatural atmosphere which is carried through the whole novel. I must admit that the supernatural is not normally my thing, but in this case, it adds an extra layer to the plot and a sense of atmosphere that creates the tension that kept me hooked until the final page.The beauty of characters that I relate so well is that I am often piecing parts of the plot together as they are and I.love trying to solve the puzzle with them. JM Hall's plotting is clever and I love the way the story comes together, in a way I never expected!I listened to the audio version of A Clock Stopped Dead which is expertly narrated by Julie Hesmondhalgh. She's a terrific actor and she brings life to all the characters, even the minor ones, with her different accents and voices!

Bizzare, marvellous and a little unnerving in a good way. I didn’t see that one coming…One of Pat’s friends, stumbles upon a creepy charity shop that suddenly disappears, a psychic connection is assumed but Pat, Liz and Thelma suspect foul play… The one thing for me, is that J M Hall never plays it safe - here is novel number three and we are given something completely fresh, no none of the plain old murders here. Instead, we are introduced to the bizarre case of the missing charity shop. The psychic themes rather put me in mind of the way Agatha Christie uses it within a Poirot episode. In A Clock Stopped Dead, the plot trope is given a new twist. It could have become a trifle over theatrical and incredulous, but given the characters it worked.It is a great skill to be able to write so many unique voices and bring them to life on the page like this. I must say that through this series I could imagine being in a room listening to all the characters. It’s great to hear northern voices.The ladies, Pat, Thelma and Liz have the ability to cut through to the truth in a motherly sort of fashion. As usual one of the highlights for me was the continuation of the back storyline of our main characters. This novel, like the others, veers off into each of the main character’s heads, though central plot line is never far away. Each chapter looks at the crime as part of a jigsaw piece that when it came together left me wanting more. Although I received an advanced reader copy, I left this review voluntarily and all opinions in it are entirely my own.

A Clock Stopped Dead is the third instalment of the adventures of retired teachers and part-time sleuths Liz, Pat and Thelma.When Marguerite, a somewhat scatty friend of the trio, tells them about an odd & somewhat scary experience that she had, they are intrigued. On a foggy night, she stumbled across a strange charity shop, but when she tried to find it again the following day, it had disappeared. Not closed, but completely disappeared. After telling the friends about the experience, Marguerite wonders if it was a psychic experience, and pursues this thought but when the trio visit the spot, they are convinced that there is something more to this story. This thought is compounded when a woman dies in a car accident at the same spot, and they can’t help but wonder if the 2 incidents are connected..Over coffee and cake at the garden centre café, the three friends start to piece together snippets of information that they come across. Initially they seem to be bumbling along, making little progress with the investigation & domestic issues such as grown up children with marital issues taking much of their time, but things somehow start to fall into place.The friendship between the women and the way they bring their own strengths and experiences to the puzzle is key to this series’ success. The characters are all quite different with a good depth to them & they are rounded enough that you can believe that they really exist.The storyline itself is original but a little odd! It rambles slightly in the middle with side-stories but it does draw the reader in & make you want to find out what happens.As a series, this is unusual – the first book is a murder, the second one involved poison pen letters and this one is solving a puzzle.Disclosure: I received an advance reader copy of this book free via NetGalley. Whilst thanks go to the author & publisher for the opportunity to read it, all opinions are my own & my review is left voluntarily.

This series is lovely - comforting, well-written and nicely plotted.