A MURDER FOR MISS HORTENSE by Mel Pennant-review
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 10, 2025
Retired nurse, avid gardener, and renowned cake maker Miss Hortense has lived in Bigglesweigh, a quiet suburb of Birmingham, England, since she emigrated from Jamaica in 1960. She takes great pride in her home, starching her lace curtains bright white, and she can tell if she’s being shortchanged on turmeric before she’s taken her first bite of a beef patty. A career in nursing has also left her afraid of nobody, whether an interfering priest or a local drug dealer, and she’s an expert in deciphering other people’s secrets with just a glance.
Miss Hortense once used her skills to benefit the Pardner network—a local group of Black investors that she helped found. Until, that is, she was unceremoniously ousted from its ranks, severing her ties to the majority of her friends and community. That was thirty years ago. Now, as a new millennium dawns, an unidentified man has been found dead in the home of one of the Pardner members, a Bible quote written on a note beside his body. Suddenly, Miss Hortense finds her long-buried past rushing back, bringing memories of the worst moment of her life—and secrets behind an unsolved crime that has haunted her for decades.
It is finally time for Miss Hortense to solve a mystery that will see her and the community she loves pushed to their limits. The first novel from a bold, brilliant new voice, A Murder for Miss Hortense introduces a fear-less sleuth whom readers will never forget.
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REVIEW: A MURDER FOR MISS HORTENSE by Mel Pennant is an historical, cozy murder mystery focusing on retired nurse and amateur sleuth Miss Hortense, a British-Jamaican person of color.
Told from several third person perspectives A MURDER FOR MISS HORTENSE following dual time lines 1960 and 1990s, focuses on the search for the truth. In 1960 Miss Hortense, having been denied a bank account because of her gender and her color, brings together several British -Jamaican residents to form a ‘Pardner Network’ in Bigglesweigh UK. ( A Pardner is a community-based saving systems common among Caribbean communities, where the members contribute money in exchange for a monthly payout, and the ability to borrow when needed). But when fraud is suspected, Miss Hortense is banned from the Pardner, and in the ensuing years, the members begin to die under mysterious circumstances. Fast forward to present day, the questionable deaths continue, and Miss Hortense begins to investigate what will eventually reveal secrets from the past.
A MURDER FOR MISS HORTENSE is an intriguing, colorful and suspenseful story line. The author uses Jamaican slang and language, that at times I found difficult to navigate but only when one of the characters was speaking, as well as the constant time-line changes which would have been less confusing if each chapter had been marked . A Murder for Miss Hortense pulls the reader into a world of discrimination, greed, betrayal, mystery and madness, as our heroine must come to terms with what happened and why.
Copy supplied for review
Reviewed by Sandy
