• Author: TP Fielden
• Series: A Miss Dimont Mystery #2
• Genre: Historical/Murder Mystery
• No. of pages: 300
• Dates read: 26.04.19 – 03.05.19
• Ratings: 4 stars
• Challenge: 2019 Sequels

Plot (as seen on Goodreads): With its pale, aquamarine waters and golden sands, the shoreline at Temple Regis was a sight to behold. But when an unidentifiable body is found there one morning, the most beautiful beach in Devon is turned into a crime scene. For Miss Dimont – ferocious defender of free speech, champion of the truth and ace newspaperwoman for The Riviera Express – this is a case of paramount interest, and the perfect introduction for her young new recruit Valentine Waterford. Even if their meddling is to the immense irritation of local copper Inspector Topham… Soon Miss Dimont and Valentine are deep in investigation – why can nobody identify the body, and why does Topham suspect murder? And when a second death occurs, can the two possibly be connected?

Another solid sequel that I have read this week. TP Fielden has been a pleasant surprise and I was not disappointed by his 2nd instalment.

First of all, my main positive about this book would be the introduction of a new main character, Valentine Waterford. He was a brilliant addition to the story and it felt good to have another set of eyes to view the story from.

I really enjoyed the structure of this story where we see the reporters cover 3 big stories. The stories were incredibly interesting and varied. I sadly can’t say much about the cases without spoiling the plot but it just worked so well and I preferred the structure of the investigation into both murders compared to how it was done in the first book.

As per usual, Fielden did a great job at describing the town of Temple Regis, giving life to the town and making it feel as if Temple Regis itself was a character within the story. An omnipotent being watching the drama unfold before it. 

Two of my main stumbling blocks with this book is that first of all it took some time for the narrative to really get going. The first 100 pages while easy to read were not that exciting, once you get past the 100 pages mark the story really starts to kick and that’s when you get invested. It was a bit disappointing that you had to wait for 100 pages to get there.

My other bugbear was the characterisation of Ursula, the leader of the Sisters of Reason feminist group. I felt she was only included to play the angry, ugly feminist and she was a one-dimensional character. I understand the point that was meant to be made about the fringe feminist group and the fight for gender equality at that time. Some great points were raised, I just feel that making the leader a more masculine woman and subsequently writing her as an unlikable individual who everyone dislikes or is intimidated with no redeeming qualities was not subtle and could have been written better.