• Author: Katy Watson
• Series: Not sure.
• Genre: Murder Mystery
• No. of pages: 304
• Dates read: 09.07.2022 – 12.07.2022
• Star Rating: 5 stars

Plot: In attendance: the VIP fans, staying at Aldermere; the fan club president turned convention organizer; the team behind the newest movie adaptation of Davenport’s books; the Davenport family themselves – and the three actresses famous for portraying Lettice’s 1930s detective, Dahlia Lively. National treasure Rosalind King, from the original movies. TV Dahlia for thirteen seasons, Caro Hooper. And ex-child star Posy Starling, fresh out of the fame wilderness (and rehab) to take on the Dahlia mantle for the new movie. Each actress has her own interpretation of the character – but this English summer weekend they will have to put aside their differences, as the crimes at Aldermere turns anything but cosy.

So, I literally knew nothing going into this. All I saw was modern day murder mystery with a golden age crime fiction vibe being solved by 3 generations of actresses who all played the same literary detective and I was sold!

So, this book was literally an ode to the golden age of detective fiction. The age was the time of authors like Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers. As someone who loves that era of crime fiction and reads loads of it I was super interested to see how Watson honoured this era in her novel.

I thought the writing itself, style wise, was super readable and kept me engaged. I loved that we flicked between each different actresses POV as it made for a more entertaining reading experience. What I loved the most was the blending between the modern and the classic. Harking back to the 1930’s era of crime writing while also embracing the modern age. Using a mixture of modern day and classic era ideas to solve the mystery. If you are a golden age crime fan you will not be disappointed by this book. There are so many quotes, nods and easter eggs for fans and I loved seeing Watson’s own take on a murder mystery.

The plot itself was super fun. I will be honest and say that I did manage to work out quite a lot of this mystery but I felt that Watson did a great job of bestowing you with the evidence and giving you space alongside her characters to figure it out for yourself. I enjoyed every second of the story and I was literally on the edge of my seat not just for the mystery itself but also when it came to our 3 main characters and watching their development over the course of the book.

Now, the Three Dahlias were probably the strongest point of this novel. I loved every single one of them. They were the trio I didn’t know I needed in my life! I loved them as a group but I also loved them just as much individually. Like I said, I loved watching them grow over the course of the story. They don’t just solve a mystery, they also solve a lot about themselves which I thought was amazing. I just love anything to do with female empowerment and friendship.

The only question left is… are we ever going to actually get a Dahlia Lively story? Even a short story? One of the stand out elements of this novel was the creation of Dahlia as a character and what her stories mean to others. I loved pieceing together who she was from everyones point of view. I also loved learning about the world that Dahlia inhabited. It was super fun to learn about her various stories and escapades.