Review of 'Murder Bears Fruit' - Rosie Sandler

I was sent this to review and I have to say I was delighted when it popped up in my inbox. I saw Rosie a few weeks ago at a book event and she'd mentioned that the fourth book was coming out soon, so it had already been added to my mental TBR list.

I think my favourite bit about this book is that Mouse is acknowledged as the superhero that he is. Regular readers of the series already know what a fabulous creature he is, but it was nice to see that being acknowledged 'in universe' as well. Steph is also earning herself a reputation as a successful amateur sleuth - the question is, will this help or hinder her this time around?

We didn't get much more of Steph's burgeoning relationship with Mike, as they are halfway across the country from each other, but the little snippets we got move it on nicely and were reflective of life in a long-distance relationship. I really got the desire to be supportive to your partner when they are in a difficult situation, but being constrained by your physical separation.

In terms of the main plot, it's an interesting one because a couple of the main characters are writers and it's always interesting when writers write about writers! Lots of the conversations they had and the difficulties they faced were very familiar and I could definitely picture writers I know having them. However, I have to be honest and confess to a little twinge of jealousy that Virginia earnt so much money from her books that she could afford to live full time in a top class hotel. It's not so much the luxury I envied, as the idea of having time to write without having to think about mundane things like what I'm going to cook for dinner and doing the school run!

The subplot – Steph's erstwhile ex-husband, Ben – also bubbles along nicely in this instalment, although if I found myself in Steph's situation I'm not sure I would be as magnanimous as she is and I think it says much about her character that she goes as far as she does to help him. She is also becoming much more well-known and recognised; the plot of the previous book seems to have propelled her into something approaching stardom in the gardening world and this is reflected in the generous terms of her employment in this book.

When it comes to the core of the book - the murder - I had the victim picked almost from the start, but I did not see the murderer coming, even though with hindsight, all the clues were there. I quite liked this, as good reveals in crime novels should always be an 'ah, of course!' moment, rather than a complete shock. The murder does take up much more of Steph's time in this book however, and although she keeps going back to her gardening work, it definitely felt as though it was getting in the way of her sleuthing this time, rather than the other way around.

Overall, this was a thoroughly pleasant instalment in this series and it's definitely one I'm going to carry on reading and recommending, not least because I'm also learning a bit about gardening along the way!