Congratulations to Katie Gayle – Kate Sidley and Gail Schimmel! Yesterday was publication day, and this is Day Two of the blog tour for A Country Wedding Murder (Julia Bird #5)! It’s always an enormous thrill for me to do a blog tour for a South African author – but when it’s two authors at the same time, it’s double the excitement!
Blurb:
The joyous crowd applauds as the happy couple strides down the aisle. This Cotswolds country wedding has everything – friends and family, beautiful flowers and… murder?
When Julia Bird’s ex-husband Peter and his lovely partner Christopher decide to get married in Berrywick, Julia is delighted – after all, who doesn’t love a country wedding? Little does Julia know that normally calm and collected Christopher will turn into a full-on Groomzilla – and that by the end of the night, someone will end up dead.
The morning after the big day, the jolly nuptial mood turns grim when Julia discovers the lifeless body of the caterer, Desmond. Someone locked him in the cold truck and the poor man froze to death. Now looking for a murderer, all eyes are on Christopher who, mid-tantrum, had publicly threatened to kill him. Convinced that Christopher is innocent, Julia vows to find the real culprit.
Julia soon discovers Desmond had a long list of enemies as she races against the clock to clear Christopher’s name. Could his death be the work of the respected wedding planner who was heard exchanging choice words with the victim? Or perhaps it was his wife – ‘til death do them part – who didn’t shed a single tear at his funeral?
But just when Julia thinks she’s cracked the case, her prime suspect is found dead with a knife in their back. Can Julia find the murderer before they strike again?
An utterly gripping, charming cosy mystery set in the English countryside. Fans of M.C. Beaton, Faith Martin and Betty Rowlands will love the Julia Bird Mysteries.
My Review:
Reading a new Julia Bird cosy mystery is like settling in for a good chat with an old friend., and returning to Berrywick is like wrapping yourself in a warm, soft blanket – enfolding you in its comforting embrace.
This is the fifth book in the series, and Julia is firmly nestled into her new life in the village. So much so that she’s even offered to organise her ex-husband Peter’s wedding to his partner Christopher there. She’s thrilled that her daughter Jess is going to be there from Hong Kong, and it’s wonderful for readers to finally ‘meet’ Jess who has appeared somewhat prickly from afar in previous books.
As with most things in life, things don’t quite go according to plan, and nobody, least of all mild-mannered Peter, anticipated Christopher turning into the Groomzilla that he becomes!
And of course, nobody could have predicted that murder would be a part of the wedding agenda, or that Christopher would be the prime suspect due to his numerous hissy fits – one very public one in particular! It falls to Julia to prove his innocence, because surely he is indeed innocent?
Thankfully, she has a willing team at her disposal: local D.I. Hayley Gibson, who’s learned to trust Julia’s instincts when it comes to all things murder related, but who’s also quickly become a good friend and someone to confide in; lovely village doctor Sean who has become Julia’s ‘significant other’ (because calling him a ‘boyfriend’ at her age seems a bit cringeworthy!) is always on hand with practical advice; Tabitha, the local librarian adds fabulous boho flavour and fabulous, no-nonsense friendship too. There’s also,a colourful cast of village inhabitants who bring welcome familiarity to this book series as Katie Gayle manages to deftly incorporate them into each story, developing all of the characters over time so that we get to know them and their roles and places in everyday Berrywick.
I loved how we were able to see the development of Julia’s relationship with her daughter Jess. Julia had really been feeling the distance between them since Jess had been away – not only physical distance, but also an emotional separation as she felt that Jess was still struggling with her parents’ divorce and that she found it easier to confide in her father. The mother-daughter bond can be fraught when life gets … well, life-y, and distance doesn’t make that any easier. It was wonderful to see how the two were able to re-kindle what had obviously been a warm and comfortable relationship in earlier years. I hope that we see more of Jess in future books.
This is a gorgeous read. It conjures up all the warmth and camaraderie of village life, and yes, it does channel a bit of Jessica Fletcher and Cabot Cove, but with a lot more charm and less annoyance (with apologies to Angela Lansbury, may she rest in peace)!
Thank you to Bookouture for the opportunity to read a very early copy of this and to be part of the Books-On-Tour!
Author Bio:
Katie Gayle is the writing partnership of best-selling South African writers, Kate Sidley and Gail Schimmel. Kate and Gail have, between them, written over ten books of various genres, but with Katie Gayle, they both made their debut in the cozy mystery genre – a highly successful debut, which started with the Epiphany Bloom trilogy, and then led to the Julia Bird series, of which A Country Wedding Murder is book number five! I think there’s another one coming out later this year, which brings me to very exciting news … Bookouture recently announced that they’ve signed Katie Gayle for two more Julia Bird books! These will be books seven and eight in the series, and they’ll both be released during 2025. So there’s lots more Cotswolds murder and mayhem to look forward to! I couldn’t be happier!
Both Gail and Kate live in Johannesburg, with husbands, children, dogs and cats. Incidentally, Gail has a chocolate lab who bears a striking resemblance to Julia’s lovable dog, Jake. She has assured me that Henny Penny (Jake’s ‘companion’) is a complete work of fiction though!
https://www.facebook.com/KatieGayleWriter
https://www.twitter.com/KatieGayleBooks
Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Katie Gayle here: https://www.bookouture.com/katie-gayle
Purchase Link:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B0CLL1T12Qsocial
You can sign up for all the best Bookouture deals you’ll love at: http://ow.ly/Fkiz30lnzdo
jansbookbuzz.com 
Leave a comment