Book Tour: Murder at the Homecoming (2026) by Merryn Allingham (Flora Steele Mystery #13)

It’s my stop today on Murder at the Homecoming by Merryn Allingham Books on Tour. Many thanks to Sarah Hardy of Bookouture for the invite, and for NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this delightful book. My blog has somehow been slipped out of the poster - a technical glitch, I'm sure - but I'm doing the stop as I have promised, anyway. So, here it is... 📚 About the Book

Amidst the smell of sherry trifle and the sound of lively music, the guests raise their glasses. But as a loud scream interrupts the toast, amateur detectives Flora and Jack Carrington learn that not everyone is in the party spirit… Sussex, 1960: Flora and Jack are delighted to be invited to the welcome party for Ambrose Finch’s long-lost son, finally back home after disappearing ten years ago. They’re eager to meet the young man they’ve heard so much about – and perhaps learn why he left in the first place… But when Ambrose’s maid goes to fetch the cake from the kitchen, her screams interrupt his big toast. Flora and Jack are horrified to find the cook hired for the occasion lying unmoving on the flagstone floor. The sickly-sweet smell of cyanide is their only clue, but the poor cook had no enemies. There are plenty at the party who do, though: Ambrose’s new secretary, Robin – at war with his former employer, a fellow guest – and his business rival, Chester, whose appearance at the party is suspicious in itself. Ambrose seems to have drafted the guest list to cause maximum conflict. But why? the poison intended for someone else? Flora and Jack can’t resist investigating, in an afterparty they never saw coming… And when another of Ambrose’s employees is found dead, they must work out why all roads lead back to the Finch family. But can they uncover whose past sins have come home to roost, before it’s too late? An utterly charming and completely page-turning cozy mystery novel filled with brilliant twists. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Faith Martin and J.R. Ellis.

📚 My Thoughts Here we are, returning to the beloved village of Abbeymead in the 1960s of Sussex, and to Flora and Jack Carrington, now in their fifth year of marriage bliss. As usual, the story picked up where we left in the previous book. The School House, which Jack had been keen on buying, but Flora was still reluctant to move on, becomes the current crime scene. One of the last events of the last book had been Ambrose Finch's delightful moment when a detective he hired had been successfully located the prodigal son, Lucas Finch, who left his father's house ten years ago. It was his homecoming celebration which becomes the opening of this book. Lucas Finch had been staying in Rome, Italy, when the detective (his name is Gotobed - what a name!) found him. Almost every one in Abbeymead are invited to the homecoming party, including Flora and Jack. However, the merry occasion soon become a grim one, when the hired cook (Alice Jenner's friend) suddenly collapsed - dead, after accidentally drinking a poisoned amaretto, served for the guests. Who was it intended to be? And what was the motive? Suspects are aplenty in this case, since Ambrose Finch had actually invited several - let's say people who'd had grudges to either himself and Robin Armitage, his secretary. There was a sort of reconciliation dinner preceding the party, which was intended to enable all the previous 'enemies' to bury their hatchets. Has one of them been attending the party while planning to commit a murder? While Inspector Ridley is busy investigating another murder of a more influential personage, the poisoning of a hired cook is threatening to be sidetracked. But the cook was Alice Jenner's best friend, and her murder needs to be solved. That's why, despite her usual disapproval against Flora and Jack's sleuthing activities, Alice asked Jack to investigate. The same request comes from Robin Armitage's fiancée, who believes that the poison had been intended for him. This time I suspected something fishy right from the start, and guessed the murderer so easily around the middle of the story. I was surprised that Flora and Jack haven't thought about it long before. The signs are flying everywhere waiting to be noticed, but both are ignoring them all the time, and focusing their mind on (too) many conjectures, instead. With Jack's profession as crime writer, and Flora's fondness of detective stories, I would have thought they'd be sharper in their deduction. This had, after all, been their thirteenth sleuthing adventure! What I loved about this series, is Charlie Teague's continuing character development. He's still helping Flora delivering books around, riding Betty (Flora's old beloved bicycle), when he's not very busy in The Priory's kitchen as cook helper. He's been even attending a patisserie course in London, after which he would be in the path of being a pastry chef. Well done, Charlie! But in this case, in particular, I loved how Charlie was made a hero after averting a dangerous scheme against his beloved Mr. and Mrs. C. To be honest, I have been expecting Charlie to be the Albert in Agatha Chirstie's Tommy and Tuppence. He's funny and intelligent, and is more down-to-earth than Albert. Well, it's my personal wish anyway. On the contrary, I was more and more annoyed with Alice Jenner. What kind of a friend was it who asked you a favor to do something, and then scolded you of doing it? If I were Flora, I would not befriend someone who wouldn't even try to support what I love to do. But I guess that's easier said than done, especially when one lives in a small village like Abbeymead. All in all, the mystery isn't as exciting as I had hoped, but the side story and character development compensate it. The ending is full of hope for a more exciting future, and we get a hint of where the next murder would be happening! ;) Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 📚 About the Author

Merryn taught university literature for many years, and it took a while to pluck up the courage to begin writing herself. Bringing the past to life is a passion and her historical fiction includes Regency romances, wartime sagas and timeslip novels, all of which have a mystery at their heart. As the books have grown darker, it was only a matter of time before she plunged into crime with a cosy crime series set in rural Sussex against the fascinating backdrop of the 1950s. Merryn lives in a beautiful old town in Sussex with her husband and one last cat, Bluebell. When she’s not writing, she tries to keep fit with adult ballet classes and plenty of walking. 📚 Social Media & Buying Link Mailing List: https://bookouture.com/subscribe/merryn-allingham Website: https://www.merrynallingham.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MerrynWrites Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/merrynwrites Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8364492.Merryn_Allingham Here's the link to get a copy of this book: Amazon: https://geni.us/B0FP2K5DL6social

And be sure to check out other stops on the tour to see what others thought. Happy reading!

The Case of the Perjured Parrot (1939) by Erle Stanley Gardner

🦜 I have been meaning to return to Erle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason series, which I enjoyed very much growing up. I picked this title in particular, due to the parrot involves (I love birds!) Unlike most of murder mysteries involving animals, where the animals rarely take the stage, and only serve as attraction; in this one, the parrot became the central part of the case (thank you, Mason!) Casanova, the parrot, was owned by the murdered man, an eccentric millionaire called Fremont Sabin, who often spent solitary time in his cabin up the mountain, accompanied only by his beloved parrot. 

🦜 Perry Mason was hired by the man's son, Charles Sabin, to investigate the murder, which he (the son) was sure to be committed by his father's second wife, a gold digger, called Helen Watkins Sabin. The killer seemed to be a bird-lover, since he deliberately provided the parrot food and water, after he killed its master. So, the parrot was the only witness to the murder. However, Perry Mason found out later on that the parrot was probably not Casanova at all - this one cursed too much. Where was Casanova, then and why was he substituted with another? 🦜 Mason's second finding was that Fremont Sabin had been secretly marrying another woman. And another parrot was found at this woman's house, also called Helen! This parrot keeps repeating an incriminating sentence: 'Put down that gun, Helen [....] you've shot me!' Was it Casanova? And which Helen he's been accusing? 🦜 I forgot how entertaining these Perry Mason mysteries can be! This one is no exception. It was fast-paced, full of twists and red-herrings, and what always makes this series stand out from the rest, is the courtroom scene and Mason's performance as lawyer. For me, that's always a satisfying moment of reading - just like Poirot's denouement in Agatha Christie's. The parrot as the key of the mystery added its charm. But made me giving this book a five star is the unexpected twist at the end. You know how you think you have solved the mystery, but suddenly, out of no where, a twist comes and blows your sweet theory away? That's the wow factor for me, and many thanks to Mason for ending this one very beautifully!
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read for:

Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge 2026 hosted by Carol @ Carol's Notebook

The Demon in the House (1934) by Angela Thirkell

🚲 Having read the first in Angela Thirkell's Barsetshire series: High Rising, I tried to enjoy the third one, still about the Morland family. Unfortunately, it focused more on the Morlands - especially Tony Morland, a monster of a child! - while the other supporting characters only acted as, well, supoorting characters. They provided neither new interest nor parallel plot to make the story more entertaining. No, this one is all about Tony Morland and his exploits.

🚲 If you hadn't been acquainted to Tony Morland, he's a child of thirteen year old, the youngest of Laura Morland, a widow. They lives in an English countryside of High Rising, Laura - the mother and writer of 'good bad books' (trash to some, but bestseller to others); her exasperating and spoilt son - the demon in the title; and Stoker, the cook and only servant. Tony is a chattering little brat, who's always bragging about his superiority in every subject; whose exploits never failed to give his mother a terrible headache and anxiety; and whose nonstop condescending monologues exasperated others. Well, except maybe, Master Wesendonk, or Donk as Tony always calls him, who always seems to listen to Tony, and do what he was told to. There could never have been a more unsuitable pair of boys you'll ever see in your lifetime! 🚲 The story starts one summer holiday, when Tony asked her mother for a bicycle. He got a borrowed one, which he used it mostly to boast his skillful bike-riding to his two friends: Rose and Dora, whom he always patronizes. However, Tony and his bike give his mother apprehensions - she even imagines all sort of disastrous scenarios that could have happened to her son. Beyond Tony's exploiting his mother and two friends, we are also entertained by some recurring characters like Adrian Cotes, Laura's kind publisher, whom she successfully matchmade into a happy marriage in High Rising. George Knox, Laura's neighbor and close friend, also returns with his Victorian style of conversation, which always made me smile, because he often loses in his own flow of sentences, and then forgetting what he originally wanted to say. 🚲 And that's all about this book, a book about nothing but funny anecdotes of British upper-class lives in the 1930s. Readers might found Tony's 'terrorizing' people around him cute, but it was the one factor that's dampening my enjoyment of this book. If I had had a son like that, either I would, either kill him or else, kill myself! He really got me strung all the time, and it tired me after reading this book. I guess it's not a good one for an introverted people. I still want to read more of Thirkell's, but maybe not the Morlands story for the time being. Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Death of a Kingfisher (2012) by M.C. Beaton

🦜 Judged from the title, I had, at first, thought this was a cozy mystery (this was my first introduction to M.C. Beaton's, by the way). But of course, I was wrong. This isn't just a murder of a bird - though it was the first murder victim - but several chapters later, it's proved to be a proper murder mystery. Police Sergeant Hamish Macbeth, our main character; a red-haired and hazel-eyed intelligent officer, with little or no ambition of stepping up the ladder of police office career, but is contented to serve in the remote village of Braikie near Lochdubh. He's quartered in the police station with his partner, a lazy laid-back veteran who's always hungry, Dick Fraser. Macbeth reports to Chief Inspector Blaire, who hates him and doesn't hesitate to sabotage his works if need to. 🦜 The kingfisher lives in the woods, which the current local tourist director renamed The Fairy Glen. It was found one day hung from a tree branch, with a noose around its neck. This was seen as an attack to The Fairy Glen, who would sabotage this tourist attraction? Maybe old and wealthy Mrs. Colchester who'd objected to the beautiful serene glen (which she owned) being monetized. But just as Macbeth planned to interview her, she was murdered in a cruel scheme. Money, then, became the suspected motive. But it proved to be a very trying case as one by one Macbeth's suspects or next leads became murdered. I've lost counting after the third, but someone counts that there were no less than nine murders in total! 🦜 Two third of the story seemed to be promising. A complex case with a cruel murderer(s), with a hint of love interest for Macbeth, not mentioning the "office politics" in the police station. However, near the end, the mystery became wilder and out of control. And when the suspects became lesser in number, Beaton put in new ones with more incoherent schemes. It felt like the writer, having started the book quite lovely, had no idea how to end it. The ending was very inconclusive, and I still didn't know how few of the murders had been committed, nor why, nor by whom. It was a heap of confusing crimes. Needless to say, this was a disappointing book from a promising series (it is the 27th, and has currently been running on to 38!) Maybe it was a wrong choice from the beginning? Maybe I should have picked another title? Well, if this is your favorite series, please tell me which one I'd better start with. Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Read for:

Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge 2026

hosted by Carol @ Carol's Notebook

The Convenience Store by the Sea (2020) by Sonoko Machida #JapaneseLitChallenge19

🛒 This book brings us to the seaside town in Japan: Mojiko, Kitakyushu, where you'd find one of the convenience store chain called Tenderness. Now, while I might not be able to relate to a library - in which many heartwarming stories have been set - a convenience store is my day-to-day existence. You see, I live in the second biggest city in Indonesia, where you won't find many libraries (except in universities), but convenience stores scattered abundantly on almost every corner of the streets. We have three in my apartment building, and they are, indeed, very convenient. From fresh fruits and (not so fresh) vegetables, to groceries; hot dumplings and coffees, to ATM machine, you'll find everything in these convenience stores. Let's say, you're moving to your new apartment, bringing nothing but yourself, well, you can find practically everything you'd need to survive in a day or two - food & drink, toothbrush, towel, even underwear, from these stores.

🛒 The story has no plot, but constructed from several interconnected short stories, all related to Tenderness and the main characters, who works at the store. In a way, you can say that the convenience store is a character itself. The first and last stories are told from Mitsuri's POV. She's a mother of a teenager, a passionate worker at the store, and quite a successful manga writer. Hers served as a starting point of the story, revealing about the store and its workers, and the conclusive end of it, tying the lose-end bits. The rest are told from third person's POV, usually about patrons of the store or families of the workers. They all have struggles in either self-acceptance or identity crisis, but all found comfort from the convenience store - well, maybe not the store itself, but the workers. 🛒 Two of these are brothers: Shiba and Tsugi. The first is a handsome and affectionate manager, whom Mitsuri called the Pheromone Manager; basically a magnetic creature who seems to attract everyone around him. It would be okay if it stops there. But making this Shiba guy a sort of celebrity with a few fan clubs, always being surrounded by ladies when he's on duty - well, it seems very off. Why must the writer create such a perfect character that seems inhuman? It was one element that made me sick, but apart from that, it's a cute and heartwarming story.
🛒 What I loved most is how the store provides a dining space next door to the store, so that customers can buy ready-to-eat food and eat them on the spot. As the store is located on the lower part of an apartment building for senior citizens, it makes sense that it caters the elderly people with ready-made breakfast or lunch. It provides an amazing space for people to socialize, and indeed, many of the characters find comfort and friendship from the cozy place. The convenience store on my apartment building also recently provided a little dine-in space on its second floor, but only a long table by the window with several chairs. But still, it was an improvement. And while the food they sell are not as varied (and delicious) as in imagined in Tenderness, it is convenient indeed. All in all, this turned out to be a book I could well relate to, but too soppy for my liking.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

Japanese Literature Challenge 19

hosted by Dolce Bellezza

Pearly Everlasting (2024) by Tammy Armstrong

🐻 Pearly Everlasting is a Gothic woodland story, inspired by a true account of a woman nursing a bear cub alongside her daughter, which was captured by a photographer. Set in New Brunswick, Canada during the Great Depression of 1930s, the story depicted a logging camp dwellers. Pearly Everlasting is the daughter of the cook, and she had been brought up alongside a bear, whom her mother named Bruno. To Pearly, an only child, Bruno is not just a pet, he's her brother. The result was rather unsettling - at least for me. A bear should be treated as a bear. In this story, Bruno is spoiled by the family, so much so that he resembled more of a spoiled brat than an animal - pet or wild.

🐻 All the residents of the camp has been accepting Bruno as Pearly's pet. But one day, a mean supervisor was in charge to supervise the logging, and he hated Bruno. He attempted to buy and kidnapped Bruno, but failed as all the camp residents stand for Pearly's family. Then one day the supervisor was found dead - by pearly, no less - and Bruno was suspected as the murderer. When someone attempted to poison him, Pearly decided that she can't stay put any longer, and brought Bruno away. Tammy Armstrong brings us to an adventure through the snowy parts of Canada, introduced to some eccentric people such as the Song Catcher - a woman who travels cross country to collect folklore songs, and sells them to public. The adventure is also Pearly's chance to experience life outside the camp. The question is, would she eventually return to the camp? And what would happen to Bruno? Could the world normalize a girl who lives alongside a bear?

🐻 The main attraction of the story, besides Bruno, is the poetic style in which Tammy Armstrong wrote it. Unfortunately, that is also the one that put it off for me. Somehow, I couldn't relate to the story (nor the characters). To me, this is a beautiful narration, but void of a warmth which good stories usually bring to our hearts. The idea of a woman suckling a bear alongside her daughter was too much for me - I mean, why? Why not treat the bear as a bear? Is Bruno meant to be the book's attraction - a cute bear cub behaves like a boy? Well, it fails to do that. He's not cute at all; at time he's even annoying. And I couldn't relate to Pearly either. On the whole the story felt like watching a weird movie from afar. And maybe, the narrator (I listened to the audiobook) failed to enliven the story. Partly due to her droning voice, and partly, I guess, because it's half poem and half prose (which I realized, must be quite difficult to narrate). In the end, I couldn't like it; I even stopped listening after 75%. I felt like I couldn't be bother anymore whether Pearly and Bruno made it back to the camp or not.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Call Mr. Fortune (1920) by H.C. Bailey

🧁 Mr. Fortune is a laidback country doctor called Reginald "Reggie" Fortune, who was left in charge of his father's medical practice when he was away. If the "call Mr. Fortune" in title left you the impression that Reggie is so good and dependable a doctor that he is much sought for - well, you're wrong. Actually, Reggie was much a better detective than he was as medical practitioner. Not that he's not a good doctor, but because he's rather sluggish in his work ethic, but in murder cases, his brain work much faster than the police's.

🧁 This book is the first in the Reggie Fortune series, and consists of six murder cases: The Archduke’s Tea, The Sleeping Companion, The Nice Girl, The Efficient Assassin, The Hottentot Venus, and The Business Minister. My favorite is perhaps the first one, with The Efficient Assassin coming on second. I believe the collection's most appealing element is Reggie Fortune's character and mannerism. Like I said, he's a laidback person, often breaking conventions (even when he's with the police officers), but he's also strict in his conviction about justice. No matter who commits the crime, whether it's royalty or commoners, Reggie would do his best to find the truth. His bantering with Lomas, the Chief of CID, is another attraction that makes this book a charming read.
🧁 On the murder investigation itself, I kinda like Bailey's style, combining Fortune's knowledge of human body, his sharp observation, and wonderful deduction skill. I liked the way Fortune obscured his deduction and actions from Lomas, which looked foolish at first, but then applauded afterwards when the whole thing was revealed. The cases are varied from cold blooded murder to mild cases. I originally do not love short stories, but here Bailey succeeded in maintaining the balance, which resulted a thoroughly enjoyable mystery without excessive triviality. I'd definitely read more from Bailey after this!
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge 2026 hosted by Carol @ Carol's Notebook