The Rhyme of the Magpie by Marty Wingate + a Giveaway

Hello, all! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Marty Wingate's The Rhyme of the Magpie. Wingate, the author of the Potting Shed mystery series, kicks off her new Birds of a Feather series with Rhyme.

Julia Lanchester has split with her father. It's all thanks to the fact that he decided to remarry just six months after the death of Julia's mother. To her mother's best friend, no less. Julia had been working as his assistant - the famed Rupert Lanchester is the host of a popular nature program - but left to take a position with a tourism office instead, cutting off all contact with Rupert. But when Rupert shows up for an unannounced visit just before his new wife calls to say that he's gone missing, Julia is concerned. And when the body of a man her father has been known to butt heads with is discovered nearby his cabin retreat, she knows she must find out what's going on.  

Marty Wingate has temporarily set aside the Garden Shed mysteries to begin a new UK based cozy series her with the first Birds of a Feather outing.Fans of the Garden Shed stories will find a lot to like in Julia and this new series. Rhyme has the same charm of the other series, but features a younger heroine with a different set of family issues. And of course the focus on birding and environmental issues rather than gardening.

The tone of this first outing is quite similar to Wingate's other series. While I would have liked to see something that stands out just a bit more from the other works, I found Rhyme no less enjoyable than Wingate's previous mysteries.

Fans of cozies - set in the UK in particular - should really give Wingate a try. Her stories are great fun to curl up with!

Rating: 3.5/5

There is a tour wide giveaway courtesy of the good folks at Alibi for this one. To enter simply fill out the Rafflecopter below:

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To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.