Here’s the blurb
A BRAND NEW instalment in Debbie Young’s Cosy Mystery Series With her Curiosity Shop open for business, Alice Carroll is finally settling into life in the picturesque Cotswold village of Little Pride. But then her old life comes knocking… Alice’s ex boyfriend, Steven, who dumped her to travel the world, has run out of money and asks Alice to sell off his collection of chess sets.
Alice decides to host a tournament to showcase the boards, and her plan seems to be working. That is, until chess pieces begin to mysteriously disappear. And when a body is discovered outside the tournament, Alice realises that the victim was a pawn in another, far more dangerous game.
As the host of the event, Alice is eager to help the police investigate. She doesn’t know why anyone would be interested in stealing random chess pieces, let alone willing to kill for them, but she’s determined to find out. Can she solve the case before someone else gets hurt?
Or will this be one gambit too far for Alice?
Purchase Link
https://mybook.to/VillageChessClub
My Review
Death at the Village Chess Club is the second book in Debbie’s new series. I have not read book 1, but I’ve read titles from both of her other series, so I was intrigued to discover this new series. (You can check out my reviews for Debbie’s other books here Sophie Sayers St Bride’s).
While it takes a while for the death and the subsequent mystery to become the central part of the narrative, I did adore this lovely depiction of life in the Cotswolds. Debbie has created some lovely characters in a charming location, and although I also don’t play chess, I’ve tried to learn to play chess so I understand the chess elements. I also very much loved the addition of the bell ringers, as we have some in our local village as well (every Monday from 7.30-9 pm).
When the focus did turn to the mystery, it was very intriguing. Like our main character, I couldn’t understand why anyone would be so fascinated by the chess boards, and I was swept along by the unfolding mystery.
It’s a thoroughly entertaining read. I didn’t guess the resolution, which always pleases me:)
Meet the author
Debbie Young writes warm, witty, feel-good contemporary fiction inspired by life in the English village where she lives with her Scottish husband and their teenage daughter.
Her Sophie Sayers Village Mystery series begins with “Best Murder in Show” and the first seven books run the course of a calendar year in the life of a classic English Cotswold village. Originally intended to be a seven-book series, further books will follow, due to reader demand.
She also writes the romantic comedy mystery series, Staffroom at St Bride’s, set in the staffroom of an English girls’ boarding school. The series will eventually be six books long, running the course of an academic year, and the first book is “Secrets at St Bride’s”.
Her books were shortlisted in 2020 and 2021 for The Selfies Award, given to the best self-published adult fiction in the UK.
She also writes short stories and has published three themed collections, “Marry in Haste”, “Quick Change”, and “Stocking Fillers”, and had stories included in many anthologies.
When she’s not writing, she does other bookish things, such as speaking or reading her work at literary events, such as Crimefest, the leading international crime writing event, the Cheltenham Literature Festival and the Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival, the event that she founded for her local community.
She’s a member of the Society of Authors and the UK Ambassador for the Alliance of Independent Authors.
She loves reading, bellringing, singing in the local choir, gardening, knitting, sketching and travelling with her family in their camper van. Her many hobbies mean she is never short of ideas for her gentle tales of rural life.
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