The Body At Bala Lake: A Nesta Griffiths Murder Mystery (Book 1)

by P. L. Handley

Nesta Griffiths had been hoping for a quiet retirement. But when she stumbles on the body of a former school pupil whilst walking her dog, the retired teacher just can't resist getting involved. Aided by her loyal Jack Russell and an unlikely teenage assistant, Nesta is determined to solve the case before her unwanted meddling infuriates the local police.

With a growing list of suspects and a murder victim riddled with secrets, the rural town of Bala is about to be turned upside down by this relentless amateur sleuth.

Get ready for twists, turns and an extra helping of local fish and chips in this heart-warming murder mystery. If you enjoy characters that make you laugh and endings that make you gasp, then you're in for a big treat.

The Body At Bala Lake is the first instalment of the Nesta Griffiths Mysteries, where murder is often far too close to home.

Genres: Mystery

194 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 8, 2025

Reviews

[Maureen Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading about a town I know reasonably well. It would have been five stars if the pork pies from the local butcher’s had been mentioned. 🤣 especially as my better half will make a 60 mile round trip on his Triumph to buy them.
Nesta, a retired teacher, discovers the body of an ex-pupil on a morning walk, around Llyn Tegid. She informs the police, but feels like they are not getting anywhere and becomes a Jessica Fletcher-esque character inserting herself into the investigation.
She returns to her old school as a supply teacher to learn about the people she suspects are likely culprits.
The author describes the very real nature of a small town and the secrets and lies that are bubbling under the surface of the outwardly respectable inhabitants. Enjoyable romp. Looking forward to reading about Corwen in the next book.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Body at Bala Lake is the first in a series of detective stories featuring Nesta Griffiths, widow of the local Bala bobby, by P.L. Handley and set around rural North Wales.

Nesta has retired from teaching and spends her days walking her Jack Russell, Hari, and enjoying the beautiful Welsh countryside until, during a walk by the lake, she discovers the body of Dafydd Thomas hidden in the vegetation along the shore. Nesta knows Thomas well — he had once been her pupil before moving away and later returning to Bala as a PE teacher at the local secondary school.

In a small rural community where everyone knows everyone else, gossip travels fast, and Nesta seems to know most of it. Having taught generations of local people, she is a well-known and respected figure in the town. Frustrated that the police investigation appears to be going nowhere, she begins doing a little investigating of her own. After accepting a temporary return to the secondary school as a supply teacher, she finds herself ideally placed to snoop into Thomas’s relationships with his colleagues, which is clearly where the answers to his death lie.

Nesta takes the reader on a tour of Bala and the surrounding area as she goes about her daily life, and because the novel is so rooted in its setting, it was enjoyable to get a feel for the places and businesses she frequents. I picked this up ahead of a planned visit to the area, which added to the appeal.

At first, I found Nesta quite irritating — as I suspect many of the locals probably do — but gradually I warmed to her, particularly through her relationship with Darren. Darren is a young man in the town who initially seems to have little potential, but ultimately proves indispensable to Nesta’s investigation despite them being a very unlikely pairing.

As a teacher with many years of experience, Nesta is clearly educated, intelligent, and capable, so it grated a little that the author portrayed this sixty-year-old woman as a complete technophobe who could barely operate a smartphone. Had the book been published in the early 2000s I might have accepted it more easily, but for a novel released in 2025 it felt rather unfair, dated and a stereotypical representation of older female characters written by men.

The plot itself was fairly lightweight and predictable, without a great deal of substance, although the short length stopped it from becoming dull, and there was an unexpected twist near the end that improved things somewhat. As the first book in the series, it successfully introduces Nesta and establishes the setting for future investigations — of which there are already several more — but while I enjoyed this for what it was, it hasn’t really encouraged me to continue with the series.

[Sharonb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my usual genre to read but I want to broaden my reading. This book came up in an advert on my Facebook page. It is set in Bala which is an area I know very well and I have fond memories of school residential holidays at Glan Llyn, an Urdd camp near Bala on shores of Llyn Tegid. It sounded interesting and was reasonably priced.

Nesta Griffiths, a retired teacher returns as a supply teacher to the school. One of the teachers has been murdered and Nesta becomes an amateur detective to try to solve the case. 

I quite enjoyed it. Nesta was funny at times but also a bit insufferable at other times. I enjoyed the small town gossip and the mention of many places I knew (two places mentioned I have actually lived in). I also liked the book references and the relationship between Nesta on one of the young local teenagers.

What I found a bit grating was the writing style at times. It was easy to read but the characters were referred to in strange ways at times. For instance Nesta was often referred to as Nesta or Mrs. Griffiths but a lot of the time she was referred to as the retired teacher. Or the supply teacher or the woman. Other characters whose names we had been told were referred to in similar ways. One art teacher, I think, was referred to as the man with the open shirt (or something like that) so it was a bit jarring. I'm not sure if I missed something and it was deliberate by the author.

I didn't see that ending coming either. I didn't have any guesses who the murderer was but the person it was never entered my head. Overall, I'm glad I read it, especially as there were points of the book where I was thinking, do I really want to finish this?

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this because I love North Wales and am familiar with the area around Bala. Unfortunately, rather than being able to picture the scene while I read, I was too bogged down by how awful the main characters were and how thin the plot was. With all the Agatha Christie references, I suspect the author is trying make Nesta Griffiths a modern day Miss Marple. Unfortunately, Nesta Griffiths lacks any of Miss Marple's qualities and is insufferable. The characters being an odd mix of lazy stereotype combined with ridiculous also put me off. Nesta Griffiths is, on the one hand, an outdated stereotype of an older person (despite being an educated, professional) - a technophobe who makes ignorant comments about widely used social media platforms, but then the author expects us to believe that, seemingly, a few hours after finally getting a mobile phone, she's an expert and can even access the messages on someone else's phone. Then we have the stereotypical hoody clad teenager who doesn't read books, but who also suggests buying a mobile phone in Currys. The latter idea is just as laughable as Nesta Griffiths, supposedly, thinking that Currys (a long established shop that even people in a small Welsh town are well aware of) is a restaurant. Was the author/Nesta was trying to make a joke with the Currys comment? The only similarity with an Agatha Christie novel that I could see was that this book was short.

[Lauren Grocott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Living locally to where this boon is based I absolutely love the mention of all the north wales towns.. loved this book

Having read so many murder mysteries I really enjoyed this one being from the point of view of an amateur sleuth I suppose you could say.

Pros-
- a murder mystery
- a plot twist
- an unlikely friendship

Cons
- didn’t like the way that Nesta was referred to in so many different ways other than her name… there was the retired teacher, the older teacher, the older lady to name just a few
- I wish this book was longer

[DJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came to this series of Books as I noticed one of the later ones in the series covers an area I'm going to. I was gifted these on kindle due to that.

As this is Book One of a series there was a fair amount of character placement to set the scene, so it gets off to a slow and gentle start that may not suit everyone, as I read it in January it suited my mood.

The clues are there if you work at them but on this occaision I went with the flow...

I am left with another mystery about this book as a reader but to share it would create a spoiler - which I never do.

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a mixed bag book, but in the end I enjoyed having read it and am likely to check out the next in the series. The main character’s sleuthing wasn’t wholly plausible and the writing style didn’t captivate me, but it held my interest. The setting was very pleasing and the characters grew on me. I became interested in them, not invested, but definitely interested in finding out more about them. And, of course, I wanted to reach the conclusion. This was a quaint mystery. I have hopes that the 2nd book will be more engaging.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book

This is a great book for chilling and enjoying the wonderful welsh town of Bala! Everywhere mentioned in the book is real and if you have been before, you can see it perfectly in your head. Especially the sausage rolls.

[Wendy Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like cozy mystery then this definitely is for you. I enjoyed most of it, particularly the dogs 😁. I would have given it 5 stars except I felt sorry for the murderer, because the victim was a real a$$.

[Tracy Shanahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

easy reading.

[Annmarie Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book.
Easy read!
Live in North Wales so I liked that element too.

[Patricia Runyon · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting heroine willing to change.

The series has promise with a retired woman willing to change her opinions and the back stories of the characters.

[Julie Arensman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story was engaging but everyone seemed to be unusually angry It was a very good first book

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

🌟 🌟 🌟 3.5

[Glenda Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another easy read cosy crime.

[Elizabeth Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a teacher I appreciated the behind the scenes glimpse. As a mystery lover I always love a surprise ending.

[Susan Costin · Rating 5 out of 5]

good story

Liked the characters, quite fast paced story. I would definitely recommend for holiday read. I’m looking for book 2 now.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with a fab lead character . A cosy warm read

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this. Got into the character immediately. A lovely easy cwtchy read, just the thing on dark miserable winter evenings.