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.

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.

[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.

[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.

[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.