Murder At The Book Club

by Betsy Reavley

Imagine nine women meeting. Tea and cake are on the coffee table. They’ve come together to share their love of books. They are friends. They trust each other. It’s a happy gathering. What could be more harmless?

Then scratch the surface and look closer.

One is lonely. One is desperate and one of them is a killer.

When the body of a woman is discovered on a Cambridge common, DCI Barrett and DI Palmer are called in to investigate. But the motive behind the crime isn’t clear… And it all leads back to a book club.

As the lies, volatile friendships and tension among the group rise to the surface, DCI Barrett and DI Palmer must work out the motive and track down a cold-blooded killer. But just when they think they are on the right track, a twist in the case throws them off course…



"A deliciously Agatha Christie-style mystery that sucks you in from the first page." Sibel Hodge bestselling author of Look Behind You

“A good old Whodunnit from Ms Reavley that will keep readers guessing till the very end!” J.A. Baker Bestselling author

Genres: Book Club

234 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 10, 2025

About the author

Betsy Freeman Reavley is the author of Beneath the Watery Moon and A Worm in the Bottle. Carrion, her latest psychological thriller will be released in November 2014.
She was born in Hammersmith, London.
As a child she moved around frequently with her family, spending time in London, Provence, Tuscany, Gloucestershire and Cambridgeshire.
She showed a flair for literature and writing from a young age and had a particular interest in poetry, of which she was a prolific consumer and producer.
In her early twenties she moved to Oxford, where she would eventually meet her husband. During her time in Oxford her interests turned from poetry to novels and she began to develop her own unique style of psychological thriller.
Beneath the Watery Moon is Betsy Reavley’s beautifully written first release and tells the macabre story of a young woman battling against mental illness.
Beneath the Watery Moon is published by Not So Noble Books and is available as an eBook from Amazon.
Betsy Reavley's second novel Carrion is a psychological chiller that address the link between grief and mental illness.
Reavley says "I think people are at their most fascinating when they are faced with life's real horrors." This is what I love to write about.
Betsy Reavley currently lives in North London, with her husband 2 children, dog, cat and chickens. You can follow her on Twitter @BetsyReavley

Reviews

[Jennifer Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my thing. It felt so all over the place. Too many characters. In and out of heads.

[Ashley Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it but I didn't love it. The excessive POVs made it hard to follow. The ending wasn't great, imo. It felt rushed and like the author was just done writing.

[Sasha Figueroa · Rating 4 out of 5]

good easy read

I enjoyed the storyline. Please pay attention to the characters because there are so many with similar names. I found myself trying to figure out who did it and changing my mind several times.

[Nicole Blankenship · Rating 2 out of 5]

The insane amount of POVs and choppy writing were the real crimes in this book.

Agree with other reviews - I found the characters unlikeable enough that I didn’t really care who was murdered. I could maybe call it 2.5 stars though, because I did want to find out who did it. I was able to guess the ending on this one.

[Elizabeth Bladt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A group of ladies from the same town get together at each others houses to have a boo club. They are from different walks of life, and have different ways of living. Not all of them get along, and it becomes obvious after one of the women is found dead.

Little hidden truths appear after the woman is found, and more truths about her secret life also come to light.

A quick, good read, but some of the dates and the timeline was disjointed.

[Taylor Melendez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished this one faster than expected, largely because I was able to skip a significant amount of sentences at a time without missing much.

First off, there was the confusing premise. These women are so mean spirited and catty to each other, why are they in a book club together at all AND meet weekly? The constant rude monologues between them made the characters highly unlikeable.

Second, and most importantly to me, the writing felt so weak to me. Especially the REPETITIVE and unbearably unnecessary judgmental body language descriptions, which became more distracting than immersive. It is one of my biggest pet peeves and this book was flooded with it. Is this intentional satire by the author or just poor writing skill? I hate it.

Finally, I’m honestly surprised I didn’t DNF it. I will give credit where it’s due, I didn’t predict the ending, and that was nice. Still, the overall experience was frustrating enough that I wouldn’t be interested in reading any more from this author.

[Shari Bera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good plot, too many POV changes

There’s an argument at a book club. A couple of the ladies argue and then leave. Toni is the first to die. Then Janet. As the investigation progresses, the detectives realize the book club attendees didn’t really like each other.

This story has a good plot and the story moves along at a good rate. What I didn’t really care for was the amount of characters to keep track of, all the book club ladies, their husbands and/or kids, and the four detectives. It was a bit much. Also, the first person point of view changed so many times, sometimes on the same page but definitely in a chapter.

[Kay Bowling · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars… This was interesting, the prologue makes it seem like a fast-paced thriller, but the story quickly shifts into a more traditional whodunit. That change in tone was a bit misleading, especially if you’re expecting something darker. Still, the writing was good enough to keep me engaged, and I found myself going back and forth on who I thought the culprit was.

While the mystery was enjoyable, the ending wasn’t especially surprising once all the pieces came together. It’s an easy, quick read with enough intrigue to stay interesting, but it didn’t quite deliver the tension or payoff I was hoping for. I didn’t hate it but didn’t love it either. It was overall just okay

[Deb · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could give this a lower star, I would. This mystery has not one nice character in the whole book. All the women are nasty and called each other sweetie and pet, which was nauseating since they were all stabbing each other in the back. The dialogue was long and boring. I didn’t care if they all murdered each other. So much for this author.

[Dani Crafts · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn't unreadable...

This book had potential. I like the concept and base idea, but I think the author bit off a bit more than she could chew. She had too many characters in a relatively short book. It felt so crowded and as a result of that, the characters felt rushed/half written.

[Victoria Barr · Rating 1 out of 5]

No. Just No.
It was the most agonizing read. If I wasn't reading it for a book club, I would DNF.

[Amy S. Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Quick read, a bit predictable, like that’s set in Cambridge. British novel about book clubs and female drama with a couple of murders is always a fun trope!

[V K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty flat murder mystery — simple plot and characters I couldn’t connect with. Everyone was so unlikable that I didn’t even care who got killed

[Aryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decent Mystery

This book was pretty fast-paced. I liked the mystery but I found every character to be unlikable. But, the pacing is great and the mystery solving is good.

[MADELYN · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very slow read. The book didn't get good until chapter 18. Yawn!

[Aly L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many POVs made it hard to follow. The ending was lacking…