Mord im Anzug

Honey Driver Mystery #12

by Jean G. Goodhind

Mord nach Maß Das Schaufenster von Tern and Pauling in Bath, Herrenschneider für die oberen Zehntausend, ist mit sensationellen Dekorationen bekannt geworden, seit der Juniorchef dort das Sagen hat. Immer drängen sich Menschen davor. Doch heute hängt dort der Juniorchef selbst an einem Galgen. Hotelbesitzerin Honey Driver und ihr charmanter Partner Detective Chief Inspector Steve Doherty müssen in Aktion treten.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery

320 pages, Paperback

First published December 3, 2015

About the author

Jean G. Goodhind is a popular writer of women’s fiction, romance and comedy. For many years she owned and ran a haunted guest house on the outskirts of Bath and was one of the founder members of the Bath Hotel and Restaurant Association. Her experiences inspired the international bestselling Honey Driver series. She has won a BBC Radio award for scriptwriting. She also writes women’s fiction as Lizzie Lane and has writes a regular column for the Western Daily Press.

Reviews

[Susan Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Princess Fuzzypants here: Staid old Bath will never seem the same now that Honey Driver is on the scene. She owns a lovely old hotel, complete with two ghosts and she also is the business community liaison with the local police. And one policeman, in particular, works very closely with Honey. They are collaborating on a murder of the son of the owner of a very posh and very proper bespoke tailor. The fact that there is some S & M involved in the crime scene is only the beginning. It seems the deceased led a double life where he walked on the wild side. A lot.

His father, the owner of said establishment, is a crotchety dirty old man who disliked his son intensely. He might have been a suspect had he been in better health. But there are others who are associated with both father and son who might have some motives for murder. Honey and Doughty are able to solve the mystery in the nick of time whilst juggling the arrival of Doughty’s daughter with a controlling sleaze-oid of a fiancé. The cad does not know it but Honey and Doughty are not to be toyed with.

There were a couple of threads in the book that were very intriguing and I hope will be developed in future offerings. Four purrs and two paws up.

[Scilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a clever mystery taking place in Bath. Honey, who owns a hotel in Bath, and has been designated the police liaison for the Hotel Association, has been asked to be a judge for the Bath window display. She votes for the display at Pauling and Tern Tailoring Shop. A handsome highway man is in front of a gallows, and this display wins the prize. The morning after the prizes are awarded, the man cleaning the street sees someone hanging on the gallows and calls the police. The dead man is Nigel Tern, the son of the elderly owner Arnold Tern. Meanwhile, Arnold wakes up in an empty house and can barely get out of bed. His parttime nurse and cleaner hears him just before he falls down the stairs. When she tells him Nigel has won the contest, he is very angry, and calls his lawyer, Grace Pauling and tells her he wants to change his will. The relationships between the two Terns and Grace Pauling are somewhat strange.

Honey helps Doherty to investigate the murder. They soon find that both Tern men like a lot of sex, and are not on good terms with each other. Tern houses some of his girl friends in the apartments over the store. Honey helps to interview all the girlfriends. In the midst of the investigation, Doherty's daughter Rachel tells him she is getting married and comes to visit with her fiance Andrew. Doherty invites Honey, her daughter Lindsay and Lindsay's boyfriend to join them all for dinner. It is quickly apparent that Rachel is in love, but her boyfriend is not a good catch!

This book appears to be a romance, mystery, and ghost story, and the characters grow on you as you read more of the stories.

[Shirley Ann Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Bespoke Murder is book twelve in this delightful English cozy series. Honey Driver is on a panel of three judges who are judging the towns best window displays. The display she likes best wins first prize. It belongs to a high end Tailoring shop which features a highwayman scene and a hang man's noose. The next day the owner of that display is found dead, hanging in his own window. Honey and her fiance, DI Steve Doherty, have their hands full sorting out all of the victims enemies, including angry ex girlfriends, disgruntled employees, and the victims father who doesn't seem very sad about his sons death. This was a nice whodunit with plenty of red herrings, a little humor, and likeable main characters. Many thanks to the publisher and netgalley for providing me with an advance copy to read and review. I enjoyed this book.

[Aileen (Ailz) Grist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another busy time for Honey Driver and her policeman boyfriend Steve Doherty. Between Victorian corsets, murder and ghosts - one of whom has moved into Honey's hotel after an exorcism - there's no chance to plan the wedding. Then bring in Steve's daughter and her fella and everything is up in the air.

Loved it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Joffe Books, the publisher, I read a free advance review copy of the book. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.åç

[Annarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to read this book as I was attracted by the blurb and the setting, Bath.
This is not the first for me in this and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's well plotted, a solid mystery and a cast of quirky characters.
Will read the other books in this series.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[Suzette Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Bespoke Murder

Very good book nicely written. I loved how the author detailed the beginning and captures your interest . She kept you guessing who the killer was, but really threw a surprise ending!! I can't wait for next book!!

[James Geller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just enjoyed this one.

The Honey Driver series is just so much fun. The characters are so well formed you really know them. Lovely cozy mysteries The stories are great, but not too evil or nasty.

[Regine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ganz nett

[Margaret Swanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

This mystery was amaing. The suspense and intrigue has you spell bound. But what really pulls it together is the humor.

[Donna Demore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet

Lovely book to read on a nice summer night. Good characters, nice plot and an easy read.one, two, three...four, five

[Denise Bonham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book in a brilliant series set in beautiful Bath.

[Cozy Reader Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

"A Bespoke Murder" is the 12th book in the "Honey Driver Murder Mystery" series by Jean G Goodhind. It's cover advertises it as "An absolutely gripping cozy mystery full of twists." I would say this is partly true. This is barely a cozy mystery. Much too much sexual inuendo for a traditionally cozy mystery but not enough to be a romance mystery. I would say that it's full of twists purely because it keeps dancing around between character perspectives (also, not very cozy mystery). The bouncing between characters seems like a cheap trick to keep the reader from being able to put things together but I have to say I called it from the moment the murder was introduced.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honey is chosen to be one of 3 judges in a window display contest. She is captivated by a tailor's display featuring a well costumed highwayman with a hangman's gallows in the background. A street cleaner is not so impressed with the display the next morning when he finds a man hanging from the gallows.

Doherty's daughter, Rachel, has announced that she is engaged to Carl, a successful financial trader who is extremely controlling. Doherty and Honey take a strong dislike to him, as does Lindsay when he plays with her knee while in a restaurant celebrating the engagement. Unbeknownst to Carl, Honey's mother, Gloria, and her new husband are also seated in the same restaurant, and when he heads to the washroom, he trips over Gloria's purse. He picks the wrong senior to berate when she storms over to the table where the others are sitting and rakes him over the coals for his bad manners and nasty words. Even Rachel seems to see Carl's true colours. Gloria suggests to Doherty that as a policeman, he can do some investigation into Carl.

We are also introduced to Lindsay's new boyfriend, a nice, slightly older man who is very quiet and observant. Although his job is to receive and interpret foreign intelligence, he has the unusual hobby of ghost hunting and is quite interested in the ghosts at the Green River Hotel. He gets together with Mary Jane to get her take.

Carl shows up at the hotel to book a wedding reception in three months time. As "family" Honey does not charge him the usual deposit. She later hears from Doherty that Carl has asked him for money he has paid for bookings such as reception, flowers, cars, etc., Honey informs Doherty that Carl did not pay her the hefty deposit he has claimed.