The Missing Babysitter Mystery

The Supermarket Mysteries #3

by Rachel Ward

DISCOVER YOUR NEW FAVOURITE AMATEUR SLEUTH SERIES, A QUIRKY MURDER MYSTERY SET IN A SLEEPY SOMERSET TOWN.

Please note this book was previously published as Expiry Date.

Bea hasn’t seen her favourite customer Julie at Costsave for weeks. She’s starting to worry.

Julie’s slimy husband Dave says she’s gone on holiday with their two young children, but Bea doesn’t believe a word of it.

Then a body is found on a building site. It seems to confirm Bea’s worst fears.

But it turns out the body has been buried for fifteen years. Could it have anything to do with the babysitter who went missing all those years ago . . . ?

The police aren’t coming up with the answers, so Bea enlists the help of Ant and Dot to get to the bottom of things. Can she crack the case before it’s too late?

Meet the workers of Kingsleigh Costsave. There’s Bea, a maths whizz with a heart of gold. Ant, a hapless high-school drop-out. And wisecracking Dot, in her late fifties and always beautifully coiffed.

A CHARMING COZY MYSTERY FULL OF TWISTS AND TURNS AND LOVEABLE CHARACTERS.

If you love Richard Osman, Janice Hallett, Rhys Bowen, the Reverend Richard Coles, Ian Moore and Annie Dalton, prepare to be enchanted by this cozy character-driven mystery!

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Audiobook, Crime

291 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 12, 2022

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Anete · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tā gan ir patīkama sajūta, ka plauktā stāv visa sērija gatava lasīšanai. Lielisks turpinājums, labprāt lasītu vēl tālāk, kaut arī negribas likt nabaga Kingsleigh ciematiņa iedzīvotājiem un Costsave darbiniekiem uzlikt vēl kādas bēdas. Jo nepatikšanas sagādā pat veikala teritorijas remontdarbi un rūpnīcas celšana ciematā - veicot būvdarbus, tiek atrastas mirstīgās atliekas!
Un Bea nekad nav miera…

[Viola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ekselenta sērija, ceru, ka būs turpinājums!

[Lucía · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mmm regular

[Kiera simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, another cosy mystery!
Another series ticked off, will definitely read more from this author.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A woman's gone missing, a young girl's body has been found, and the police aren't asking the right questions. So it's up to 21-year-old Bea, and her friend and workmate Ant, to find out the truth.

'Expiry Date' is the first 'Ant and Bea' mystery I've read. Although it's the third in the series, it was very easy to get into, to understand who the characters are and their relationships to each other. It was also great to read a 'light' mystery of this kind with a firmly working class setting - Bea, a check-out operator, certainly stands out among all the amateur detectives who own cutesy bakeries or write books for a living.

Unfortunately, I wasn't sold on the book as a whole. I think I'd figured everything out before I was even halfway into the book (always disappointing as a mystery-reader) and I was asked to suspend my disbelief just one too many times - the number of murders Bea has already solved, her perennial niceness, the number of guys trying to date her, her extreme attractiveness, and her young age all together were too much for me.

A fun, unchallenging read, but I shan't be returning to the series in the future.

An ARC was generously provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

[JA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific

I love Bea and Ant... can't wait for the next book in the series. I SO hope there is one coming. The writing is supurb. The stories so warm and 'feel good' but still good mysteries and page turners. I love them.

[Shona Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ant and Bea are great company, and I enjoyed joining them for a third time. This is a light and easy read - just the thing for a sunny weekend!

[Jasmine's · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun light read, mystery and relationships are covered in this YA mystery ❤❤

[MaryEve Iwicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love The Supermarket Mysteries!

Please, author Rachel Ward, please write more about Bea and Ant and the supermarket crew! Don’t let the success of your recent young adult book stop you from writing about Bea and Ant and their adventures solving murders! Yes, people and places may change as they mature and move beyond supermarket work into work which more fully utilizes their intelligence and talent, but give them murders to solve and continue to show how their love for and commitment to each other grows and your readers will be very happy! And they can always do their shopping at Costsave!

[Cynthia Sacks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb

Who knew that I would come to love this series so much? A small English town and a crew of grocery store workers seem unlikely places for murder - and especially for a fully developed set of characters and experiences. I truly recommend, if possible, to read the books in order. The murder mystery in each book is top -notch, but the people, especially Bea, will earn a place in your heart.

[Fiona Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

I loved these books. I’m not a fan of ‘cosy murder mysteries’ but, needing a quick easy read I downloaded the first of these. The characters are so real that I felt I knew them and could understand their feelings of anger, frustration and of pleasure. These books should be made into a television series. They would be, in my opinion, far better than the Agatha Raisin type of programme.

[S Mcewan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply brilliant.

One book to really sit back and enjoy. Every character , good or bad, is brilliant. It's a book like a warm comfy home. Nothing pretentious, very down to earth and great to be able to relate to working class hero's that are so often overlooked. Reminds me so much of my own home town when growing up. Sooner have a bag of chips and a mug of tea any day over a posh meal. One for those who love solid people and a great thought out story line.

[kim Tarpey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good easy read

The characters in this series of mysteries grow on you, until you feel you know them.
Very grounded, with a group of extraordinary , hard working, people involved in a plot that unravels as you read it.

[Ekaterina Andreeva · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third book of the series did not disappoint - I took it with me as my airport read and enjoyed it very much. I loved the storyline from the past and the ending (you will know what I mean if you read the book). Very much looking forward to the next one.

[Becki D]

Another fantastic advantage with Bea and Ant. Love the why the characters are growing as the series continues. The murder mystery was good and had a great emotional connection with the main characters

[Lorna Francis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A body is discovered that is linked to Bea’s childhood, soon she and Ant are embroiled in their own investigation. Yet again Rachel Ward creates a story with empathy, care and wonderfully crafted characters that stay with the reader. What a wonderful read.

[Dawn McClenahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good fast read like characters interesting story line wish there were more and quicker releases.

[vera duffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this

Enjoyed this my second book of Rachel Ward .I'm not reading them in order but doesn't matter.As good if not better than the Missing checkout girl.Laughter too

[Tuula Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

super mystery

Fun, suspense, twists and turns romantic mystery. Well worth reading. Very enjoyable and feel good.can not wait to read the next one.

[carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Really enjoyed these books light hearted real people looking forward to another one will be searching for more books by this author

[Mylene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually never start at another book than the first in a series.
This was ok, but I don't feel like reading others...

[Richard Phinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Annoyed!!

I have now just finished this series and I am very annoyed that it is finished. Well done Rachel, lovely book, Bea and Ant want to reinvent themselves, please. Richard

[Emlyn Lunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ant and Bea Together

This must be the best book of the series. Tied up all the loose ends . I knew Ant and Bea would finally get together.
It was well written 👏.

[laura.B · Rating 2 out of 5]

The storyline was a bit disappointing for me but it was an alright book.

[Denise Bonham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book . Great series brilliant characters.
Love Ant and Bea.

[Ayla Celik · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst book I’ve read in a while - DNF at page 72 😴

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cozy

Nice easy murder mystery. The characters are nice the story was good . It's not to sloppy. I would defiantly recommend you read the series in order as the characters are carried through, you could still read it as a one off but it's more enjoyable knowing there history

[Kiki Hempell · Rating 3 out of 5]

When a body is discovered under a factory, the status quo of the community is shook to its core. However, it is only when shop workers, Bea and Ant begin to question what really happened that information about more horrific events come to light.

Kingsleigh itself, the town in which the story takes place, can be seen as being cosy and idyllic. Although, this view is radically changed when Bea investigates into the body which has been found. The more that she researches through the history of Kingsleigh itself, the more that she discovers that nothing is as good as it seems, especially from the people that she knows the most. This creates the search for clearing someone's name most close to her, she must first be able to dig deep into some of the secrets that have been locked away until now. However, this poses the question of whether no one is truly innocent in this game and everyone could be a suspect.

The great thing about this book is that its not predictable. In fact, there are many occasions throughout the book where certain events change your perception of people and how they might relate to the mystery of the body and who could have been involved. This is interwoven into many other subplots which deal with how there are many other stories which can be seen to be relevant and can carry some weight to the overall storyline. There are some important themes that are presented throughout which are very relevant and ongoing such as domestic abuse and asking for help when needed and that there is always someone around the corner ready to step in. But this could also be seen as being a detriment due to how there was a lot to focus on. However, when you look at it it can be resembled to how small town life is an array of stories which are stitched together to make one big picture.

The lovely part I found about Bea and Ant is their compassion and empathy that they both have to their community. It is shown through their relationships with friends and family and the customers while working in a shop. You can really feel the element that this is a real and breathing world and sometimes reminds me of my own experiences and makes me laugh at how authentic they are to reality.

I quite liked the character Ant, who seems like the ying to Bea's yang, or the Watson to Bea's Sherlock. He can be described as being the rational one out of the relationship who is able to tell Bea when maybe she should take a few steps back and evaluate the information she has discovered and the tactful way in which she is able to use it.

However, I also found some problems with the pacing of the story itself. There were times where I felt very frustrated with how quickly the investigation was taking and whether they are still investigating the same event. At times it felt chaotic, are they interested in one particular event or numerous ones? It felt like the storyline was only starting to pick up and become juicy half-way through the book and the first half was more of a set up. I think it made it a bit more difficult coming into the third book of this series as I did not have the same sort of connections between characters that you could have done from reading the first two. Therefore, my care for the people of Kingsleigh was not as much compared to if I started the series at the beginning. However, I am not sure whether my opinion is not the best on thrillers of this calibre as I am very impatient to know who it is, rather than spend the time taking the journey to find out the real culprit.

When I first started reading this book, I really felt like I wanted to give this book four stars, but I felt like this might be biased in the experiences that I have had in the past. However, the more that I delved into the book I felt as though there were some elements that just weren't sitting with me well and so for that I rate this book three stars.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a super series, very humane and Bea and Ant become almost friends. I have read them all now and hope that there will soon be another one.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Expiry Date, the third outing for supermarket-worker amateur detectives Ant and Bea, a body is uncovered on a building site. It turns out to be Tina, Bea’s former babysitter, who went missing back in 2005. Bea learns her late father was one of the original suspects in Tina’s disappearance, and she sets out to clear his name once and for all.

Meanwhile, Bea hasn’t seen Julie, one her regular customers at Costsave, for a while. Julie’s slimy husband Dave says she’s gone on holiday with their two young children, but Bea doesn’t believe him. With the police doing little to help, she enlists the assistance of Ant and his friends and takes risks in order to solve the mystery.

Expiry Date is a straightforward and easy-to-read novel. It’s clearly and competently written, and certainly intriguing, but not particularly challenging, deep, or surprising. You don’t need to have read the previous books in the series to understand who the characters are or what’s going on.

Its real strength lies in its setting and characters. The story is set in the fictional small south-western town of Kingsleigh, and Ward makes it feel like a real place with its medium-sized non-big-name supermarket, one main shopping street, and self-aggrandising local political figures (can you tell I grew up somewhere just like it?).

As in any real-life small town, there is a mixture of warm, kind, salt-of-the-earth characters who support and look out for each other, rough diamonds, and out-and-out villains. This reminded me of Mel Sherratt’s Mitchell Estate series: in both cases, the working-class characters are not idealised, demonised, patronised, or treated as homogenous, and are written respectfully and realistically.

Bea, for example, is clearly intelligent, yet she doesn’t regard herself as ‘above’ any other characters or ‘too good for’ Kingsleigh, or even complain about the routine nature of her job. She has grown apart from her friends who have gone to university, yet doesn’t seem bitter about it, or in a hurry to progress from her supermarket job to anything else. This makes a nice change from smart working-class characters who are ambitious, raring to disassociate themselves from their roots, and embarrassed by their less academic friends from home. This, again, reflects real life, where not all bright people feel university is for them, and some people enjoy retail jobs because they like talking to people and the camaraderie with their co-workers.

Despite her light touch and exclusion of gruesome details, Ward doesn’t shy away from contemporary issues such as domestic violence, crime, homelessness and illiteracy. Ant is a ‘sofa surfer’ who is taking part in a literacy programme at the local library, and his dad’s in prison for burglary. It’s quite unusual to see a character in this position being valued, liked, and encouraged, rather than pitied, by others. It’s also refreshing that he’s a main protagonist and Bea’s confidante.

Expiry Date is an easy mystery read with warm characters and a well-created setting that reflect real life.