Murder at the Priory Hotel by Merryn Allingham

It is the year of writing that draws me in to this kind of detective fiction. 1957 Sussex countryside very engaging characters - a small share of villains but generally everyone peaceful, minding their own business but at the same time being a village everyone knows everyone. A time that is not going to come back going by present day times. A certain innate sense of goodness seems to prevail in these stories. A musical group has arrived for the opening of a renovated hotel and everyone is rooting for its success. The group is rather flashy but it is hoped that it will interest the youngsters to give the hotel a try. When the lead singer is electrocuted on stage at the opening song, it smells of doom for the hotel especially when it seems that it was deliberate and therefore a murder. Flora and Jack friends of Sally the present owner are amateur sleuths and they privately start looking around for clues as to how Beverley was murdered. Like in their previous escapades, they have to work secretly so as not to get the local Constabulary all hot and bothered and the duo soon discover hidden depths to whatever was beningn on the surface. Flora is the owner of a bookshop and Jack is a struggling crime writer and the relationship works well for detection alongside the other characters which appear in the series. The story is a good example of a cosy mystery, set in a countryside atmosphere with engaging characters and good detection skills. Sent by Bookouture for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.