Tag Archive | Josie Lloyd

Miss Beeton’s Murder Agency by Josie Lloyd

Nov27

Amateur Sleuthing

Miss Beeton’s Murder Agency by Josie Lloyd is a simply marvellous contemporary cosy crime novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Miss Beeton is rather like a modern-day Miss Marple as when a crime occurs, she uses all her powers of amateur sleuthing to investigate. She believes that she will solve the crime quicker than the police.

Although there is a contemporary setting, the novel has a retro feel to it. It feels like a time when life was simpler. The reader feels as if they are in a bygone age of servants, masters and large houses.

Miss Beeton is a very likable heroine. She runs her agency with precision. She is also a (fictional) relative of Mrs Isabella Beeton, of the cook book fame. As an off-shoot, there are recipes included from the famous Mrs Beeton. They certainly tempt the reader’s tastebuds.

All the characters were wonderfully drawn, they were an eclectic mix. I loved the inclusion of Agatha, Miss Beeton’s little dog. She is named after Agatha Christie and really is a character in her own right.

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Lifesaving For Beginners by Josie Lloyd

Jul21

Living Real Life Together

Lifesaving For Beginners by Josie Lloyd is a marvellous contemporary novel that enchanted me from the start.

The novel is about female friendship as a group of women bond over open water swimming in the sea at Brighton. They are various ages with differing life experiences. As they meet over swimming, they soon become a support network, championing each other and offering love and friendship.

Life impacts us all differently but we all need female friendship to offer advice – ladies who have more experience of travelling down the road of life. The ladies range from mid thirties to seventies and have a wealth of experience – from a lost love to a widow to a mother of two.

We see how women’s roles have changed over the years and how it is important to share how we are feeling with those around us. Our sons need educating in women’s life cycles so they can sympathise with what we go through.

As family relationships have broken down, we witness the desperate love of a mother searching for her son.

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The Cancer Ladies Running Club by Josie Lloyd

May13

Butterfly Of Hope

The Cancer Ladies Running Club by Josie Lloyd is a charming contemporary novel that will swell your heart as you witness the love, care and bravery of the women within the tale.

As the title suggests the book is about a group of women with cancer who begin running together. They do not focus on the destination but the next one step. They support each other on and off the track.

The novel is written through the eyes of Keira, one of the ladies. We share her highs and lows not just of cancer but of her daily life.

Keira is forty seven years old running a family and a business when she receives a cancer diagnosis. Overnight people see her differently. “I’m being labelled again… as a sick person. And that’s not all I am.” Now she is seen as the lady with cancer but she is so much more… She is a wife, mother, daughter, shop owner, brave and beautiful but all of a sudden people have put her in a box labelled ‘cancer.’ The reader can empathise with her feelings and frustrations. “I still hate being treated differently.”

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