A Whitsun Wedding Murder by Susan D. Cook
Recently one of the cozy mystery groups I’m in on Facebook, Cozy Mystery Village, hit a big membership milestone. To celebrate, the admins organised a huge giveaway, with authors offering free books and swag, and those of us in other aspects of publishing finding ways to make a gift of our services to authors. I’d never been at the donating end of a giveaway before, and it was nice to experience that by offering to proofread a short story for an author as my prize.
I also entered my name for two or three carefully selected author giveaways, and I was thrilled when I actually won one. I received a lovely signed copy of Susan D. Cook’s recently published cozy, A Whitsun Wedding Murder – along with some delicious chocolate and other goodies from Dorset, where the book is set. Thank you, Susan. I’m delighted to tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed the book – as well as the chocolate! – and I’d love to share my review with you today. Sorry I won’t be sharing the chocolate, though.
Blurb
Welcome to Friar Wootton – where parish life can be deadly serious.
When Thea leaves her Cambridge publishing job and moves to Dorset to marry Stephen West, vicar of a rural parish, she’s prepared to face obstacles and resentment as she attempts to fit in. What she is not prepared for is to discover the body of an unpopular, recently widowed farmer. Unwilling to leave the circumstances of his death a mystery, Thea sets out to pursue justice but finds that many in the community are not keen for an outsider to uncover a murderer in their midst. Who is merely resentful, and who is hiding something?
As if this were not enough, someone seems determined to sabotage her upcoming wedding, in a series of attacks that grow ever darker. Is the murderer and saboteur the same person? If Thea cannot unmask the perpetrator – or perpetrators – in time, her marriage, and her life, may be over before it can begin.
My Review
It’s usual to start a book review by saying whether you enjoyed the book of not, and I’m pleased to tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Before I get to the writing and story, though, I have to mention the wonderful cover, which drew my attention every time I sat down to read. It really gives fantastic 50s’ vibes, verified as accurate by my mother-in-law who lived through that decade. The author has done her research into the 1950s well, and there are plenty of authentic period details scattered throughout the book, the most poignant of which is perhaps the way that clothing coupons had been saved to purchase Thea’s wedding dress.
This novel is the first in a planned series featuring Thea, and Susan Cook has done a great job of helping readers get to know her through the course of this book. I liked our budding sleuth very much, and I see her as an interesting representation of some of the young women of that time. They wanted to move into new things but had to also uphold the delicate balance between being allowed to become their true selves and the status quo of society. Thea is desperate to push her boundaries, but at the same time, she doesn’t wish to upset the peace of Friar Wootton’s village community or make life difficult for her fiancé, Stephen, the parish vicar. She finds herself a woman trying to delicately forge ahead in a male-dominated society. I always find women like her very interesting to read, so I found Thea easy to get behind.
Alongside Thea and, of course, Stephen, Susan Cook has delivered readers a wonderful cast of village characters – the local squire, those working in service, the village policeman, farmers, shopkeepers. They’re all familiar and believable and help to depict village life with its gossip, WI meetings and life revolving around the shops and the squire’s estate.
The author also gives us a real feel for the Dorset countryside and, at times, dialect. It’s a county she obviously knows well, and this shows in the way she depicts it. Additionally, through Thea, we have a bit of a contrast between a country village and the city of Cambridge, where she and Stephen met. This contrast presents yet more challenges for Thea, and we’re able to observe her with several different issues to deal with – and that’s on top of the fact that she’s just about to get married!
And, of course, there’s the murder mystery, which is gently woven into the rest of the story with skill and care. There are no threads left hanging or questions unanswered by the end of the book, and I found it all very well put together and believable. Thea really goes out on a limb by investigating the death herself rather than leaving it to the police, but her inquisitiveness pays off, of course, and it drew me along through every chapter. I can truly say that this book was one of those that I was often genuinely disappointed to put down at bedtime and looked forward to returning to the next evening.
In conclusion, I highly recommend you read A Whitsun Wedding Murder, especially if you’re a fan of British cozy mysteries and/or the 1950s. Thank you, Susan Cook, for the gift of this book, and I’m looking forward to reading Thea’s next adventure when it’s published.
A Whitsun Wedding Murder was published by Runcible Pen Press on 29 June 2026. You can buy your own copy of the book on Amazon UK or Amazon US.