The Potting Shed Murder

Might this book be a cozy mystery? Let’s run it through my cozy-meter and find out. One, do we have much empathy for the lead character? Absolutely. Daphne Brewster, a Black woman—in fact, the only person of color as far as the eye can see—has moved her husband and family out of south London to a Norfolk town called Pudding Corner to escape urban woes. She’s become so successful at selling antiques that she’s now known as the vintage lady. Still, it turns out that things are as complex in Pudding as they are in London. Two, isn’t the book too slow? No. If you want faster, go find James Patterson. The characters in this town are so absolutely delightful as they roam about the town that I would happily spend another day or two with them. Again, the name: Pudding Corner. Might that be a hint as to what we can expect? Three, is it sexy and violent? Much more yearning than sexy. And if there had been any sex, it was years ago. As to the violence, it is offstage, involving a corpse that keels over in his allotment patch—a little garden the size of a postage stamp where Brits go and plant rutabaga on the weekends. Four, is this book a stand-alone? We hope that the publisher is sensible and Ms. Sutton will be back to delight us again with Daphne and Book Two.