There’s more to ‘Murder Week’ than meets the eye
(June 4, 2025) — “Welcome to Murder Week” by Karen Dukess was an unrequested Advanced Reader’s Edition received in the nick of time.
One needs a break from the daily news these days. Still, I don’t think I’ve ever so seriously recommended such a light read.
The novel opens with Cath Little, a single woman in her 30s, going through a box of papers brought home to Buffalo after attending her mother’s funeral in Florida. The contents are mostly bills and travel brochures of places her mother could only wish for. A surprising packet is a one-week trip to a village in the Peak District in England, a benefit performance of a murder mystery to be solved by those purchasing the travel package. Most surprising is the stamp Paid in Full for two.
Cath contacts the company. Only her mother’s half of the package is returnable. Cath is stunned to learn the other reservation was specifically for her, the daughter who was basically abandoned to be raised by Cath’s paternal grandmother.
Cath unenthusiastically books her flight to England. So, here it is, a cozy, but fake, English murder mystery with fake American detectives competing to detect the fake murderer. Cath is one of three single people who share a cottage and take part as a team, a most interesting team, and except for Cath, each has a solid reason for coming. Cath’s purpose is cloudy at best and becomes more mysterious as the hunt for the killer seems to unearth unexpected clues as to why her mother might have wanted to take her to this village. I can’t say a lot more of the story without spoiling it.
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What I love about the book is the inclusion of a second, totally different, mystery. Dukess skillfully weaves the pacing of the second puzzle, enticing the reader into the fun of going after two mysteries, without either one outshining the other. The reader never forgets the hunt for the killer.
The author does spot-on characterizations of the easily recognized American personalities playing against and with their British hosts. These are believable characters, especially the villagers who seem to be lifted right of the screens of the best BBC mysteries.
How willing is Cath to put together some of the clues about the trip and her mother? Could she believe there was more to her mother than abandonment? Typically American, she’s better at dealing with a scripted murder than a damaged heart.
Another bonus is the author’s descriptions of the village and the Peak District itself. It is as good as a travel brochure. And yes, there is romance. But not too much.
I also appreciate the author’s ability to wrap it up without a bow. Both mysteries are solved. All returns to normal. Almost. No spoilers from me. It is a good read.
Visit Sunny Solomon’s website at bookinwithsunny.com for her latest recommendations or just to ‘talk books.’
Sunny Solomon
Sunny Solomon holds an MA in English/Creative Writing, San Francisco State University. She is a book reviewer for “The Clayton Pioneer” and her poetry and other writing has been published in literary journals, one chapbook, In the Company of Hope and the collection, Six Poets Sixty-six Poems. She was the happy manager of Bonanza Books, Clayton, CA and Clayton Books, Clayton, CA. She continues to moderate a thriving book club that survived the closure of the store from which it began. Sunny currently lives next to the Truckee in Reno, NV.