A Curious Woman by Jess Lea
Murder Under the Gum Trees #1
Interesting, intriguing, intricately crafted introduction to a new cozy mystery romance series
* Bess Campbell: focused in living a positive simpler life, lives off-grid, open, honest, caring, comfortable, good friend, persistent, intriguing backstory, stronger than she realizes
* Margaret Gale: Museum owner/director, protective, strong personality, closed off, controlled, dark, snarky, difficult backstory, loving sister, intriguing and she grew on me
* That the main characters grew on me and were not cardboard but real and though an opposites attract vibe…they also had common ground and balanced one another.
* The Midnight Hags: three young, bright, entrepreneurial, somewhat shady, females that I really enjoyed getting to know – hope they show up again
* The murder mystery with clues and red herrings that had me wondering – though I did read ahead to find out who the bad guy was
* Being able to dislike and like with good reason
* That I was invested in the characters and the outcome of the story
* The plot, pacing, setting, and writing
* Reading a new-to-me author that drew me in and made me feel part of the story
* Knowing that the next book in the series is available now
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* The cruelty of more than one character in the story and the pain it caused others in the story
Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Yes
Thank you to NetGalley and Ylva Publishing ~ This is my honest review.
Bess Campbell has escaped to the windswept Australian coastal town of Port Bannir, determined to begin her life again. She is loving her fresh start, thanks to her fun job running a hip gallery, her territorial chickens, and a lot of self-help books to find her new, better self.
Port Bannir local Margaret Gale runs an austere maritime museum, and rules her staff with an iron fist. She has no time for that crazy modern gallery or upbeat, earnest Bess sweeping around town on her hipster bicycle.
After a heated dispute over an antique collectible dildo, there’s little hope Margaret and Bess will ever see eye to eye.
But when Port Bannir is rocked by a senseless murder, both women find themselves implicated. Can they work together to expose the truth––or will the truth prove far too dangerous?
A funny, fabulous, cozy mystery filled with quirkiness and a sweet serve of lesbian romance.
Jess Lea is the author of Looking for Trouble, A Curious Woman and The Taste of Her. She has also published short stories in the anthologies Tales of the Grimoire(ed. Ohletz and McKnight), Laid Bare(ed. Ohletz and Jae) and Don't Be Shy(ed. Ohletz and Jae).
Jess lives in Melbourne, Australia. She loves crime fiction, the writings of funny women, and lesbian books of all sorts. One day, she hopes to win the Nobel Prize for discovering a cure for writer's block.
