Ruth Finlay is tied to Myrtle Bay, a small town on the southern coast of Victoria, Australia, and I can’t see her getting out any time soon. She’s far too busy, and even solving a murder has to be fitted in to all her other commitments!

Ruth’s actual job is as a writer but fortunately as she herself says, “I’d learnt early in my career that writing took the amount of time you gave to it, expanding or contracting to fit your circumstances.” I was a little envious at how quickly Ruth can pen polished prose, but she is an experienced journalist and she does have a lot on. Ruth goes for a run every morning and her dad won’t eat the perfectly reasonable food at his care home so Ruth has to whip up a host of gourmet meals every other day. Meanwhile her next-door neighbour, the redoubtable Doris has to be driven to the local antique centre in search of Tupperware, played cards with and served coffee and newly-baked cake at frequent intervals.

Ruth is also kept busy investigating the strange murder of her old tennis coach, David Fisk. David was killed at the antiques centre, and you know what those places are for having corners to hide around – how on earth can Ruth pin down exactly who was where and when? Fortunately, at her side is Doris, whose knowledge of the people of Myrtle Bay takes the two sleuths on many a wild goose chase. It is quite extraordinary how many people hated the murdered man and Ruth’s somewhat rosy memories of him are shredded within a few chapters. Thank heavens for the charming handyman Ciaran!

As you can see, there is a lot of humour in this book, and some of it is quite dark: Ruth’s beloved father lives at a care home named “Peaceful Rest” which would put me off even if I didn’t know about the staff, and there is a splendid scene when one of our suspects builds an erotic rockery in Doris’ back garden!

The action bowls along for the most part, though long descriptions of meals, and some dead ends in the investigation do slow down the middle. Characters are well drawn, and I guarantee that the one you’ll remember is Ruth’s next door neighbour Doris who is a one-of-a-kind: my favourite description of her was “She belonged on an album cover by Jimi Hendrix.”