Guest review by Janelle Bailey, avid reader and always learning; sometimes substitute teaching, sometimes grandbabysitting, sometimes selling books

A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon

A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon

I saw this one in the new books section of a bookstore earlier this year and added it to my TBR stack right away, having previously enjoyed Joanna Cannon’s Three Things About Elsie and immediately after that purchasing her The Trouble With Goats and Sheep, which I have not yet read. I was not expecting a murder-mystery.

While murder-mysteries are rarely my go-to genre, I do love all books British in setting, so thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of this book. If you have any fondness for that lovely English life, you will, I think, enjoy it for that even if you’re not typically a murder-mystery fan. And if you are a lover of murder-mysteries and haven’t yet read A Tidy Ending, simply head toward it next!

Main character Linda is someone I easily appreciated from the start. I suspect you may also find her to be someone likable, as she is simply always doing and being her best, despite others–even her own mum, at times–making things more challenging for her than they are supporting or encouraging her. Linda, like many of us, possibly, is simply working toward and always doing her best. She struggles, though, to fit in socially, not having a lot of good, true friends. Both at home and at work–she works at a local charity shop, long as a volunteer but now being paid a bit–Linda aims to make a good life and keep a tidy home for her husband and herself.

And there is much tidying to do, as her husband, Terry, is not so spiffy. Actually, he is rather careless and carefree–pretty “care-free” and reckless–in so many ways. And, to boot, there seems to be a serial killer on the loose and possibly right in their local neighborhood or estate. Neighbor Malcolm is on constant watch and uniting the neighborhood, keeping open clear lines of communication as well as making recommendations for safe behavior, all somewhat Neighborhood Watch-like.

Hopefully I have not spoiled a single thing so that you, too, will completely enjoy engaging in A Tidy Life yourself. I sure did. Soon, then, too, I must also read: The Trouble With Sheeps and Goats.

Come back next Monday for another book review!