MEET YOUR NEW FAVOURITE PRIVATE DETECTIVE AND ASTROLOGER, JO HUGHES.

Perfect for fans of Faith Martin, Frances Lloyd, LJ Ross, Kristin Wright, or Richard Osman.

Jo Hughes is living a peaceful existence in the gorgeous Cotswolds countryside.

She’s looking forward to her weekly glass of wine and catch-up with Aoife, her boss at Alcott College.

But the women find more than they bargained for at their cosy treehouse spot.

Swinging gently in the warm summer breeze is a man hanging from a branch.

It’s Seb, the college financial director. What could have driven him to this?

Jo discovers that the financial situation at the college is dire. But she’s not convinced that Seb killed himself. The question is, though, if he didn’t — who did?

She calls up David Macy, her old private investigator colleague, and the two get to work on the case.

But things go from bad to worse when Jo realises her partner Teddy may also be implicated in the goings-on.

Can she read the signs and uncover the truth?

Private Detective series

1. Forecast Murder
2. A Sign for Murder
3. Murder as Predicted
4. The Hanged Man

Out of My Comfort Zone!

I suspect I would have enjoyed this more if I had read the series from the very beginning.

As the week draws to a close, Jo and Aoife head to their usual spot in the college grounds to enjoy a glass of wine and a catch-up; what they don’t expect is to find a body hanging from the tree – that of their colleague. Speculation is rife about the apparent suicide of Seb, the college’s financial director and with irregularities in the accounts coming to light, Jo turns to her former colleague David Macy to help her get to the bottom of things.

I really enjoy a good mystery, but it’s only fair to say I struggled with this one. I expected a lot more from the astrology angle and even though it’s not a subject I know much about, I am aware that what you see isn’t always the straightforward meaning of tarot cards so I was always on the lookout for an expert opinion. I do think that I missed out by coming into this series on the fourth book; I’m sure others took something completely different from this novel. There was an occurrence near the beginning which didn’t sit well with me and threw me off balance and I never really got it back. For much of this one, I’m afraid I felt like a fish out of water. Isn’t it a good job that we all read a book differently? For me, this is a three star read.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy; this is – as always – my honest, original and unbiased review.

Tags: murder mystery

• Format: ebook, paperback
• Size: 266 pages
• Publisher: Joffe Books
• Publication Date: 03 August 2021
• Book Links:
• https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58692655
• https://www.amazon.co.uk/HANGED-gripping-mystery-Private-Detective-ebook/dp/B099KJYRX5

Author Details

Linda Mather’s journey to becoming a writer began when she was sixteen and her brother bought her a book on astrology, which really grabbed her imagination. She has done a lot of other things since, from rescuing stranded whales in Scotland to setting up graduate schemes in Scandinavia. Her experiences — especially the settings — often provide the inspiration for great stories.