Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • A Body in the Village Hall: An Utterly Gripping Cozy Murder Mystery

  • A Kate Palmer Novel, Book 1
  • By: Dee MacDonald
  • Narrated by: Jane McDowell
  • Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (152 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
A Body in the Village Hall: An Utterly Gripping Cozy Murder Mystery cover art

A Body in the Village Hall: An Utterly Gripping Cozy Murder Mystery

By: Dee MacDonald
Narrated by: Jane McDowell
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £14.99

Buy Now for £14.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Murder at Hawthorn Cottage cover art
Mystery on Hidden Lane: An Utterly Gripping Cozy Mystery Novel cover art
Murder at the Dolphin Hotel: A Gripping Cozy Historical Mystery cover art
An English Garden Murder cover art
The Bookshop Murder cover art
Murder on the Marshes cover art
The Vicarage Murder cover art
The Kensington Kidnap cover art
Some Particular Evil cover art
A Date to Die For cover art
The Murders at Foxglove Close cover art
Murder in Merrywell cover art
The Museum Murder cover art
A Very English Murder cover art
Cherringham - A Cosy Crime Series Compilation cover art
The Murder Mystery cover art

Summary

Kate Palmer has relocated to Cornwall for a quiet life. Moving into picturesque Lavender Cottage with her sister, Angie, the little village of Lower Tinworthy should be the perfect place for their fresh new start. But within weeks of their arrival, there’s a death in the close-knit community....

A woman is found dead in the village hall, with her own kitchen knife next to the body, covered in blood. Kate, a practice nurse at the local medical center, begins to piece together the clues. Fenella was at the center of village activity, and there seem to be plenty of people who had reason to dislike her. But did any of them hate her enough to kill her? 

As Kate gets drawn into life in Lower Tinworthy, she begins a close friendship with Detective Inspector "Woody" Forrest, who is near to retiring - and determined to crack his last case. Together, they set about solving the mysterious crime. 

But when someone breaks into Kate’s home and leaves a warning note on her pillow, it becomes clear the murderer is prepared to do anything to keep their identity hidden.... Will Kate work out who’s responsible before she becomes the next victim? 

If you love murder mysteries by Agatha Christie, Faith Martin, or Joy Ellis, then this novel will have you listening late into the night! 

©2020 Dee MacDonald (P)2020 Bookouture

What listeners say about A Body in the Village Hall: An Utterly Gripping Cozy Murder Mystery

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    83
  • 4 Stars
    38
  • 3 Stars
    25
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    83
  • 4 Stars
    26
  • 3 Stars
    16
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    4
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    74
  • 4 Stars
    32
  • 3 Stars
    22
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Not so much utterly gripping as utterly annoying

If you like 'heroines' who are utterly stupid and poke their noses Into danger causing others to have to rescue them, you'll like this. It was too stupidly unbelievable for me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Nice!

Enjoyed listening to it, but was left feeling like the end was rushed, and the author just wanted to finish it.
It's a shame as build up and middle parts were good and kept you interested, then fell flat towards the end.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

It’s not Le Carré...

This is peak cosy crime. Excruciating at points because of the cheesy-ness of the writing BUT if you’re after something along the lines of the Cherringham Series this is the one. Light, inconsequential but thoroughly enjoyable. I hope it’s the first of many! Also read well.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great narration

I really liked the very Marple esque story and the characters were great. The only time I grimaced was the big mistakes the lead character made. Marple would never offer herself up to the killer the way Kate did so please don't let this intelligent character make such a mistake again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good story

Thought the story was good, wouldn’t go so far as to say it was utterly gripping. Didn’t enjoy listening to this narrator, far too plummy with a wooden delivery.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Great narrator, poor story

I've given up on this book as it's so dull and not well written. I only decided to listen to it as I love this narrator who reads Elly Griffiths Ruth Galloway series (or most of them) beautifully. Great to fall asleep to though!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Gorgeous.

Really enjoyed this book. It was beautifully narrated by Jane and the characters were believable. I hope there is a follow up to it as I really want to know what happened next.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great, especially if you like Cornwall!

Loved it! First Dee MacDonald book I have listened to, but hooked, especially liked the narrator, very easy to listen to, and very clearly spoken.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Slow and long winded

The story was very slow. There were too many characters and the plot was over complicated.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Narrator was just perfect

Really enjoyed listening to this.
Good story and great narrator .
………… what else can I say.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!