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I cannot wait to read the next book (please say there will be one!!!!!!) and highly recommend this gem. I did like Clementine and Margery, a couple of some thirty years living quietly in the tiny village of Dewstow, South Wales, but I sometimes had difficulty distinguishing between them. The rest of the cast was problematic in that few held much appeal, including the victim who had a fondness for mean-spirited pranks. I love Margery and Clem. They are perfect for one another. They are hilarious…the banter, wit, sarcasm, and one-liners are laugh out loud and beyond sassy. There is a perfect balance between heartfelt sentiment and dark humor. Dewstow, small town that represents the safest place to live and how the neighborhood represents. Well, for a starter it showed that whenever gossip around and something can be held to be gossip, that certain person could spread the words all over. What is happening and can be seen clearly not only in the small town but what that character does, represent it all. Next, about the pond that Margaery and Clementine broke when they had a car crash was quite hilarious. That would be a problem in a small town with a talkative neighborhood which they had at that time. The hilarious pond which everybody hates but never bothers too much to talk about it represents what it would be like in a small town as Dewstow represents in this book. Also, this speedometer stuff on this small town is well-known that no driving fast in this town, you old lad. This sounded like a promising cozy mystery involving two older schools dinner ladies solving the murder of their manager but it didn't turn out to be quite as much fun as I thought it would be. The kitchen manager was talked about as if she was a really fun person who liked to play funny pranks on people but most of the 'pranks' were mean and horrible and not at all funny. You'd think that might have been the reason she was found dead in the kitchen's walk in freezer but no, the police mark it off as an accidental death, despite there being copious amounts of blood spread all over the freezer and scratch marks on the door.
On the whole, then, reading this was a lot of fun. I found myself laughing out loud at some of the absurdities and the chaos that Clementine and Margaret wrought. If they somehow chose to stop being dinner ladies and start up a detective agency instead, I think it would be great. Another bump in the road was that there was the time worn (and needs to be retired) misunderstanding which just needed people to talk to clear it up. It is used all too often as a lazy attempt to create false tension in the narrative. We also hear about minor characters such as "Mrs Melon" the Greengrocer and "Mrs Large" the small music teacher. It seemed like a game of Happy Families. Considering the two main ladies have the surnames Butcher and Baker, I think this was taken a little too far. MY THOUGHTS: There have been a few good muder-mysteries released this year featuring older protagonists. I was hoping that The Dinner Lady Detectives was going to join the group but it became evident very early on that this was not to be. Personally, I don’t see Clementine and Margery as wives, to me they go on more like they are best friends who live together because how has it took until the third book of the series for them to finally kiss? They really don’t act as a married couple.
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Finally, the solution was rather out of left field and came in an info dump near the end. All the clues that were followed were pointless, basically. His work is known for strong, memorable female protagonists with a unique voice and social conscience. A DNF for several reasons and I gave this about 20% more than I usually would. First, the use of terms other than "said", e.g., she wailed, she hissed, she cried, etc., was distracting to the point of mania. Second, who are these main characters? What am I supposed to feel or think about them? Clementine is a collection of tics and quirks with no anchor, as if the author decided that "take an asshole but make them an old woman" was enough. She is, in my opinion, an emotionally abusive partner and a deeply unpleasant person to spend your reading time with. Margery is a flat cipher - is she an active thinker? I get the feeling that I'm supposed to interact with her like Rose from the Golden Girls but she's such a wet sponge with an inconsistent intellectual presence that I found it impossible to engage with her. Am I supposed to glean information from the fact that her favorite breakfast is tea and plain toast? If yes, what is it?? Why is it?? Finally, the mystery isn't even worth getting into at this point because, truly, at halfway through the book I'm not sure the author or their creations care. Not a recommend.
The two dinner ladies, Clementine and Margery are a couple, but I was a long way into the book before I realised that they were supposed to have a romantic relationship, as there were no signs of that between them. They didn't even seem that compatible as Clementine never seemed to listen to Margery and dragged her unwillingly into all sorts of things. I was also disappointed that their detective work also never seemed to lead to any serious clues and it took a nudge from someone else before they found any useful evidence. All in all a bit disappointing. It just got more improbable as the book progressed, and I rapidly lost interest. I seriously considered abandoning the read several times, but having invested a week of reading time, I forced myself to finish. The characters are faintly ridiculous, with nothing realistic nor relatable about them. I initially thought that I might begin to like them better as the book progressed, but that was not to be either. They just irritated me even more. As for A Terrible Village Poisoning, I noticed a few more editorial misses and a number of typos—all of which should be dealt with. But for the rest: same ole, same ole. As Kurt Vonnegut once wrote, “Enough, Enough!” DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Canelo via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Dinner Lady Detectives by Hannah Hendy for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.There were fleeting moments of something better, and I believe it could have really been a good book with a little more time taken and if it was fleshed out a little. Some points genuinely did make me gasp to myself as since most of it was so obvious, the little twists did catch me off guard. I could see this being a cheesy BBC comedy drama one day with a bit of refinement. The plot is particularly fun this time - there’s a lot of confusing things going on in this village, and it takes a while to start making sense. It was very enjoyable trying to figure out the solution as more clues were revealed!
However, this book give me few knowledge about poison and it also has a plus. Event though there isn’t much telling about British Culture again or any kind that indicates “BRITISH”, this book is amusing. If there is any other book about Clementine in the future, I would probably look for it! So when should a reader say whoa? And when should the writer realize that they have said the same things in previous books and start something else? That’s for you to decide. A delightful, quintessentially British cosy mystery perfect for fans of SJ Bennett and Robert Thorogood.Praise for The Dinner Lady DetectivesThis time around, Margery, Clementine, and friends are not in their familiar surroundings, but on holiday in another village. Naturally, people start dropping dead, and they can’t resist poking their noses in. The ending on the cliff was NONSENSE, she should be written more tragedy on it into good conclusion I wasn’t going to comment on this one, but my reason for not wanting to is a subject for a future essay. Anyway, it seems that the author has already written my review within the novel itself: The Moral of The Story and Issues this book hold quite focusing on (1)Family. It’s good because, it’s a small village where the setting was and brings up lots of families traits in the book represents the village. (2)There’s different traits about the villagers or the locals and the outsider. How it treated and everybody treated each other. Quite remarkable, actually. (3)Coping mechanism, walking, to ease your mind while you have too much happening in your mind. That’s memorable. Margery and Clementine are enjoying a peaceful middle-age together in the small, idyllic town of Dewstow, and eagerly awaiting retirement from their work on the front line serving meals to the students at Summerview secondary school.
Margery, please don't swear!' Clementine said, turning her head to Seren who was nodding her head vigorously as though she was a person of great importance. As though no one had ever caught her eating profiteroles in the school kitchens walk-in freezer. 'What do you mean, Seren? Who's died?' I liked the synopsis of this one. I do enjoy cozy mysteries and the setting in Dewstow, South Wales UK was intriguing. The dinner ladies, Clementine and Margery work together in the cafeteria of a school, serving the students in the lunch line (why do they say dinner)? A British thing maybe? What a fun mystery. I would definitely call this a cozy mystery on the line of Murder, She Wrote! I love the dinner ladies and their interactions. I love the relationship between Clem and Margery.' NetGalley review ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I loved revisiting these characters, they are so much fun. I really like the relationship that Margery and Clementine have, they understand each other well and care very much. I did put two and two together before Margery & Clementine, however, and felt they missed a particularly obvious clue, but enjoyed the story enough to follow it through with them. Overall, it was a light and fun read and I’d recommend it for an enjoyable rainy day read, with tea and biscuits to hand.
I really enjoyed the previous two books in this series (The Dinner Lady Detectives and An Unfortunate Christmas Murder), so I was keen to get my hands on A Terrible Village Poisoning. One thing I did really love about this book is that the relationship between Margery and Clementine isn't explicitly stated through most of the book. We find out they have been a couple for years, but it's not much more than hinted at for a while. I'm a strong believer that stories about LGBTQ people should not need some sort of disclaimer or "coming out" section because they shouldn't be needed in real life. We need to normalise this. A lot of respect to the author for taking this route. The mystery itself was pretty good. No absolutely insane twists or anything, but it keeps one guessing (or it kept me guessing, at least), and it wasn't too unrealistic. It was a dark and stormy night. Lightning flashed and thunder rolled across the sky. Rain spattered a mysterious, hooded stranger who peered over the hedgerow at the darkened, quiet house.” As they inch closer to the truth, it becomes clear that someone will stop at nothing to keep the pair quiet. Will the perpetrator get their just-desserts before their time runs out?
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