Penni Justice McDaniel

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A Body on the Beach is the first in P. F. Ford’s West Wales Murder Mysteries. Detective Norman Norman is brought out of retirement to join the Llangwelli Police Department in West Wales as the new DS to work Di Sarah Southall and a new team of inexperienced recruits. The department is used to having the big cases taken away from them, so they must quickly solve the mystery and prove their department has what it takes to solve crimes. The body found on the beach is a local woman, Kimberly Lawrence, and her husband hadn’t even reported that she was missing. Not only is Norman getting used to working with this new team to solve the murder, but he is also adjusting to the rainy climate and slower lifestyle in this region, which makes it a perfect setting for this story. There was a lot of dialogue, but it works for the police procedural mystery with likable and relatable characters and their flaws. The setting is intriguing, and the mystery has several twists and turns to keep the reader guessing until the very end. I enjoyed this book so much that I quickly finished all the available books in this series and wanted to learn more about the author, P. F. Ford, who started writing later in life than most authors. I discovered that Norman Norman is a character in the author’s previous series, Slater & Norman Mysteries. I’m already at book 10 of 14 of that one because they are fast and entertaining reads. Norman is my favorite character in the Slater & Norman series, so it’s no surprise that P.F. Ford chose to use him in the new West Wale Murder Mysteries. If you are a fan of Ann Cleeves, J.D. Kirk, Matt Brolly, and British television mysteries like Vera and Shetland, you will most likely enjoy P.F. Ford’s mysteries.

A BODY ON THE BEACH a gripping Welsh crime mystery full of twists (The West Wales Murder Mysteries Book 1)