by Tracy Condie

This week we have a review of The Murders in Great Diddling by Katarina Bivald along with an interesting interview with Katarina. Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book and a link to purchase the book from Amazon.

The Murders in Great Diddling by Katarina Bivald
Review by Tracy Condie

Some of the best mysteries, cozy or otherwise, take place in small English country towns. I would say that this novel has cozy undertones, but it also has some language that makes it a little edgier than your standard cozy. The main character, author Berit Gardner, needs a change of pace to get back her writing mojo, so she buys a cottage in Great Diddling. (You will never guess what the name means.) The town has all the bits that a small Cornish town should have, including a manor house. Small towns also have secrets, and this one is no different. The only thing that is not a secret is just how much the locals despise Reginald Trent. Not even his Aunt Daphne is fond of him. It is no wonder that he ends up being the victim.

Once the beginning pieces of the plot are laid down, the story really goes off with quite a bang. Oh, and what a bang it is, giving everyone a bit to gossip about. Because this is a small town, there is no local constabulary, which means that Detective Inspector Ian Ahmed is not a local and is not likely to get any real answers from the townsfolk, unless he is interested in gossip. What DI Ahmed does learn is that Trent was a wheeler-dealer and described in such a way that makes it easy to sympathize with the business owners he was threatening. Penny Elmer referred to Trent as a snake, and others thought of him as a bully. No one thought of him as particularly brilliant.

However, the other characters in the story are absolutely brilliant (as in amazing). I would even say bloody brilliant. The story is told from multiple points of view, not just by the sleuth, or even the sleuth and the Detective Inspector. Each character has a secret or two, and is pretty good at improvising. Imagine turning a murder into a tourist event featuring mystery books and writers. It is a little macabre, but also very original, and the townsfolk are 100% behind it.

Berit has her work cut out for her as she follows clues and asks questions. She has a quiet way about her and some quirky habits. I especially like that she lies flat on the floor (at home) to get a different perspective, because don’t things look different from the floor? Berit’s new assistant Sally, (her agent’s inexperienced daughter,) is not entirely sure what to think of her new boss, the town, or the sleuthing. Sally’s mom sent her to make sure that Berit is writing her next novel. All Berit has been writing in her journal are the clues she has uncovered.

This is a highly enjoyable story, and the multiple points of view keep it interesting. So grab a cup of tea, use the good china, if you have it, or find a seat in the garden, because this story will capture your attention.

Tracy Condie is a paralegal by day and cozy armchair sleuth by night. When she is not working or reading, she enjoys preparing the recipes found in culinary cozies or researching recipes of meal items described therein and sharing reviews of both books and food on Instagram and on KRL. She lives in Corona, California with her husband and dog Zoolie, and looks forward to visiting with their grown sons when their time permits.

Interview with Katarina Bivald:

KRL: How long have you been writing?

Katarina: I have been writing for as long as I can remember. I was always a story telling child, and I was fortunate enough to have two younger siblings who served from the beginning as a captive and somewhat unvoluntary audience. One of my earliest memories is of us playing together: me using the toys to make up stories of pirates and ships and adventures, them sitting quietly around and listening.

KRL: When did your first novel come out, what was it called, and would you tell us a little about it?

Katarina: My first novel, The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend, was published in the US in 2016 and became an instant New York Times bestseller. It is a story about a young Swedish woman who travels to a small town in Iowa to visit a pen pal and eventually opens up a bookstore there.

Katarina Bivald
Foto: Peter Knutson

KRL: OMG I loved that book! Have you mostly written mysteries/suspense and if not, what else have you written?

Katarina: No, this is my very first murder, and I am incredibly excited about it! If I had known it was this much fun to kill people, I would have started much earlier. It is definitely true what they say, that mystery writers have the most fun research. I have done so much research on different ways of killing people that if the police ever see my Google search history, I’ll be in deep trouble.

KRL: What brought you to choose the setting and characters in your latest book/series?

Katarina: This might be the first murder mystery that I’ve written, but I have always loved the genre, and most of all, I’ve loved Agatha Christie and the other golden ladies of British cozy crime. The combination of idyllic small towns, tea, rose bushes, quaint cottages – and murder! – is completely irresistible to me.

KRL: Do you write to entertain or is there something more you want the readers to experience from your work?

Katarina: I write to entertain, definitely, but perhaps most of all to transport: I want to grab my readers and take them with me to a small English village, or a run-down French château, or a small cottage of the coast of Stockholm, all without them ever having to leave the comfort of their favorite reading chair. I want to introduce them to people they might otherwise never meet, and maybe invite them to reflect a little bit about books, life, human nature – and what might drive someone to murder!

KRL: Do you have any pets?

Katarina: I have a dog, a cocker spaniel-terrier mix who is sleeping by my feet as I write this. I think all writers should have pets, partly for companionship during the lonely hours of self-doubts. It really helps to have someone snoring close by and partly to get away from behind the computer to go outside and sniff the air. That helps too.

KRL: Did you find it difficult to get published in the beginning?

Katarina: Oh, yes. I have been rejected by every small, medium or large publisher in Sweden. My current Swedish publishers rejected me twice. For me, that’s just a part of being a writer. I think the only way to learn how to write a good book is by writing shitty drafts first, and keep trying until you get it right. Rejection is just a sign that you’re not quite there yet.

KRL: Do you have a great rejection/critique or acceptance story you’d like to share?

Katarina: I received my last – to date! – rejection letter the very same day my book was out in bookstores. By that point, it had already been sold to some ten countries and it went on to be published in over 25 languages. The publisher knew I had found publication elsewhere, and congratulated me on being published, but she still wanted to take this opportunity to state for the record that she was rejecting the novel. One year after I submitted it to her.

KRL: Most interesting book signing story-in a bookstore or other venue?

Katarina: That is an incredibly difficult question. When The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend was published, I went on an epic US book tour where I visited mainly independent bookstores all over the country, and I met so many incredibly friendly people. But a few visits stand out in my memory: one is from when I visited bookstores in Iowa. Since the book was set in the state, and since I had never visited Iowa before I wrote the book, it meant a lot to me to meet so many readers from Iowa who had read and loved my book.

A cab driver met me in Des Moines and drove me to Decorah and Dragonfly books. He was himself like something out of a novel, and when we got to Decorah, we were fast friends: he pointed out all the important parts of the town, such as the collage, the two micro-breweries, the three biggest streets in town and the spot where his dad proposed to his mom.

My second memory is from Fox Tale Book Shoppe in Georgia. They had read my book beforehand, so when I got there they’d staged a scene from it, where people sat around reading my book. It really was a magical visit. I’m still in contact with people I met there. In fact, I’m still friends with a lot of people I’ve met in bookstores all over the US. It really proves to me what I have long suspected, namely that book lovers really are the kindest, nicest, loveliest people.

KRL: Where can our readers find you online?

Katarina: On Instagram, katarinabivald, or through my webpage, katarinabivald.se/en

You can click here to purchase this book from Amazon.

To enter to win a copy of The Murders in Great Diddling, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “diddling” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen September 7, 2024. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include mailing address in case you win. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

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