Haunted Magpie by Anna Nicholas
Eccentric, headstrong and engaging, Isabel Flores Montserrat is a cross between a highly charged Precious Ramotswe (The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency) & Phyrne Fisher (Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries).
When 33-year-old Isabel Flores Montserrat quits a promising career with the Spanish police to run her mother's holiday rentals agency in rural Mallorca, it seems that her crime-fighting days are far behind.
Basking in the Mediterranean sunshine with pet ferret, Furo, she indulges her passion for local cuisine, swimming in the sea and raising her pampered hens.
However, when a young florist goes missing, Isabel is once again seconded by the National Police to help solve the mystery.
Meanwhile, trouble is brewing in her own village with a sinister spate of animal disappearances.
When another islander vanishes, Isabel and the local police chief, Tolo Cabot, must hunt a potential serial killer using their unorthodox investigative skills.
With the clock ticking, they urgently need to find answers and restore harmony to the island once more.
Author Bio:
ANNA NICHOLAS is of Celtic origin & has lived for 18 years in rural Mallorca. An inveterate traveller & experienced freelance journalist, she regularly participates in humanitarian aid expeditions overseas with British explorer Colonel John Blashford-Snell, CBE & is a Fellow of the RGS.
She ran her own PR company in Mayfair, London, for 20 years, was a Guinness Book of Records adjudicator alongside the book’s founder, Norris McWhirter, CBE, and as a rookie press officer at charity Help the Aged, handled events for Princess Diana.
She runs an international marathon annually for her favourite causes. Anna & friend, Alison, are currently scaling all of Mallorca’s 54 peaks over 1,000m. They hope to be the first women to have climbed them all by the end of 2020.
Review
I think I have to say that this series is one of the best that I have read this year. Anna was kind enough to send me the first book ‘The Devil’s Horn’ in preparation for this blogtour and I am so thankful of this.
Isabel is now one of my favourite detectives and that is saying a lot as I am an avid crime fiction fan. She is fun and feisty, highly intelligent, kind, empathic, and is just a superb character all round. She used to be a cop but gave it up to help her mother run a rental business from their home village. However, the police force in Majorca keep asking her for help when a difficult case comes along. I think this is what makes the series for me, you find out essential parts from the police side of things i.e. forensics but Isabel is allowed to act like a private investigator so it’s basically the best of each sub genre coming together and making a wonderful baby!
But there is also a great set of supporting characters as well. Pep, her assistant and her eccentric Uncle. Oh and you can’t help but fall in love with Furo, her pet ferret. Actually, each character is extremely well developed and that is a testament to Anna’s writing. But what makes this series special in my eyes is even though it tackles some heavy material you still feel this joy coming out of the pages. I also now totally want to visit Majorca once Covid is more contained as it leaps off the page. Indeed it is it’s own character in a way.
In this book ‘Haunted Magpie’ Isabel is asked to help deal with a report of a missing person and also with a rash of her villages pets being stolen. I loved these stories and although I had made some conclusions I was still shocked by the ending! The pacing of the book was amazing, there were lots of twists and turns and it did have me stumped at times.
This series deserves to be a smash hit and ‘Haunted Magpie’ is a definite 5⭐️ read for me. I can see this being developed for TV very easily. Just go and read it as it’s amazing!
