The Crossed Keys Chronicle

A Very Lively Murder

A Very Lively Murder cover

Thanks to a steady diet of BBC/ITV/Netflix murder procedurals over the last few years, I’ve become more interested in the murder mystery genre of books. One of the hallmarks of what I like in the genre is having an interesting investigator to shepherd the reader through the case . A Very Lively Murder, goes above and beyond this and has a set of three investigators!

The book, by Katy Watson, is the second in her Three Dahlias Mysteries series. The premise of the series is that in the book’s universe there was an Agatha Christie-like author named Lettice Davenport whose main detective character was named Dahlia Lively. In the universe the books are very popular and have spawned many adaptations, including movies and TV series. The titular three in the book series are three women who have played the fictional detective across a multi-decade time span. After bonding over the events of the first book in the series the three women have become friends and have remained a part of each other’s lives.

A Very Lively Murder opens a few months after the events of the first novel and two of the Dahlias, Rosalind King (the oldest of the three) and Posy Starling (the most recently cast Dahlia) are on location in Wales to begin filming a new movie adaptation of a Dahlia Lively mystery. On the first day of read-throughs, the casting director of the movie abruptly disappears, and a threatening note is placed on the script of Rosalind. They laugh it off for bit, but after a few weeks on set and a couple of “accidents” that nearly result in bodily harm, the two Dahlias decide they need an impartial observer and call in the help of the third Dahlia, Caro, to help them figure out what might be happening.

Once the third Dahlia is on the scene, in a picturesque, tiny town in Wales with a fancy manor house that may or may not have secret tunnels, the action kicks into high gear. An actual murder does occur shortly after her arrival and the detectives are forced to try and clear the name of the accused and find the real killer before they strike again.

One of the highlights of the book is the interactions between the three Dahlias themselves. Because of the range of ages and personalities between them, they all complement and bounce off of each other in entertaining ways. Watson does a great job of fleshing out the characters even more from the first novel, and you get the sense that she’s in it for the long haul. Despite this book being published in 2023, there have already been three more books in the series released, a truly prolific rate of output compared to some authors these days, GRRM who?

If you are looking for a cozy mystery series, I think The Three Dahlias Mysteries are some great reads, and A Very Lively Murder is a solid entry in the series. I would highly recommend them to anyone needing some good cross-generational matriarchal sleuthing while still having some intriguing story twists and turns.