Investigating Peggy’s death changes the lives of this motley and eccentric group of armchair detectives. It also makes an impact on Harbinder’s life. The heart beats around Mystery and Thriller authors and their writing process, book tours, interaction with other authors, publicists, etc. I found this fascinating.

The death of a ninety-year-old woman with a heart condition should not be suspicious. Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur certainly sees nothing out of the ordinary when Peggy's caretaker, Natalka, begins to recount Peggy Smith's passing. Harbinder's inner thoughts about Neil's animal persona (nibble nibble nibble; twitching nose and ruffled whiskers; a squirrel deprived of its nut) provide amusing mental images. Ninety-year-old Peggy has died and her caretaker, Natalka, believes it was no ordinary death. When Natalka was cleaning out Peggy's home she noticed there was a large collection of crime novels and each came with a dedication to Peggy. She approaches Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur with her suspicions. After a gunman breaks in to steal one of the books, Harbinder sets out to determine if Peggy was murdered. In this 2nd book in the Harbinder Kaur series, the police detective investigates several suspicious deaths. The book works fine as a standalone. My favorite part of this book is the scenery – I so want to visit Shoreham and Edinburgh after reading this book. Maybe I could hire a driver though to take me on the route?Sparkling homage to vintage English crime novels ... nostalgic, charming but not without edge * Irish Examiner * Now most people would think that a ninety year old did her daily routine for entertainment and to pass away the hours. But for Peggy it was more than that. The time finally came when Peggy sat facing the shore with sightless eyes. Her caregiver, Natalka, came upon her that day. Peggy never got the chance to share what she saw moving along in the sand and the wind. And then, no one felt differently while attending the funeral. Old age and all that......

Natalka, is an amazing caregiver, we see her change a lot during the book, in a good way. She found Peggy dead and was the first to suggest this might be murder! Natalka, carer for Peggy and a few of the other elderly residents of Seaview Manor, a residential care complex, has a past, one that she fears is catching up with her. Benedict, ex-Monk, now barista. He left because he fell out of love with God, although his faith is as strong as ever. And Edwin, in his eighties, ex BBC and a gentleman to the core, gay, and very observant. Convinced that Peggy's death was not natural, and that the police aren't taking it seriously enough, these three set out to investigate on their own. Although they do DS (who would love to be DI) Harbinder Kaur the courtesy of keeping in touch by text. This is a fun, well put together story. I've read all three of Griffiths series and loved every one. Her characterizations are top notch and the atmosphere created always, for me, feels authentic. Elly Griffiths has a light touch in this book. There is plenty of humour, especially from Harbinder herself. She has her own wonderful ways of dealing internally with implied racism and with her partner's foibles. The three amateur detectives, Natalka, Edwin and Benedict are all beautifully drawn and make you cross your fingers that things will end well for them. I wanted to hear about how Peggy collaborated with the authors and brainstormed with them! I wanted to hear her ideas, and to get to know HER. Peggy could have been one of those characters that we never forget!Last but not least there’s elderly, dapper Edwin a retired TV producer, who like Harbinder, is gay. Evaluate the portrayal of the elderly in the novel. How does the author characterize this group? Do the older characters in the book mostly reinforce stereotypes of this generation or overturn them? How do characters like Peggy, Joan, Weronika, and Edwin challenge conventional depictions or characterizations of elderly people? We get to see things from the viewpoints of Natalka, Benedict, Edwin, Harbinder and others. Eventually Natalka, Benedict, and Edwin take off to an Aberdeen literary festival to do their snooping, and things get more dangerous and perplexing. Both Benedict and Harbinger are the most entertaining to me, with their inner thoughts on everything that was going on. Natalka brings to mind a beautiful spy (I'm not saying she is a spy), Edwin, at 80, is as suave as he was in his younger days, and Harbinder gets so irked by her partner Neil that she imagines he's a small woodland creature, although I don't think this helped her relationship with him, one bit. When Peggy Smith, a 90-year-old woman, is found dead, no one believes foul play had a role in her death….that is no one but her Ukrainian carer, Natalka. Upon the discovery that Peggy served as a murder consultant, thinking up unique ways for characters to die, for popular and critically acclaimed authors, Natalka teams up with Edwin, an 80-year-old “ancient TV producer," and Benedict an “ex-monk-turned-coffee-shop owner” to investigate Peggy’s death. Detective Harbinder Kaur is brought into the fold.

I know it was a good book because I found myself reading bits out loud to anyone who was listening. I thought it was good fun, very well written and totally entertaining. I loved how Harbinder didn’t dismiss the trio of amateur detectives, and while she didn’t encourage them to investigate, she listened and respected their findings. The friendship they created was so wonderful! (for all her pretended coldness she sure gets friendly with her suspects! See “The stranger diaries”) An enjoyable read, but I did not like it as much as “Stranger Diaries” and I hope that in future books Harbinder Kaur is a bit more optimistic and happier! There is something almost Christiesque about The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths. It has that feel of a Christie murder-mystery. The slow buildup, rather like a steam train pulling out of the station, the multiple suspects, the red herrings. But Griffiths murders and characters perhaps have a few more teeth than Christie's, and she is not above a bit of sarcasm, which I enjoy.And that Peggy Smith had been a 'murder consultant' who plotted deaths for authors, and knew more about murder than anyone has any right to...

Plus, Griffiths admits there is nothing cozy about murder, but there are avid readers who find comfort in a great murder mystery, sans blood and guts. Mysteries that are puzzles, that engage the reader in solving said puzzles are a must in creating a cozy mystery. This is a book about books and their authors, publishers and literary agents. There are also retired wartime spies spending their time creating new ways for book characters to die, Ukrainian refugees out for revenge and an aged care nurse working the bitcoin market in her free time. All good fun and written so nicely it never becomes too over the top.With Natalka's urging, the odd threesome decide to launch their own investigation into Peggy's death, a seriocomic exercise that's both fun and dangerous. This incident DOES make DS Harbinder Kaur suspicious, and the subsequent murder of a mystery author who mentioned Peggy in all his books clinches the deal. Harbinder accepts that the deaths of Peggy and the writer might be linked. Peggy, the “murder consultant”, helped novelists find new and interesting ways of murdering their victims. As those novelists feature in the story, Griffiths is given even more opportunities to turn her wit to writers and their methods.