MY THOUGHTS: There have been a few good muder-mysteries released this year featuring older protagonists. I was hoping that The Dinner Lady Detectives was going to join the group but it became evident very early on that this was not to be. Small Town people see the Big Town - London especially, I was wondering why with this people have a grudge over the people in a big city like London. Because in this book mentioned several times about it which makes me laughing well. Maybe because of the comparison of a crime happening and some neighborhood going between Dewstow and London has many different in some department (?) One thing I did really love about this book is that the relationship between Margery and Clementine isn't explicitly stated through most of the book. We find out they have been a couple for years, but it's not much more than hinted at for a while. I'm a strong believer that stories about LGBTQ people should not need some sort of disclaimer or "coming out" section because they shouldn't be needed in real life. We need to normalise this. A lot of respect to the author for taking this route. Margery and Clementine are enjoying a peaceful middle-age together in the small, idyllic town of Dewstow, and eagerly awaiting retirement from their work on the front line serving meals to the students at Summerview secondary school.

The Dinner Lady Detectives By Hannah Hendy |The Works The Dinner Lady Detectives By Hannah Hendy |The Works

Finally, the solution was rather out of left field and came in an info dump near the end. All the clues that were followed were pointless, basically. All in all, this is a brilliant cozy mystery and I can’t wait to see what happens next in the series!

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I read the premise and thought it would be such fun to read about lunch ladies solving a crime. There were a couple of scenes that were "Lucy & Ethel" funny so I'll give it three stars. The kitchen crew was not much fun as a whole and I did not connect with Margery and Clementine. The whole thing just seemed so haphazard and cluttered to me. I'm sure many will enjoy this more than I did. Just not my cup of tea. This is the fourth installment of the Dinner Lady Detectives series, and despite having not read any of the previous books I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I had no issues understanding what was happening, and thankfully didn't feel like I was missing out by not having read the first books.

The Dinner Lady Detectives by Hannah Hendy | Goodreads The Dinner Lady Detectives by Hannah Hendy | Goodreads

The two main characters, Margery and Clementine are not interesting at all. I couldn't even like them at the start of the book, they seemed like nasty older ladies and even to each other. They're both in their early 60's but it's clear the writer has no idea what that means. The author mentions one of them having an ear horn and they sit and watch Antiques Roadshow and knit and not much else. At one point they even mention that telephone operators don't plug calls in anymore. That stopped before either of the women were born.When maths teacher Mr Weaver goes missing, gossip reaches a crescendo. On an evening walk Clem and Margery find his dead body in the woods, with an odd symbol pained on a tree nearby. What can the symbol mean - and how did Mr Weaver meet his end? As the symbols continue to appear all around the town, the sleuths must solve the case before the killer carries out another murder. Had me hooked from the start right until the end. It was just a lovely cosy read that felt like coming home on a cold and dark night . I loved it.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Those where I find it difficult to empathise with the main characters, although I read the book to the end - but I won't buy any others in the series; and The characters are faintly ridiculous, with nothing realistic nor relatable about them. I initially thought that I might begin to like them better as the book progressed, but that was not to be either. They just irritated me even more.

The Dinner Lady Detectives) - Goodreads Hannah Hendy (Author of The Dinner Lady Detectives) - Goodreads

This is my first dinner lady detectives book and although reference was made to previous books in the series, the book explained in enough detail the premise of what happened so you were able to get the jist of what had happened. The only reason I couldn't give it 5 stars is because I worked out the ending but that doesn't detract away from the fact that this was a fun and enjoyable read! I will definitely be reading the earlier books in the series and would love to take part in another readalong if there is a future book! When more dirty deeds happen and random acts of vandalism, have they bitten off more than they can chew? Margery and Clementine are a hoot. They live in a small village in the English countryside and are Educational Centre Nourishment Consultants (aka Lunch Ladies) at the local school. They are partners, and sleuthing partners end up being their second “day job” as they attempt to get to the bottom of, what they feel, is a mysterious death of their less than perfect coworker, Caroline. As they stumble their way into an investigation, we can see a few twists, turns, and a true mystery unfold. I was surprised a few times, and really enjoyed how the story unfolds.

Creative Play

Dinner ladies Margery and Clementine have lived together for more than 30 years in Dewstow and both work in the kitchen of a local school, Summerview Secondary. When their manager, Caroline Hughes dies in a mysterious accident, unperturbed by the danger they could find themselves in, the pair decide to investigate.

The Dinner Lady Detectives on Apple Books ‎The Dinner Lady Detectives on Apple Books

Margery and Clementine start investigating - and getting into all kinds of escapades around the school. For me, this book was hard to rate. On the one hand, I liked the premise and I also liked that it was set among the dinner ladies, cleaners and other support staff at the school. The dynamics between the various co-workers at the school were intriguing and did pique my interest as I read. We also hear about minor characters such as "Mrs Melon" the Greengrocer and "Mrs Large" the small music teacher. It seemed like a game of Happy Families. Considering the two main ladies have the surnames Butcher and Baker, I think this was taken a little too far. I cannot wait to read the next book (please say there will be one!!!!!!) and highly recommend this gem. The main characters, Clementine (fantastic name) and Margery were... just okay. Deep characterisation is hindered by incorrectly utilised humour, and they didn't really seem like a couple to me. I know they've been together thirty years and I'm not expecting them to be all lovey-dovey like they're in the honeymoon period, but I expect some chemistry.

Hobbies

The two dinner ladies, Clementine and Margery are a couple, but I was a long way into the book before I realised that they were supposed to have a romantic relationship, as there were no signs of that between them. They didn't even seem that compatible as Clementine never seemed to listen to Margery and dragged her unwillingly into all sorts of things. I was also disappointed that their detective work also never seemed to lead to any serious clues and it took a nudge from someone else before they found any useful evidence. All in all a bit disappointing. This sounded like a promising cozy mystery involving two older schools dinner ladies solving the murder of their manager but it didn't turn out to be quite as much fun as I thought it would be. The kitchen manager was talked about as if she was a really fun person who liked to play funny pranks on people but most of the 'pranks' were mean and horrible and not at all funny. You'd think that might have been the reason she was found dead in the kitchen's walk in freezer but no, the police mark it off as an accidental death, despite there being copious amounts of blood spread all over the freezer and scratch marks on the door. I clearly read far too many dark and twisty books, as this wasn’t quite there for me in terms of thrills, BUT it wasn’t meant to be - and for that, I thoroughly enjoyed it!