Caffeinated Reviewer

Welcome to Murder Week by Karen Dukess narrated by Carlotta Brentan delivered a murder-mystery, self-discovery and new beginnings. Fans of whodunnits and murder mystery simulations should definitely grab their earbuds and listen.

In this delightfully funny and heartfelt new novel from the author of the “bittersweet page-turner” ( The New York Times ) The Last Book Party , an American woman travels to the English countryside when she discovers tickets her late mother had purchased for a murder mystery simulation in a small British town.

When thirty-four-year-old Cath loses her mostly absentee mother, she is ambivalent. With days of quiet, unassuming routine in Buffalo, New York, Cath consciously avoids the impulsive, thrill-seeking lifestyle that her mother once led. But when she’s forced to go through her mother’s things one afternoon, Cath is perplexed to find tickets for an upcoming “murder week” in England’s Peak a whole town has come together to stage a fake murder mystery to attract tourism to their quaint hamlet. Baffled but helplessly intrigued by her mother’s secret purchase, Cath decides to go on the trip herself—and begins a journey she never could have anticipated.

Teaming up with her two cottage-mates, both ardent mystery lovers—Wyatt Green, forty, who works unhappily in his husband’s birding store, and Amity Clark, fifty, a divorced romance writer struggling with her novels—Cath sets about solving the “crime” and begins to unravel shocking truths about her mother along the way. Amidst a fling—or something more—with the handsome local maker of artisanal gin, Cath and her irresistibly charming fellow sleuths will find this week of fake murder may help them face up to a very real crossroads in their own lives.

Witty, wise, and deliciously escapist, Welcome to Murder Week is a fresh, inventive twist on the murder mystery and a touching portrayal of one daughter’s reckoning with her grief, her past—and her own budding sense of adventure.

Thirty-four-year-old Cath has recently lost her absentee mother and is sorting through her feelings and her mother’s possessions. Alone in the world with both her gran and mother gone, she is going through the motions of living when she finds tickets for an upcoming “murder week” in England’s Peak. Her mother purchased them for the two of them and said nothing. She calls to get a refund, but the host offers her a refund on one and an additional refund if she shares lodgings with two strangers. With some convincing by her sole employee in her shop, Cath reluctantly travels and begins a journey that will forever change her.

Upon arriving, she meets her roommates for the week. Wyatt Green, who works unhappily in his husband’s birding store, and Amity Clark, a divorced romance writer struggling with her novels. The three of them will have to work together to solve a murder-mystery the town is hosting.

I loved the small-town and the participants in the murder, from victim to suspects. There are groups working to solve the mystery, Cath and her housemates, a married couple and others. I laughed at some of the acting and others performed gallantly. We get a second mystery regarding why Cath’s mother booked the trip, and I loved the thread. There is an unexpected romance in the works for Cath too.

Welcome to Murder Week was a fun cozy mystery and Carlotta Brentan did a lovely job with both the American and English accents. This is perfect for a rainy summer afternoon with character growth, friendships, romance and, of course, mystery!

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About Karen Dukess

Karen Dukess is the author of The Last Book Party and Welcome to Murder Week. She has been a newspaper reporter in Florida, a magazine publisher in Russia, and a speechwriter on gender equality for the United Nations. She has a degree in Russian studies from Brown University and a master’s in journalism from Columbia University. She lives outside of New York City and in Truro on Cape Cod, where she interviews some of today’s most acclaimed writers as host of the Castle Hill Author Talks for the Truro Center for the Arts.

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About Carlotta Brentan

Carlotta Brentan is a New York–based actor, producer, and award-winning audiobook narrator. In theater, Carlotta focuses on original play development, and has produced, directed, and performed in acclaimed world premieres at Cherry Lane, LaMaMa, and internationally. Behind the mic, Carlotta has voiced hundreds of national commercials, corporate videos, e-learning, dubbing, and audiobooks in multiple languages and accents. A multiple AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator specializing in YA with an edge, thrillers, and literary fiction, Carlotta has voiced New York Times and Audible bestselling audiobooks, as well as Reese Witherspoon Book Club picks by award-winning authors. Carlotta is a classically trained actor, graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and a bilingual speaker of English and Italian. In all her work—which also includes on-camera commercials and films—Carlotta aims to tell the stories of complex, introspective, enterprising characters on journeys of self-discovery.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• 2025 Audiobook Challenge

About Kimberly

Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram

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