I was drawn to the audiobook of The Undercover Bookshop by Katherine Reay with its promise of a historical mystery set in a small Cotswold village in 1950. While it was slow to start, the tale narrated by Fiona Hardingham delivered a cozy mystery with spies and a curious amateur sleuth that I found charming.
by Katherine Reay
Narrator: Fiona Hardingham
Length: 9 hours and 3 minutes
Genres: Historical Mystery
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible | Libro.fm *affiliate
Narration: 4.5 cups Speed: 1.3x
During the winter of 1950 in the small Cotswold village of Great Rollright, amateur sleuth Gemma Brown starts to suspect that the town’s best baker, Ursula Beurton, is a Soviet spy, tumbling her headlong into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse that ends with a decision that will lead her to the Undercover Bookshop and change her life forever.
Recently moved to the English Cotswolds, Gemma Brown desperately wants to create the kind of idyllic life she’s read about in her favorite mystery novels, with herself as the leading lady. But fitting in proves difficult as Gemma is more adept at solving mysteries and setting up the village’s first bookstore than she is at baking cakes or grasping social niceties. Nevertheless, she finds a friend in Peggy, a young woman recently moved to town herself, and Ursula Beurton, who is not only the village’s best baker but an enigmatic figure who sparks controversy in the small-town gossip network.
As Gemma spends more time with Ursula, she begins to suspect all those novels are affecting her thinking. The oddities she starts to notice must be her imagination because, if not, they point to something far more dangerous than winning the local baking contest or being placed on the church committee. Could her neighbor be a real spy?
Following her instincts and a few skills learned through fiction, Gemma soon becomes embroiled in an international intrigue involving the village’s mysterious benefactor, Lady Marchmont, MI5, and the KGB. In an unexpected twist, however, Ursula asks Gemma for a favor which may endanger all their lives as their next chapter unfolds in Gemma’s new venture, the Undercover Bookshop.
Gemma Brown has recently moved to the town of Great Rollright, a small Cotswold village. Here, she hopes to carve out an idyllic life. The kind she’s read about in her favorite mystery novels. She works at the local town store and sets about making some changes, including adding a book section. She makes a friend and meets a young man working at the police department. Gemma is socially awkward and isn’t very good at baking, a skill she deems necessary to catch the interest of the young man. She enlists the help of Ursula Beurton, the best local baker and the center of much of the gossip network.
Gemma is very much a mystery buff and is very inquisitive. When she sees things that are amiss, she soon believes Ursula is a German spy. The tale unfolds slowly, but once the groundwork was set, I found myself caught up in mystery. Gemma uses knowledge she gained from her beloved mystery book to investigate. This was a rather engaging cozy historical mystery with a nod to historical figures and stories as the author explains at the end.
Fiona Hardingham narrates and captures the accents and tone of the story. I felt she was well suited and enhanced my overall enjoyment.
The story has some suspenseful moments and a side romance that felt right for the period. The author delivered a twist or two, and I ended the audio with a smile. If you fancy a historical mystery with a female amateur sleuth, I would recommend The Undercover Bookshop.
About Katherine Reay
Katherine Reay is a national bestselling and award-winning author of several novels and one work of nonfiction. For her fiction, Katherine writes love letters to books, and her novels are saturated with what she calls the “world of books.” They are character driven stories that examine the past as a way to find one’s best way forward. In the words of The Bronte Plot’s Lucy Alling, Katherine writes of “that time when you don’t know where you’ll be, but you can’t stay as you are.” Katherine holds a BA and MS from Northwestern University, and after several moves across the globe, lives outside Chicago.
About Fiona Hardingham
Fiona is an award-winning audiobook narrator and voice-over artist whose work has earned the 2021 Audie Award for Best Middle-Grade Audiobook (The Good Hawk by Joseph Elliott), the 2022 Audie Award for Best Fiction for the full-cast narration of ‘The Final Revival of Opal & Nev’ by Dawnie Walton, Finalist for 2020 Best Young Adult for ‘Lovely War’ by Julie Berry (multi-cast), Finalist for 2019 Best Middle Grade for ‘The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book VI’ by Maryrose Wood, an ALA Odyssey Honor for ‘The Scorpio Races’ by Maggie Stiefvater, and 20 AudioFile Earphones Awards. For three consecutive years titles she's narrated were included in the Young Adult Library Services Association’s 'Top Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults’; list. Fiona has narrated over 430 titles across genres and is renowned for her extensive range of character voices and accents, bringing depth and versatility to audiobooks, animation, ADR, commercials, documentaries, video games, trailers, and film.
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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
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature)
Not necessarily my type of read, but the title got me to check out your review! Love the cover too. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Rachel at Waves of Fiction
Sounds like a fun, cozy mystery!
Mary Kirkland
That sounds like a lot of fun.
Katherine
I’ve really enjoyed the two books I’ve read from this author and am really looking forward to this one. I’m glad that once the story unfolded you really enjoyed it!