Ruth Morgan used to be a police officer. After she was made to step down, she made a new career, travelling across the British Isles in her motorhome with her pampered cat. Heading for her sister’s isolated Scottish estate, she has been driving up the west coast of England with her grandson, Greg, when the motorhome has an accident.

Stranded in the village of Vanmoor, Ruth’s detective skills are re-awakened when she finds her elderly landlady’s body at the bottom of the stairs. The police refuse to see beyond it being an accident, but when Ruth discovers that a young artist recently disappeared in the village as well, it becomes clear that there is something going on. Something that someone is willing to kill for…

OK, let’s get this out the way first of all. How does one drive up the west coast of England? There’s not exactly a coast road and it’s so much slower if you were actually heading for Scotland. It’s a weird turn of phrase, as is Greg’s obsession with “cheeseburgers”. Is the author American, perchance?

Anyway, ignoring such things, let’s get to this book. The “elderly travelling chef and sleuthing grandchild” worked very well of Rosemary Shrager in her recent Prudence Bulstrode series – that’s hardly the only other travelling chef sleuth out there either – but this one didn’t work as well for me as that one.

I picked it up because I wanted another attempt at a humourous crime book, following The Pie And Mash Detective Agency, but it’s another sense of humour disconnect, I suppose. There were other problems, too. Ruth’s knowledge of various modern things seems to vary – is she pretending or does she genuinely not understand certain things? – and the extent of what is going on under the noses of most of the village just seemed a little too much. And given the role of one character that is eventually revealed, you have to wonder what exactly they were waiting for.

I’m sorry, but this book didn’t really work for me. The characters didn’t gel for me, which never helps, and the whodunnit element didn’t click either. There are some other books in the series, which seem to have been retitled – this was called Murder In Vanmoor Village a couple of years ago – but I don’t think I’ll be returning.