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A Brush with Death

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A Brush with Death

By: J.M. Hall
Narrated by: Julie Hesmondhalgh
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About this listen

‘An immersive and really satisfying mystery’ Faith Martin

‘As an iced drink in a heatwave … These characters and their families feel like old friends. A fantastic addition to the series.’ Fiona Leitch

Retired schoolteachers and amateur sleuths Liz, Pat and Thelma have a brand-new mystery to solve in this wonderfully witty cosy mystery.

Retired schoolteachers Pat, Liz and Thelma don’t know what to think. The death of Neville Hilton is not a crime. Just your standard, if tragic, heart attack. At least that’s what the autopsy shows.

But his ex-wife isn’t convinced. She’s sure the current Mrs Hilton is involved – maybe she wasn’t at some horse event, as she told police.

And so the three friends step away from their slices of cake to investigate.

As the trio delve into the village’s secrets, they uncover more than they bargained for – angry residents with old grudges and the echoes of a damning report that ruined lives all those years ago…

Can these unlikely sleuths untangle the web of lies and uncover the truth before anybody else dies?

The brand-new totally addictive, cosy mystery featuring these very unlikely sleuths. Fans of Agatha Christie and Midsomer Murders will be hooked from the very first page.

©2025 J.M. Hall (P)2025 HarperCollins Publishers Amateur Sleuths Cosy Detective Domestic Thrillers Literature & Fiction Mystery Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths Heartfelt Witty

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Critic reviews

‘Warm characters and wonderful writing… It’s steeped in Yorkshire like a mug of hot, strong tea… I loved it.’ SJ Bennett, author of The Windsor Knot

‘As delightful as it is deadly, A Pen Dipped in Poison is a feel-good, fun and fabulous cosy mystery that had me utterly gripped from page one. J.M. Hall proves once again he's one of our very best cosy mystery writers. I absolutely loved it’ Jonathan Whitelaw, author of The Bingo Hall Detectives

‘Malice and mayhem spur a school reunion of three modern Marples – and some of their Thirsk community learn a lesson they’ll never forget!’ Sarah Yarwood-Lovett, author of A Murder of Crows

‘The perfect page turning, guess-who cosy crime.’ Northern Life Magazine

‘This promises to be delightfully cosy crime.’ Daily Mail

‘This fun crime novel will have you hooked from the very first page.’ Woman’s Own
All stars
Most relevant  
I think I may have to start again with book 1 because I had no idea who was who with the main characters this outing. Maybe the assumption is made that we know them now, and maybe other readers do, or maybe my attention wasn't engaged sufficiently. Let's assume it's me.
With a break from the characters now I'm not sure I shall remember to come back.
Thinking of Richard Osmans departure from his original novels. I certainly bought and read that but it wasn't all it might have been.

It May Be Me

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I stumbled across A Spoonful Of Murder and loved it from the first chapter. Liz, Pat and Thelma are loveable, believable characters beautifully bought to life by the excellent narration.

I listened to all four of the books about this trio in as many days.

Knowing the next book has different characters but is set in Cornwall my home county has left me chomping at the bit to listen to it as soon as it’s released.

Fabulous writing and narration!!

Fabulous!!!!

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So enjoyed this , great characters and you feel like you know them so well.
Can't wait for the next installment of these ladies. Julie Hesmondhalgh as the narrator is perfect for this.

Another classic

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The 4th book in the series and it really did not disappoint-my favourite yet I think. Loved the story and the depth of the characters - just a great read. I’m going to start again with book 1 now and re-listen to them all!
Only v slight criticism-Julie (whom I absolutely love reading these books and in everything she does!) didn’t quite master some of the accents-but it really and truly did not affect my enjoyment of the book!
I do hope we hear more from the Thirsk trio in the future!

Great characters, fantastic story-just couldn’t stop listening!

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I loved this book, great strong story line and fabulous narration ❤️ thank you Jonathan for giving us Thelma, Liz and Pat and a chance to live in their world

The best in the series so far

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I love these books and this was another great addition to the series. The story is beautifully paced and well plotted with realistic characters. The narration is excellent and just adds to the wonderful storytelling. Highly recommended, can’t wait for more!

Wonderful storytelling

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Brilliant book. Gutted no 5 is on hold. Looking forward to new different book though. Sometimes I wish J.M.Hall's books weren't so good! This book hasn't lasted me a week! I couldn't put it down!

perfect

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This listen made my heart smile. The characters are like old friends. It has atmosphere, tension and fun. A brilliant listen and the narration was perfect. This is probably my favourite one in the series. It reminds me a bit of the Dinner Lady Detective series by Hannah Hendy which I love as well.

A brilliant outing with Thelma, Pat & Liz

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The story was just as good as the others, and the narrator is great, until the accents. Unfortunately they were poor and didn’t hold and took away from the story.

Good story bad accents

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It was difficult to distinguish between the characters due the lack of variation by the narrator and I found myself going back a chapter or two a few times.

The story was ok

Won’t be hunting down a sequel or pre quel

Okish

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