Murder by the Shore by Gretta Mulrooney

Murder by the Shore is the fourth book in Gretta Mulrooney’s D.I. Siv Drummond series.

The story begins with Tom Pullman getting ready for his granddaughter Lyra’s birthday party. His daughter Kay married a well-settled agriculture engineer and though the couple have had a few marital problems lately, Tom has been asked not to interfere. Tom doesn’t understand all the fuss about Lyra’s fourth year birthday party. A posh designer cake, snacks for the kids – including ‘special’ snacks for two kids with dietary restrictions – and whatnot.

Lyra is playing in her dollhouse – a gift from her parents. Tom hears someone at the door and he is not happy to see the visitor. He decides to have a word and make them leave.

D.I. Siv Drummond is with her friend Hope in her converted circus wagon when she receives a call. There has been a crime and Siv is called to investigate. She reaches the scene and finds Tom Pullman lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen. His granddaughter Lyra is lying dead in the dollhouse.

Tom’s daughter and Lyra’s mother, Kay Turton, is in the upstairs bedroom, waiting to be questioned. After chatting with Kay (who was at work at the time of murder), Siv is convinced she is hiding something. Ryan, Lyra’s father, is acting weird. He’s taking his daughter’s death quite well – not grieving at all, one might say.

As Siv’s team starts to investigate, they learn a lot about the Turtons and the Pullmans. Kay’s sister Nell is a weed addict and hardly makes a living. Tom Pullman was one of the founders of BSS – Berminster Senior Students – and was not liked by his fellow mates. Did someone in the family kill Lyra and Tom?

As if the murder isn’t enough to keep Siv busy, her mother Musti interferes in her life often. Then there is Fabian, a man who Siv met during her previous case. He had asked her out but she wasn’t ready to get back to dating. Siv lost her husband Ed to a cycling accident and had a tough time getting back to work. She met Bartel during her first case post Ed’s death. The duo get along well but their relationship is purely platonic. Fabian seems to be overly eager to please Siv and she’s not liking it one bit.

There is a small cliffhanger at the end – something to do with Siv and her sister Rik. Also, Musti is dating Siv’s boss so one must wait and see what happens there – Musti hardly stays in a relationship for long, you see. If she breaks up with Siv’s boss, Siv is going to have a tough time at work.

The mystery behind the double murders started on an interesting note but fell flat halfway through. At times, it felt like a drag as the police were going around in circles – no concrete evidence or clue to move ahead. This made my read a tad boring. I have been following this series from the start and kept my expectations high. Felt a little let down that things got a little slow halfway through.

Speaking of being let down, the identity of the killer was no shocker either. Siv and her team finds a secret about Tom Pullman – all they have to do is find the person related to this ‘secret.’ I had my doubts on a certain someone and turns out, I was right! Finding the perp before the detective does is happening a lot lately – should I try my luck as a Private Investigator? What say? 😉

Murder by the Shore by Gretta Mulrooney was a good read. A tad dragged at times but otherwise, a pretty good mystery. If you are looking for a new police procedural series, I recommend you to try D.I. Siv Drummond series. Start from the beginning because there is a lot of background information about Siv and her family – which is explored part by part in each book.

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