Olga Wojtas

Alfie McAlister has become accustomed to the village of Bunburry where he moved after inheriting a cottage from his late aunt.
When a beef farmer is trampled to death by a cow, the police suspect that it was murder and that a gate was left open on purpose by Betty, a member of the Green Party. She had openly accused the farmer because of his cruel methods shortly before his death. But of course Alfie and his two elderly friends, Liz and Marge, are convinced that Betty is not the murderer, and they start investigating.

I did not really like the story line about beef farming, but even worse, not much investigating happens. Alfie drives around and asks a few questions, but that's about it. There is just so little actual plot, even for such a short book, and the relationship between the characters are superficial as well. The ending was even more disappointing because it wasn't even murder!
I still like Alfie as a character and Nathaniel Parker is a good narrator, but I will not continue with this series.… (more)

The Bunburry series is a typical cosy mystery series: It is set in a small, picturesque village in the Cotswolds, most of the characters have known each other for ages, there are two lovely elderly ladies who like to solve crimes, and everyone has secrets.
The main character is Alfie McAlister, a man in his forties who moved to Bunburry three months earlier because he inherited a cottage there from an aunt he barely knew. In the meantime, he has made friends with a few of the villagers, mainly his late aunt's two best friends, Marge and Liz. In the beginning of this story he discovers that in addition to the cottage, he has inherited a vintage car, and he takes it to a garage in order to be inspected. Unfortunately, the car is soon used as a murder weapon, and of course Alfie is the prime suspect...

I enjoyed this installment much more than the first one. The scene was set, I knew all the important characters, and so it was much more straight forward. The reader learns more about Alfie's past life, and in fact the case only gets going until a substantial part of the story has already been told. There is only very little actual case solving involved. But I did not mind because I like Alfie as a character so much, and I was just fond of the story. The actions of the police are totally unrealistic in this one, and the plot is thin, but it is all good fun and that was what I wanted.… (more)

I didn't read the first book in this series, but I don't think it's necessary; this book stood alone just fine. Shona McMonagle, a librarian, time travels to 19th-century France to help a village that is being menaced by an unseen evil force that thus far has apparently claimed the lives of four men.

I kept waiting for the "vampire menace" part of the book, but it took a good 1/2 of the book before we really get into it. Don't get me wrong, the book was entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny in parts. I loved Shona McMonagle to bits. I loved the Dracula character. But I guess I was expecting more of a dark, menacing plot, rather than the light-hearted plot that it actually was. So my expectations were all wrong, and I guess that's why I was disappointed, since the book was focused more on Shona and her quirks than it was on any real vampire plotline.

Overall, I'd give this book more like 3.5 stars than 3 stars, but that's about it.… (more)