After a stressful few weeks, I needed a book that could take me away from it all.

I admit to beginning Read Herring Hunt by V.M. Burns with some trepidation. Her first book, The Plot is Murder, was so good that I knew the second could not match up. Well, I shouldn’t have worried, except, perhaps about getting some sleep because this a book that I had to read straight through.Our heroine is a widowed bookshop owner who also writes cozy British historical mysteries so we are treated to two stories. Normally I don’t care for stories within a story but Burns does it seamlessly and well.

This time around, she has try to clear the name of her assistant while the characters in her story have to deal with the Duchess of Winsor in murder cases that mirror each other.

The eclectic batch of characters, including the poodles, humor, and smoothly flowing storyline made it a pleasure to read.

Required disclaimer: I was provided an advance reader’s Kindle copy of the book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, which is what this is. If you are interested in reading the book and you click on the title link in this blog, I may get a few pennies to help fund my reading habit. #ReadHerringHunt #NetGalley