A Body in The Banjo by Elaine Spires

A Body in The Banjo

 by Elaine Spires




A Body in The Banjo by Elaine Spires was published in 2025.
My thanks to Elaine for sending me a copy to review 
and to Rachel for inviting me on the tour.




Synopsis

It’s November 1958 and Dagenham is excitedly awaiting Bonfire Night. Cissie Partridge isn’t too keen on fireworks but she generously donates to the local children doing Penny for the guy. Cissie is content with her lot. She loves her husband Harold. She shops, she cooks, she reads at every opportunity and she volunteers at the Dockland Settlement. Observant and sharp, she gets on with all her neighbours. Then, one morning, she finds a body…




My Thoughts


For me Elaine’s books are the type of cosy mystery books that you go to when you need to read but don’t want to read anything too taxing. Allowing you to enjoy your “Me Time “ without leaving you traumatised at the end of it. Right from the beginning I envisaged a Hetty Wainthropp style character in Cissy and I wasn’t disappointed . The different characters that Elaine creates who either live in, or are linked to, the Banjo are  vivid and you feel that you are a being taken on a journey into each of the houses and their occupants as the story progresses. Many of the characters give you reason to suspect them as you develop a deeper understanding of each one and how they live their lives, though whether you will actually guess the murderer I’ll leave to you to find out. 

At just over 170 pages this isn’t a long read , however it is the right length for the story and it allows it to fit into that slot of books that you can comfortably sit down and read in one session . As a result I am looking forward to reading more books in the series and finding out even more about Cissy Partridge.


About Elaine




Elaine Spires is a novelist, playwright and actress. Extensive travelling and a background in education and tourism perfected Elaine's keen eye for the quirky characteristics of people, captivating the humorous observations she now affectionately shares with the readers of her novels. Elaine also writes plays and her short film Only the Lonely was made by Dan Films and won the Groucho Club Best Short Film Award 2019 and two Silver Awards at WOFFF 2019.


Social Media Links – Facebook.com/ElaineSpiresAuthor

X @ElaineSWriter.

Instagram @elainespiresauthor


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