The disappearance of a woman with a perfect life kicks off this bestselling cozy mystery series.
Author: Eppu Nuotio
Finnish original: Myrkkykeiso (Ellen Lähde Investigates #1)
Publisher: Otava, 2017
Genre: crime, cozy mystery
Number of pages: 252 pp.
Reading material: Finnish original, English synopsis
Rights sold: Latvia, Petergailis
Ellen Lähde knows how to enjoy life. In addition to gardening, traveling, and a stimulating young lover, the newly widowed pensioner is kept younger than her fifty-eight years by her participation in neighbourhood activities – and an insatiable curiosity.
Mirkka Kairikko runs a household while managing a full-time career and writing a dissertation. When she decides she needs some alone time and goes out to the countryside to keep an eye on the cabin remodel, the vigorous Ellen offers to lend Mirkka’s husband Timo a hand with the couple’s young children. But the job proves bigger than expected when no one can contact Mirkka: not Timo, not Mirkka’s sister, not even the police.
Before long, Ellen finds herself at the epicenter of events: a cabin owned by Ellen’s friend Silja stands near the spot where Mirkka vanished. While cleaning up after her boyfriend at the cabin, Silja discovers signs that imply unpleasant truths…
Those Deadly Bells is the first book in Eppu Nuotio’s popular cozy mystery series, featuring Ellen Lähde, a woman in the prime of her life who is active, satisfied with her lot, and takes pleasure in everyday joys.
“Although the milieu of Those Deadly Bells can feel rather mundane, with its bawling children and smelly bags of rubbish, Eppu Nuotio has sprinkled in beautiful images, pleasurable moments, sensory details. […] Reading this book puts you in danger of being bit by the gardening bug while your tummy growls.”
– Luetut.net literature blog
Also available:
Tongues Like Knives (Ellen Lähde Investigates #2) (2019)
The Showy Strangler (Ellen Lähde Investigates #3) (2020)
Love Like a Strange Land (2021)
About the author:
Eppu Nuotio