" Charlotte Richmond is an outwardly grieving Victorian widow who comes to live with her husband’s family. Her husband’s apparent death in India came as a welcome relief to Charlotte, and she hopes to settle down to a quiet life in an English village after her own rather shady upbringing. When her husband returns unexpectedly he puts the house in an uproar. It is when he is murdered for a second time that the fun starts and Charlotte’s own past threatens to catch up with her. Villains and fainting Victorian ladies — this book has it all. Nicola Slade’s attention to period detail and fast action with a mix of romance makes this a worthy successor to those 19th-century sensation novelists. It is a well paced and witty read from start to finish, and one of the most entertaining books I have ever read. "

" In Murder Most Welcome Nicola has distilled all the elements of Victorian novels into her characters — the overbearing matriarch, the sniping wife to the heir, the weepy sister in need of someone to look after her — all these fill the pages of the novel and bring it life a parody of all the dramatic novels that the Victorians loved so much. Charlotte is a strong character with a very deep past and is characterised very well. It is a murder mystery with a reviving supposed corpse and a surprising denouement and, of course, ends happily. "

" In an engrossing crime novel Nicola Slade introduces an unusual heroine. The Victorian setting of 1858 is well portrayed both physically and emotionally. The central character, Charlotte Richmond, is a young widow who has travelled to England from India to live with her husband’s relatives. Charlotte is not a fainting heroine unable to manage for herself - her upbringing in Australia has made her self-reliant and resourceful. She is, however, alone in the world and very pleased to settle into the English country life of her middle-class in-laws.

The book is well paced as the development of Charlotte’s happy involvement in village life is interrupted by a surprising event. Some of the characters are grotesque examples of the period — the hunting vicar, the mysterious Indian, the lower class grandmother and the mother-in-law in a wheelchair.

The characters are listed at the beginning in typical Victorian fashion but their descriptions are brutally direct. I enjoyed the establishment of the setting, the gradual revelation of Charlotte’s dark past and the shockingly climactic murder. Charlotte undertakes her own efforts to discover the cause of death which she knows is murder while everyone else assumes it to be natural. "

" You won’t want to put it down.

What a great idea to have a 'who’s who' at the beginning of the book. Ms Slade has managed to put humour, murder and suspense all into one book and I bet you will have trouble putting it down. As a previous reviewer commented her attention to historical detail is spot on.

Having read Scuba Dancing, it was lovely to see her quirky sense of humour appear again in a totally different type of book.
Well done. "

" Great fun, wittily written with tongue in cheek and I sat down over the weekend and read this straight through and thoroughly enjoyed it. Nicola pays tribute to Jane Austen as one of the characters, who Charlotte finds herself attracted to, rejoices in the name of Mr Knightley and some fun is had with this. The doctor who is called out to look after Frampton in his illness is called Mr Perry and I had a quiet grin at this as well.

As I always liked Mr Knightley I was pleased to note that in Murder Most Welcome, his wife’s name is Elaine … "

" Murder Most Marvellous.

Charlotte Richmond is the most delightful widow you could ever wish to meet. She has a shady past but all she really craves is comfort and security. But, when she fetches up in lovely Hampshire countryside at the family seat of her departed husband, thet very comfort and security she thinks she has found are soon threatened, especially after her husband is killed for the second time. (Yes, you read that correctly.)

Nicola Slade has a considerable talent for comedy. But that is not her only talent. Murder Most Welcome ingeniously turns the Victorian literary tradition on its head without compromising reality. Here you will find the usual suspects including a blushing curate but there is more to this novel than meets the eye. Every little snippet of period detail is correct, including ox eyes for breakfast and Waterloo teeth for chewing tough meat. And if this wasn’t enough there is also a charming and tender love story featuring the most delectable Austenesque hero - oh, and I almost forgot, a cracking murder mystery that will keep you guessing right up to the shocking denouement and subsequent highly satisfactory conclusion. Brilliant!

Queen Victoria would have been very much amused. "

" Wonderfully subversive — and very funny!,

I was chuckling from the very first page of this cosy Victorian murder mystery. ‘Murder Most Welcome’ concerns Charlotte Richmond, a wonderfully subversive heroine who wants nothing more than to attain respectability with her late (thankfully) husband’s family in a nice English village after an unconventional — not to say hazardous and slightly shady — upbringing in Australia. Charlotte’s private thoughts are a joy to read as she edges towards surface acceptance, only to have her new life threatened by the unwelcome resurrection of her husband. Fortunately for Charlotte, the unsavoury Frampton is only around long enough to set everyone by the ears before he is murdered (again). The thing is — if Charlotte didn’t do it, who did? Read the book. You won’t be disappointed. "

" A thoroughly entertaining book, with great characters and an excellent plot that kept me guessing until the end. Murder Most Welcome is an education in the lives of the Victorian gentry, and a fascinating insight into how a family depends upon appearances. "

" An entertaining mystery set in 1858, Murder Most Welcome features a lively, sympathetic heroine, as well as a host of beautifully drawn characters. It is written with pace and humour, and features an intriguing murder. "

" At the end of a tiring week in London, I was in the mood for some undemanding company, and I found it amongst The Gang in Nicola Slade’s first book, Scuba Dancing (scuba dancing?, said the librarian as she renewed it, and I giggled because, of course, it’s an in-joke in the book). As with my newly found favourite Sleuth, Mrs Malory, The Gang are people you could imagine making friends with — none of them are spring chickens and have all known painful episodes in their lives, and they are comfortable together not playing bingo. I think I identified most with Delia, the old bat who has decorated her house almost entirely in pink and who likes to be outrageous, but all of them have a charm and vivacity which make you want to settle down in their company with a nice cup of tea.

Our protagonist, Finn, has escaped from an unhappy relationship — memo, never fall in love with your boss — to live with her older sister. Instead of finding a "proper" job she finds herself talking herself into a job as assistant to Hedgehog, proprietor of a shop which sells tarot cards and crystals, and even filling in as occasional clairvoyant. Meanwhile, her sister Julia and the other Gang members are fundraising, in slightly riotous fashion, for the holiday of a lifetime.

This is a strictly non-serious and comfy book, which recognises nonetheless the kind of difficulties which can go with increasing age — frail or difficult parents, financial insecurity, loneliness (the author, who looks positively slender in her photographs on the web, considerably underestimates the agonies of the expanding waistline, but this is my only criticism). There’s a great deal to be said for spending time with people you like, whether you are a character in a novel or a reader, and Ursula’s golden-eyed angel is worthy of a sequel in his own right. Meanwhile, I’m off to look for Nicola Slade’s second book, Murder Most Welcome. For anyone who would like a taster, Nicola has posted a couple of short stories on her website, where you can also see some of her beautiful paintings. "

"This book was a delightful read.

An eclectic group of lonely people, getting together to help each other out through a "barter club", soon find themselves providing so much more for each other than music lessons and carpentry.

I was pleasantly entertained, as each of the characters made their journey to happiness, meaning, and freedom in their own ways. "

"A bright, intelligent and at times darkly witty novel of ageing, loneliness, cruelty and redeeming love, Scuba Dancing is a cut above the average. Finn, at forty-five, has had enough of her no-ties wild life, and enough of men, and returns to England to live with her sister in a quiet English village. The former high-flyer soon finds herself not only working in an occult shop and serving, rather well, as a stand-in clairvoyant, but also surrounded by a dazzling array of the most eccentric, and the most credible, cast of characters that you are likely to stumble across. From the timid Rosemary and her senile mother whose prudery has been replaced by a penchant for groping men and morning walks in the nude, to the gin-swilling Delia and the angel-seeing Ursula, each and every one is exquisitely drawn and all, in their own way, charming. It is the wonderfully comfortable characterisation that sustains this novel, not its plot — although this is well-worked — or deftly woven prose.

This is not a novel of great profoundness and it doesn’t demand to be taken too seriously yet, encased in its light and easy style, are simple messages about the human condition that lift it above the norm and make it a more than usually satisfy read. It’s entertaining, and mildly uplifting, but most of the time it’s pure fun.

Take this novel; add an armchair, a pot of tea and a few chocolate biscuits and you have the perfect recipe for a good evening’s entertainment. "

"I loved its originality and pace. It was packed with delightful, unforgettable, eccentric characters who were written not only with humour but also a deep sensitivity. While making me laugh is also made me sad. I want to move to their village !"

"A very good read, hilarious at times, dealing sensitively and skilfully with tragic events as well as comedy."

"A quirky and well written novel with a crisp and witty style, featuring delicious black comedy."

"Fiction that mirrors the experiences of women 45+. Finn Fitzgerald has walked out on her Brussels job, her flat and her cheating boyfriend to move to Hampshire where she finds herself inescapably in the centre of village intrigue, romance and a cast of characters that will make you laugh out loud. A 'fast-paced Miss Read' that captures the humour and quirkiness of English village life."

"A feel-good read with plenty of lively characters, handled with sensitivity and charm. There is something particularly English about it — The Vicar of Dibley meets Midsomer Murders perhaps? Do hope she'll write a sequel."

"Couldn’t put it down! So refreshing to read about a topic not many authors would touch and written with humour and empathy. Looking forward to the sequel."

"Full of admiration. The character of Ursula was delightful. When will the next book appear?"

"What a fantastic book! You touched so many subjects to do with age and handled it with delicacy and, most of all, humour. Can’t wait for the next one."

"Thoroughly enjoyable; a perfect read with a glass of vino on a warm summer’s day."