Nova Davies works at the St. Tredock Community Center. In addition to various clerical duties, she hosts a book club. When only two people show up for the first meeting, Nova is about to call it quits, but she perseveres. The night four people come, she thinks the club may be viable after all. While they are having a discussion about their current reading choice, one of them abruptly stands up and leaves the room.

"Like any good mystery, there are plenty of plot twists and red herrings. The sheer number of them will keep readers guessing right up until the very end."

No one thinks much about it until the next day when a large amount of cash goes missing from the office. Nova is in charge of closing at the end of the day, so she is taken aback when she is informed that the door had not been locked and the money is gone. She has been a bit distracted lately as her wedding is in a few days, and her mind is elsewhere. Even though she is almost sure she had locked the door on her way out, she is the chief suspect.

Nova has a heart full of love, trying to help those in need. But as the story unfolds, it looks more and more like she is the guilty party, though she knows she didn’t do it. Unfortunately, she has no idea how to prove it. That’s where Phyllis comes in. An avid reader of detective novels, particularly those by Agatha Christie, Phyllis fancies herself a modern-day Miss Marple. And although she has had some modest success in ferreting out mysteries, she tends to go overboard and draw hasty conclusions from whatever “facts” she has discovered.

Reminiscent of an Agatha Christie mystery, Freya Sampson’s THE BUSYBODY BOOK CLUB features a whodunit with a theft, an assault and even a dead body. If Nova didn’t take the money, then who did? Who was the assailant? What about the son of the woman who is dead? Was she really murdered? If so, did he do it? If he didn’t, then why did he run away? And was he the one who took off with the cash that was set aside for repairs to the community center?

Like any good mystery, there are plenty of plot twists and red herrings. The sheer number of them will keep readers guessing right up until the very end.