Dead Men Don’t Order Flake, by Sue Williams

Fish and chip shop owner Cass, a middle-aged widow and part time private investigator (unlicenced), is looking into the road accident death of a young journalist. In this she is hampered by her rather dense son, who also happens to be the local cop, and sometimes helped by her fellow residents of the one-horse town of Rusty Bore. At the same time she must deal with the sudden reappearance of her teenage sweetheart – long thought dead. This flippant murder mystery sees Cass traversing the dusty country roads to the neighbouring two-horse town of Hustle and the thriving regional metropolis of Muddy Soak. The action is brisk, the characters fully realised and avoiding caricature and the relationships authentic, those between mother and sons particularly striking a chord. It may have been helpful to have first read the previous book featuring Cass, as there are several obscure references to previous events that are not explained. They are not intrinsic to the plot but they are to the characters and their sometimes complicated relationships.