A review by illstoptheworldandreadwithyou
Dead Tired by Kat Ailes

4.5

It’s been a year since four women forged an unlikely friendship amidst giving birth to their first children and solving a murder mystery in their small, English village. Now Alice and her friends have become swept up in another murder case. What begins as a picnic lunch between friends and their toddlers leads to an invitation to join a peaceful protest, which in turn leads to being witnesses in another murder investigation. 

 

Alice had thought maternity leave would be full of nursing and nappies, not more murders to solve. 

 

What a fun cozy mystery! Ailes captures both the humor in the everyday humdrum of raising a small child—from creative methods of unclogging blocked ducts to the absolute mess some children make (and the air of mystery surrounding those children that manage to keep their smocked and monogrammed clothing pristine)—as well as the emotions and feelings of disconnect from an earlier sense of self that can come with those early stages of motherhood. I giggled and grinned my way through this one and saw many familiar moments from my early days with kids—sans the murders of course. 

 

As with the first book of the series, I adored Kitty Kelly’s narration. Her delivery heightened the comedic moments for me, and she captures the different personalities in the book so well. 

 

I received an advance copy of the book from Minotaur Books and St. Martin’s Press and an advance copy of the audiobook from Macmillan Audio. All review opinions are my own.