What rhymes with murder by Penny Tangey

This is a really enjoyable murder mystery story with lots of humour added, mainly due to the random thoughts that beset new mother Frida as she tries to manage her anxiety about caring for her six month old baby Finn. She has set a goal for herself to go out every day, but it is a huge challenge when even descending the stairs from her apartment, with her baby, seems fraught with danger. But she does succeed in getting out, and that is how she finds herself at Baby Rhyme Time at the local library. All good so far; but then the worst thing happens, they all hear a scream and a thud, and a dead body is discovered on the concrete floor below the mezzanine. It looks like not an accident but a murder.

Frida and her new friend Josh, one of a co-parenting threesome caring for baby Siti, determine to investigate. But they soon find they are not the only amateur sleuths on the job, there is a whole group of fellow concerned community members who are trying to piece the clues together.

While it all seems destined to be a barrel of laughs, Tangey cleverly manages to explore issues of parental expectations and pressures, infertile couples and IVF, child loss and grief, and the debate between pro-choice and pro-life supporters. Most interesting is her portrayal of Dr Christine, a woman who has never able to have the baby she wanted, but who is dedicated to supporting women ‘control their fertility and their bodies’. She works in an abortion clinic that is under attack from a strident religious group.

What rhymes with murder is Tangey’s first adult novel, but if you look at her YA books, there is a often an underlying theme of medicine and health that runs throughout: for example, Cresswell Eastman: The man who saved a million brains (2022), As fast as I can (2020), Stay well soon (2013). Once again Tangley has come up with an entertaining approach to exploring serious issues in an highly enjoyable way. I think the final pages suggest that this novel might not be the only foray into fun adult murder mystery. Let’s hope for a sequel.

Helen Eddy