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Cecilia Peartree
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Crime in the Community (Pitkirtly Mysteries Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Cecilia Peartree (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.4 3.4 out of 5 stars 1,578 ratings
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Christopher thinks he has his life under control until the mysterious Amaryllis arrives in the little town, spreading chaos and confusion in her wake.
Suddenly he isn't sure about anything any more. Will he learn to relax and go with the flow or will he try desperately to remain in charge even in the face of domestic upsets and strange things happening all around him?
This is the first in a series of gentle, quirky mysteries set in the small town of Pitkirtly in Scotland.
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  1. Book 1 of 26
    Pitkirtly Mysteries
  2. Print length
    244 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    January 3, 2014
  6. File size
    1883 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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From the Publisher

Fife Scotland

Welcome to Pitkirtly

(any resemblance to Culross is purely coincidental)

Pitkirtly is a small fictitious town on the banks of the River Forth in Fife, Scotland.

It has evolved over time to include a Cultural Centre, a pub called the Queen of Scots, a college, at least one church hall and a Bowling Club. On the outskirts of the town stands a minor stately home, Old Pitkirtlyhill House.

Any or all of the above may at any time be the scene of hideous crimes - but not too hideous, for the inhabitants of the town are rather mild-mannered and peaceable - except when they aren't.

Inside the Cultural Centre

The Cultural Centre is, Christopher would like to think, the beating heart of the local community. Others may imagine it is just a library, but inside its doors may also be found the Folk Museum, a research room where Jemima often hogs the computers to do a bit more family research, and an archive and map collection.

Occasionally dark deeds take place here, but doughnut marathons are more likely.

The Queen of Scots

The customers of the local pub are likely to see it as a traditional meeting-place where they can relax over a drink with friend. The local beer, Old Pictish Brew, features in many of the Pitkirtly novels. It is usually harmless enough but it has been implicated in a crime in the past

  • Christopher - muddles along somehow
  • Amaryllis - searching for something just out of reach
  • Jock McLean - growing old quirkily
  • Jemima - looking for long-lost family
  • Charlie - always there to listen

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B005DFEFDU
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ (January 3, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 3, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1883 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 244 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.4 3.4 out of 5 stars 1,578 ratings

About the author

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Cecilia Peartree

Cecilia Peartree

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Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Cecilia Peartree is the pen name of a writer who lives in Edinburgh and has worked as a computer programmer and a database manager.

She has been a compulsive writer since she first learned to write, and by the age of sixteen she had a whole cupboard full of unfinished stories.

Cecilia writes the Pitkirtly series of quirky mystery novels set in an imaginary town on the coast of Fife, and the Quest mystery/adventure novels set in the early 1950s. Recently, almost without meaning to, she has also written a short series of Regency novels.

As befits a mystery writer, she is often surrounded by cats while working on her novels.

Customer reviews

3.4 out of 5 stars
3.4 out of 5
1,578 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Austin Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Quirky and fun
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2012
Verified Purchase
After reading all the negative reviews, I must conclude that one's opinion of the author's taste and ability as a writer must depend on one's taste and ability as a reader. Just as not everyone enjoys and appreciates Masterpiece Theater, not everyone will enjoy this charming series. I feel the book's interesting setting, quirky characters, quiet humor, and nefarious goings make for a fun read. This is a free book for Kindle, and I bought the next two in the series right away. I hope the author writes more in this series, as well as more mysteries like her "Murder in the Midi" which I also very much enjoyed.
11 people found this helpful
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Bobby
3.0 out of 5 stars Not a Mystery, not a Drama.
Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2022
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No beginning, no middle and no end. Just a start and a finish, with a long list of loose ends and unanswered questions. Nothing entertaining or satisfying about it.
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Quite enjoyable.
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2011
Verified Purchase
This book is not too long, not too short, easy to read and difficult to put down. There are mysteries that will have you wonder what on earth is going on and who certain people really are, but I suggest, don't get TOO excited. I did and ended up being a tiny bit disappointed because I hoped for a different ending! On saying that, it was far from being a disaster, just a completely unexpected turn of events. Personally, I would have liked to see some more clues throughout the book, but perhaps then the story would have to be made longer and, in turn, not as easy to read as it is now. So if you have some free time, enjoy "light" mystery reading and brace yourself for the unexpected ending, I say go for it!
43 people found this helpful
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Audrey
2.0 out of 5 stars High hopes but no...
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2014
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I thought this was written well and had high expectations for the plot or at least the character interactions. At some point though, I just got lost in the confusion of the main character and then did not finish reading the book. Also I live in a small town and was hoping to be caught up in the town life as you can see it in the beginning but no, the town itself gets lost in the background of the confusion I mentioned before.
2 people found this helpful
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PandaV
1.0 out of 5 stars I tried to like it but it just didn't do it for me
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2017
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I tried to like it but it just didn't do it for me. I downloaded this book in 2011 and tried reading it back then, couldn't get into it enough so put it on hold and tried reading it again this week and still, I like reading mysteries but this one just didn't do it for me but this time I did get through the whole book. Parts dragged on, too much time spent describing and idle chatter. I ended up skipping paragraphs and then pages and finally chapters just to be done with this book. One word to describe this book for me would be boring.
4 people found this helpful
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alex wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful romp
Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2012
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Crime in the Community is a clever, subversive romp with original characters, especially Christopher, the baffled and befuddled semi-hero and the real heroine, Amaryllis. I was charmed by it all but found it strained credulity in a few places, primarily any possibility that Christopher and Amaryllis would be anything but friends. He, inept, and she, with bottomless reservoirs of competence. Nonetheless, I was sucked into the dynamics of the rag-tag group of the PLIF and loved their grumpy affection for one another. Write on, Cecilia.
14 people found this helpful
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Big Nanu
3.0 out of 5 stars There's some promise here
Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2013
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I'm one of those people who hate being spoon fed by an author. I don't necessarily need everything spelled out for me. I like to be treated as an intelligent reader... But there's a fine line between letting the reader work it out and leaving them scratching their heads with the hero saying "What the ...?" Mainly because the hero is a bit thick. He can't recognise a spy when there's one crawling through his attic window. Having said this, I'm going to read the next book - to see if things improve. There was some promise here - a hint of quirkiness - a hint of romance - worth following up.
9 people found this helpful
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Elorac
4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good read
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2017
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This book did take a long time not really getting anywhere, but once I got used to the sedate pace I quite enjoyed it. The numerous small insights into the main female character's life left me wanting to know more about her former job. But then I guess they would have had to kill me! ;-)

The editing was sloppy in places.
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Top reviews from other countries

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wendyj
3.0 out of 5 stars Quirky mystery
Reviewed in France on November 14, 2017
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Takes a while to attune to sense of humour and can seem a bit long-winded, but this becomes part of its charm. Enjoyable read.
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eh
3.0 out of 5 stars well written but confusing
Reviewed in Canada on January 2, 2016
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The book is well written, but I found it confusing to figure out what the actual mystery was until close to the end. There are so many different glimpses of potential mystery stories in the book. I did keep reading as the characters are interesting and you just know there are hidden depths to them. Will read the next one in the series.
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Nicola Kirby
3.0 out of 5 stars Don't let the cover put you off...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 31, 2015
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I downloaded this book as a freebie ages ago, when I first got my kindle. Whenever I was deciding what to read next, I never chose this one because something about the cover reminded me of old school textbooks from the 70s. I thought it might be a depressing read.

So, feeling in the mood for a gritty read, I opened this one up... they say to never judge a book by it's cover hahaha!
What I found inside was an unlikely but very numerous tale of poor unassuming, downtrodden Christopher who's life takes an exciting turn when the mysterious, yet pushy, Amarylis turns up to his PLIF meeting.

I enjoyed this book but felt at times, I would have liked more depth to the writing. It seemed to take a while to get going but once it did, it was very good.
One person found this helpful
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CJ
5.0 out of 5 stars Intrigue in a Scottish Village
Reviewed in Canada on August 8, 2020
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Nicely paced with interesting characters. Cecilia doesn't try to make her leads flawless and all knowing, for the most part at lest, mostly just some small town normal people who have to deal with some not normal happenings.
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Déborah
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Read
Reviewed in France on April 14, 2017
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I liked this one and I like the others by the same author. Clever dialogue and clever writing, plot, etc.

I look forward to reading more from this author.
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