There's nothing unusual about residents of Seaview Court dying.  It's a block of retirement flats occupied by elderly people, after all.  Still, Ukrainian carer Natalka Kolisnyk can't help but think there's something fishy about the "sudden" demise of 90-year-old Peggy Smith.  Even more curious is the business card she finds identifying Peggy as a "murder consultant."  If all the crime novels dedicated to Peggy on the shelves of her apartment are any indication, the senior citizen advised authors on inventive ways to kill off their characters.  Surely a woman with such an odd job couldn't have died of natural causes.  Could she? 

Although Natalka brings her suspicions to DS Harbinder Kaur, it's not until there's a break-in at the dead woman's apartment followed by the murder of an author who used Peggy's services that Harbinder starts to take Natalka seriously.  Although the detective agrees that something strange is happening, she and her colleagues can't move fast enough for the concerned carer.  Much to Harbinder's dismay, she discovers that Natalka has enlisted the help of two friends—coffee shop owner and former monk, Benedict Cole and Edwin Fitzgerald, a senior citizen and good friend of Peggy's—to help her investigate the strange occurrences.  When another author murder takes place, Harbinder realizes they're in a frantic race against time to find a murderer who will not hesitate to kill again.  

One of the reasons I enjoyed The Stranger Diaries, the first installment in Elly Griffiths' engaging mystery series starring Harbinder Kaur, was its deliciously Gothic feel.  I was surprised, then, to discover that the second book in the series has an entirely different vibe.  The Postscript Murders is lighter and more upbeat than its predecessor, almost like a cozy mystery.  Natalka, Benedict, and Edwin are quirky, funny characters.  Harbinder is likewise appealing.  Plot-wise, the story is twisty enough that the killer's identity caught me by surprise.  Although The Postscript Murders didn't turn out to be what I expected it to be, I still found it engaging, compelling, and wholly entertaining. 

(Readalikes:  The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths and The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman)