As a follow-up to [b:The Stranger Diaries|40796097|The Stranger Diaries (Harbinder Kaur, #1)|Elly Griffiths|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1532738769l/40796097._SY75_.jpg|58794499], this was disappointing. Harbinder Kaur, the detective who's a major character in that first book is more of a background figure in this second one. Instead, we get a quirky trio of amateur sleuths: Edwin, a dapper geriatric; Natalka, a Ukrainian healthcare worker; and Benedict, a former monk turned barista/café owner. They're investigating the death of an old lady (friend of Edwin, client of Natalka, and customer of Benedict) who several mystery authors credit with helping plot their books. It seems that she (and several of those authors) received threatening postcards. Is it all a coincidence or was she murdered?

Soon the quirky threesome is running their own investigation, parallel to Harbinder's, dashing off to a writer's conference to chase clues. It's a much cozier mystery than I expected, more reminiscent of [b:The Thursday Murder Club|46000520|The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club, #1)|Richard Osman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1582287822l/46000520._SY75_.jpg|70861405], but with fewer old people and clunkier prose. Something just felt off about the writing: too much simplification and repetition. It didn't even feel like the same author in some ways. I'm still giving this one three stars because I did enjoy it overall: the quirky threesome was fun and the mystery was decent, if a little far-fetched. I probably won't be reading the rest of the series, though.