Cozy Mystery – Page 33 – Carol's Notebook

Murder at Blackburn Hall by Sara Rosett

September 9, 2020September 9, 2020 by Carol2 Comments

Olive Belgrave is forced to take a job as a hat model to pay her bills, despite closing her first case and trying to make it as a detective. But before she can start her new job a publisher offers her a new position. He wants her to go to the English countryside and make inquiries about his bestselling author, who has disappeared. Olive travels to Blackburn Hall under the guise of a publishing house agent who is looking into a manuscript about etiquette. But soon after she arrives someone is murder, and in short order a second person dies. Olive must get to the bottom of things because the police suspect she's a killer, although why I'm not sure. She really has little connection to any one in the town. Hadsworth is full of suspects though, and plenty of secrets. Rosett does a good job at providing historical details. Full of interesting characters and a tightly woven mystery, I once again...

Who Killed Patrick? by Syl Waters

August 25, 2020August 12, 2020 by Carol1 Comment

I will admit, I don't pay a lot of attention to authors' websites. I include links at the bottom of my posts, but really don't spend much time looking at them. I stopped by Syl Waters' as I was getting this post ready and her blog caught my attention. Who Killed Patrick? takes place on the island of Fuerteventura, a place I had never hear of but that Waters clearly loves. On her blog, she has several posts talking about the island, but she also has a funny one about a discussion she had with her mom. The sidekick in the book is a guinea pig, which her mom seemed to think made it a children's book until Waters told her about how many bones a guinea pig has. Apparently her mom decided that the guinea pig was not actually much smaller than a chihuahua, the critter companion in a mystery her mom had read recently so maybe it was...

Killer Kung Pao by Vivien Chien

August 3, 2020August 5, 2020 by Carol2 Comments

I have to admit that one of the reasons I like the Noodle Shop mystery series is that it's set in Cleveland. One of these days, maybe next summer, I'm going to get up there for a Night Market or maybe take a food tour. We've done a lot of the touristy things, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the museums, the zoo, but haven't made it to the Asiatown neighborhood yet. Lana is the manager of her family's restaurant in Asia Village, a shopping complex. Lana's a great main character, fun, smart and a bit sassy. Yes, she does almost always manage to put herself in danger - she is a cozy mystery sleuth after all. This time around, there's been another murder at Asia Village. The dead woman, Mildred, was not well-liked, cheated at Mah Jong, and was sue-happy. When she's killed at the hair salon, the obvious suspect is her most recent enemy, June. And honestly...

Murder at Archly Manor by Sara Rosett

July 30, 2020July 30, 2020 by Carol2 Comments

Aristocratic, but down on her luck, Olive Belgrave is searching for employment in 1920’s London, which is a fun time period if you're reading about society. Not as fun for servants or other lower classes, I'm sure, but they were not the main characters here. This is about people with money or standing or both. However, even Olive's connections aren’t getting her anywhere when she receives a telegram to return to her family estate. Olive’s cousin, Violet, has become engaged to Alfred Eton, a young man whose life in the India and his family are a bit of a mystery. He may not be a suitable match at all. Aunt Caroline employs Olive to use her skills and social connections to find out more about him, offering her a generous fee. Olive heads off to an extravagant house party hosted by photographer Sebastian Blakely, Alfred’s wealthy godfather and friend. Her plan is to mingle with the partygoers and find out more...

A Village Murder by Frances Evesham

June 23, 2020June 22, 2020 by CarolNo Comments

Amber asked me the other day why I read so many British books. I have a tendency to read bits of books that I find funny or interesting out loud and apparently a lot of them have had British slang/terms lately. I don't have an answer to that question, at least as far as current mystery writers go. I'm a huge fan of Golden Age mysteries, and most of those are British. I guess, I probably am drawn to books set in the present that have the same feeling, as A Village Murder certainly does. A local businessman and town councillor has died and following his funeral, his daughter, Imogene, discovers the corpse of her soon-to-be-ex-husband in the greenhouse. She, of course, is the main suspect. Happily, her new friend and neighbor, is a former detective and believes she's innocent. Between the two of them, they dig up some clues and talk to several other folks who might have had reason...

Clammed Up by Barbara Ross

May 19, 2020May 19, 2020 by CarolNo Comments

In Clammed Up, Julia Snowden, our amateur sleuth, has a legitimate reason to investigate the crime. Her family's business, the Snowden Family Clambake, was already having financial difficulties, but finding the dead body on the island has shut them down, and each day of business missed is one day closer to the bank calling their loan. Oh, and the guy she has a crush on seems to be one of the main suspects. Julia and her family are easy to like. They stick together, even when they fight. The small town feel was well-done too. The locals all know each other and know how much the tourist season means to the town. Old friends are loyal, but know each other's backgrounds too. I also loved the Maine setting. It's nice to visit other places while we're all stuck at home. I went to Maine with my family once when I was younger. Pretty much all I remember was cold and gray, so...