Cozy Mystery – Page 37 – Carol's Notebook

Murder in Black Tie by Sara Rosett

September 15, 2020September 15, 2020 by CarolNo Comments

Olive Belgrave is about to be homeless as her landlady is getting married and selling the boardinghouse. She packs up and heads back to Nether Woodsmoor to visit her family at Parkview Manor. Aunt Caroline and cousin Gwen are hosting a house party for a small group of friends and family, including Olive's father and his wife Sonia. Olive is happy to see her cousin Peter recovering from the trauma of the war but he isn't himself yet and when a guest is murdered, Peter becomes the number one suspect. Clearly Olive need to clear Peter's name. This is a 1920s country house party murder mystery chock full of period details, especially fashion. The history of Parkview being used as a hospital during the war and how the characters were involved with that was interesting. I like the limited cast in house party mysteries. Our murder victim, Vincent Payne, is a businessman in the antique map business, maybe not wholly...

The Egyptian Antiquities Murder by Sara Rosett

September 10, 2020September 9, 2020 by CarolNo Comments

I'm on a bit of a roll with these High Society Lady Detective mysteries. The Egyptian Antiquities Murder takes us to Mulvern House where Olive Belgrave meets with Lady Agnes about her uncle’s death, a death that has been ruled a suicide. Lady Agnes is sure her uncle was murdered. Many think an old curse was responsible for Lord Mulvern's death, but of course once Olive starts to investigate she realizes that Lady Agnes is right. Now Olive just needs to figure out whodunit and why. The author introduces us to several new characters. Lady Agnes wants to keep her uncles vision alive, unlike the other heirs. Her brother Gilbert and his wife Nora care mainly about the money and themselves making them suspects on Olive’s list. The Lord’s valet/butler received a generous bequest and retired so he too lands on her list. There are several others interested in obtaining the collection and the digging location that comes with it. There...

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...