Marius Quin Mystery – Carol's Notebook

I enjoy this series a lot, but don't seem to have much to say about this one. Marius Quin, mystery writer and amateur detective, finds a dead man in his study. The man has obviously been murdered and was Bella's fiancé. Bella is Marius' friend, sleuthing partner, and the woman he's been in love with forever. He's too close to the situation to help the police, so distracts himself with the case of Felicity Mortimer, a woman imprisoned for poisoning her husband fifteen years earlier. Marius is convinced Felicity is innocent and he and Bella set off to the Mortimer country estate to prove it. I like Marius. He's not the best detective or writer or the most sensitive man, but he tries. I love how well he and Bella work together and their friendship is well done. The plot moved along at a nice pace with plenty of clues, suspicious characters, and family secrets. The next in the series takes...

Murder at Everham Hall had everything I adore in a mystery, but it somehow fell a little short for me. Marius Quin, our amateur sleuth, is invited by an ex-girlfriend, Bella, to a New Year's house party at the home of her friend, actor Cecil Sinclair. As is to be expected, Sinclair ends up murdered and the house is snowed in, so the police can't get to them. Marius, deemed the most likely to be able to solve a crime by virtue of being a (struggling) mystery writer, starts questioning people and hunting for clues. All of the guests are suspects, of course, except Bella who is Marius' sidekick, but some have better motives than others. I never really warmed up to Marius and had trouble buying into the situation. Marius is struggling with his second book and his childhood sweetheart/friend just happens to invite him to a swanky house party where there just happens to be a murder. It...

Series: Marius Quin Mystery

Arsenic and Old Lies by Benedict Brown

Murder at Everham Hall by Benedict Brown