Book Review: A Death in Venice (Lady Eleanor Swift #17) by Verity Bright  @BrightVerity  @Bookouture 

A Death in Venice
(Lady Eleanor Swift #17)
by Verity Bright

 

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Stunning views across the Grand Canal and a hotel suite fit for royalty… Lady Eleanor Swift is having a jolly good time on her Italian vacation, until a gondola ride is cut murderously short!

1924. Lady Eleanor Swift has been on a grand tour around Italy for a month with her butler Clifford. Finally arriving in Venice, she’s thrilled to be attending the famous carnival: all that’s needed is the perfect bejewelled costume for her faithful bulldog, Gladstone. But on her first gondola ride to take in the sights, a passenger collapses into the canal with a knife sticking out of his back.

Eleanor saw an argument break out between the gondolier and the victim, Councillor Benetto Vendelini, and it turns out they’re rivals from the city’s two great families. Vendelini’s murder is sure to reignite their centuries-long feud. While attending a glitzy ball that night, Eleanor learns of a plot to steal a precious family heirloom from the Vendelini household. Is the stolen item the key to solving this baffling murder?

In this floating city of tiny winding alleyways, Eleanor traces the missing heirloom to an antiques dealer in a far-flung corner of town. But when her handbag is snatched by a cloaked thief, she realises the murderer is dangerously close. Can Eleanor unmask this most cunning of killers, before she joins the other victim at the bottom of the Grand Canal?

An utterly gripping historical murder mystery set in Italy, full of intrigue and charming characters. Fans of T.E. Kinsey, Agatha Christie and Catherine Coles will be totally hooked by A Death in Venice!

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

‘Still harbouring a yearning to join the profession, my lady? Rigidly following a routine meal schedule and indulging in only lady-like portions?’ She shook her head in horror. ‘Not a chance, Clifford. What a hideous idea!’

Clifford! I’ve just had the most extraordinary moment where words came out of my mouth before I’d even had the thought.

‘You shouldn’t be mixed up in any of this awful trouble, anyway. I so wanted you to come away purely for a holiday.’ ‘Which it has been,’ he said drily. ‘In inimitable Lady Swift style; replete with inappropriate venues, danger and, ahem, bodies.

If a compliment was intended, please forgive my having missed it.

 

My Review:

 

I adore this delightful series. The crafty writing duo known as Verity Bright just keeps getting better with each new addition. Their writing style is smooth, witty, wryly amusing, and unfailingly entertaining. This installment was opulently detailed with the brilliance and colorful splendor of Venice and had me wanting to pack my bags and hop on a gondola myself. The mystery was well-plotted and unsolvable for anyone but the uncanny brain trust found in the pairing of Lady Swift and her infinitely prepared butler, Clifford.

About the Author

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Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humor, before embarking on their first historical mystery. They are the authors of the fabulous Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series, set in the 1920s.

Book Review: How Not To Murder Your Ex (The Bad Girls Detective Agency #1) by Katie Marsh    @katiemarshauthor

How Not To Murder Your Ex
(The Bad Girls Detective Agency #1)
by Katie Marsh

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My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Maybe Amber’s lethal margaritas had tipped her over the edge– cocktails mixed by someone doing the Macarena were always going to be a risk.

Clio had thought that slipping a disc while doing up her bra would go down in history as her worst birthday ever, but it appeared that life always had new treats in store.

Clio could always say anything. She specialised in speaking her truth, no matter how unwilling the world was to hear it.

It must be nice, having an inheritance. All Gary’s dad had left him were freckles and an allergy to freshly cut grass.

She was so full of aggression she had practically grown spikes.

How had Amber managed to work with him for so long? He was the kind of person who enjoyed reading instruction manuals. Out loud.

Clio wondered how science had come far enough to be able to get Richard Branson into space and yet still hadn’t solved the problem of nasal hair.

 

My Review:

 

I adored this wittily penned and vastly enjoyable read and was thrilled to realize it is the start of a new series. The writing was giggle-snort and smirk-worthy from start to finish with cunning insights and wry humor lacing it all together.

Katie Marsh is a sly storyteller who has weaved an entertaining and immersive tale with delightfully humorous observations and keenly penned descriptions that drew sharp visuals to my mind’s eye. I was thoroughly engaged, pleasantly entertained, deeply invested, and highly amused and resented any interruptions to my perusal.

The main characters were deeply flawed yet authentic and admirable as they were living their lives and still deeply bonded from childhood while now in middle age, despite their divergent paths and odd personal quirks. I can’t wait to dive into the next installment.

Katie wrote romantic fiction before turning to crime. Her debut novel was a World Book Night pick and her books are published in ten languages.

She lives in the English countryside and loves strong coffee and pretending to be in charge of her children. ‘How Not to Murder your Ex’, the first in her Bad Girls Detective Agency series is out now, published by Boldwood Books. The next instalment, ‘Murder on the Dancefloor,’ follows in March 2024.

 

Book Review: I Said Run by Britney King   @britneyking_

I Said Run
by Britney King

 

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In the heart-chilling seclusion of a distant cabin, immerse yourself in a psychological journey so intense it’ll have you burning the midnight oil.

Meet Eve, a wealthy heiress seeking the simplicity of a tranquil life in a country town, savoring the bliss of newlywed joy. But the idyllic beginning takes a dark twist when she is caught in the sinister web of a stranger named Jenkins.

Trapped in his home, surrounded by eerie reminders of Jenkins’s late wife, taxidermied deer heads bear silent witness as Eve and others become pawns in a chilling game of control and twisted desire.

As Jenkins’s tangled mind unravels, Eve’s ray of hope emerges in Mira, a fellow captive. Together, they forge a bond in the face of relentless terror—an alliance that might be their ticket to survival.

Yet, as they plot their daring escape, Eve’s mind becomes a battleground of manipulation, deception, and shocking revelations. Jenkins’s motives are more complex than she imagined, and she must navigate carefully to outsmart the mind of a psychopath.

I Said Run is a spine-tingling psychological thriller delving into the darkest corners of the human mind. With relentless suspense, twisted characters, and thought-provoking themes, this gripping novel will keep you guessing until the final, shocking revelation. Brace yourself for a psychological rollercoaster that will linger in your thoughts long after the final page is turned.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

She should have asked Mira how she’s managed to survive, because with the way Jenkins is looking at her, Eve is not sure she wants to.

People are never satisfied with what they have. They crave the unknown, the dangerous, the forbidden. And then, when they find themselves immersed in it, they cry out for the safety of their former lives.

I didn’t realize how bankrupt you were— morally and emotionally. Money can’t fix that.

Eve can almost taste the irony. For all her persuasive charm and cunning, it took becoming someone’s lifeline to glimpse her own humanity.

 

My Review:

 

This was gritty, cringe-worthy, and skin crawling creepy… yet I couldn’t put it down. I have to admit, I worry what that means about me! As is often the case with Ms. King’s brutally provocative, propulsive, and twisty tales; surprises popped out around every corner and few of the characters were even marginally trustworthy. What a nest of vipers. I couldn’t decide who was the second most heinous sociopath as there were so many to choose from.

About the Author

Britney King lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, children, two dogs, one ridiculous cat, and a partridge in a pear tree.
When she’s not wrangling the things mentioned above, she writes psychological, domestic, and romantic thrillers set in suburbia.
Without a doubt, connecting with readers is the best part of this gig. You can find Britney online here:
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Book Review: A Country Wedding Murder (Julia Bird Mysteries #5) by Katie Gayle @Bookouture @KatieGayleBooks

A Country Wedding Murder
(Julia Bird Mysteries #5)
by Katie Gayle

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The joyous crowd applauds as the happy couple strides down the aisle. This Cotswolds country wedding has everything – friends and family, beautiful flowers and… murder?

When Julia Bird’s ex-husband Peter and his lovely partner Christopher decide to get married in Berrywick, Julia is delighted – after all, who doesn’t love a country wedding? Little does Julia know that normally calm and collected Christopher will turn into a full-on Groomzilla – and that by the end of the night, someone will end up dead.

The morning after the big day, the jolly nuptial mood turns grim when Julia discovers the lifeless body of the caterer, Desmond. Someone locked him in the cold truck and the poor man froze to death. Now looking for a murderer, all eyes are on Christopher who, mid-tantrum, had publicly threatened to kill him. Convinced that Christopher is innocent, Julia vows to find the real culprit.

Julia soon discovers Desmond had a long list of enemies as she races against the clock to clear Christopher’s name. Could his death be the work of the respected wedding planner who was heard exchanging choice words with the victim? Or perhaps it was his wife – ‘til death do them part – who didn’t shed a single tear at his funeral?

But just when Julia thinks she’s cracked the case, her prime suspect is found dead with a knife in their back. Can Julia find the murderer before they strike again?

An utterly gripping, charming cosy mystery set in the English countryside. Fans of M.C. Beaton, Faith Martin and Betty Rowlands will love the Julia Bird Mysteries.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Julia took a pancake topped with a grilled prawn. It was warm and spicy, with a hint of lime, and she had to restrain herself from falling on the tray and tossing the delicious morsels into her mouth like smarties.

The Buttered Scone operated as a kind of vortex, drawing in all Berrywick’s information– gossip, if you prefer the term– at improbable speed. It paid to be a little careful, as any information you let slip would be pulled in and just as rapidly disseminated, and before you knew it, your own careless comment or whispered confidence would be all over the village.

Hayley looked around the tearoom, which was a known gossip mill, constantly absorbing and releasing local intel, almost as if it was an organism breathing in and out.

Julia waved to Flo and made the international sign for the bill– a squiggling hand movement, fingers and thumb pressed together, as if she was signing a bill with a pen. In a few years’ time, would they all be making a swipe gesture, Julia wondered.

 

My Review:

 

This was a fun and pleasurable yet compelling read that kept me engaged and casting multiple “who done it” theories throughout perusal. Julia is a knowable and authentic character and her creators keep adding a few more quirky layers to their cast of villagers while also softening Julia’s edges. The writing is easy to follow and engaging with a clever and well-plotted murder mystery that was essentially unsolvable until the last few chapters. I have enjoyed each installment of this amusing series and am already looking forward to the next.

About the Authors

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Katie Gayle is the writing partnership of best-selling South African writers, Kate Sidley and Gail Schimmel. Kate and Gail have, between them, written over ten books of various genres, but with Katie Gayle, they both make their debut in the cozy mystery genre. Both Gail and Kate live in Johannesburg, with their husbands, children, dogs, and cats.

 

Book Review:  The Love Remedy (The Damsels of Discovery #1) by Elizabeth Everett   @elizabetheverettauthor

The Love Remedy
(The Damsels of Discovery #1)
by Elizabeth Everett

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When a Victorian apothecary hires a stoic private investigator to protect her business, they learn there’s only one way to treat true love—with a happily ever after.

When Lucinda Peterson’s recently perfected formula for a salve to treat croup goes missing, she’s certain it’s only the latest in a line of misfortunes at the hands of a rival apothecary. Outraged and fearing financial ruin, Lucy turns to private investigator Jonathan Thorne for help. She just didn’t expect her champion to be so . . . grumpy?

A single father and an agent at Tierney & Co., Thorne accepts missions for a wide variety of employers—from the British government to wronged wives. None have intrigued him so much as the spirited Miss Peterson. As the two work side by side to unmask her scientific saboteur, Lucy slips ever so sweetly under Thorne’s battered armor, tempting him to abandon old promises.

With no shortage of suspects—from a hostile political group to an erstwhile suitor—Thorne’s investigation becomes a threat to all that Lucy holds dear. As the truth unravels around them the cure to their problems is they must face the future together.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

One thing Thorne learned early on in fatherhood was that lying to your child was the key to domestic harmony. Carrots were what dwarves ate to give them the ability to see in dark mines, and if you ate yours before they cooled, you, too, might be able to spot gemstones in the dark. Baths were necessary because they washed away any leftover bad dreams from the night before. If you didn’t go to sleep, you wouldn’t grow big enough to ride a unicorn. Unicorns lived in Cheshire and only let little girls who ate their vegetables ride them.

Sadie had been the one to precipitate his proposal to Mrs. Merkle, although not as enthusiastically as she’d advocated for him to marry Miss Highland, the milliner (she had a nice smile and Sadie would always have new bonnets), or their neighbor Mrs. Downwith (septuagenarian she might be, but she enjoyed baking biscuits and had a lapdog Sadie found charming).

The commotion amid the congregation this morning rivaled the time Mrs. Inglewood fell so fast asleep that she’d toppled off her pew and woke screaming that the devil had finally come to get her.

 

My Review:

 

I rarely read this genre but I would more often if they were all as cleverly penned and compelling a tale as this one. Elizabeth Everett has mad skills and I am her newest acolyte. I fell into her poignant and heart squeezing arrangements of words that were brilliantly peppered with amusing lashing of wit and wry humor as well as insightful observations. Her characters were uniquely drawn while each was deeply flawed yet endearing, hard-working, and mostly well- intended. I adored them while also wanting to give them a thump or two with my Kindle.

About the Author

Elizabeth Everett lives in upstate New York with her family. She likes going for long walks or (very) short runs to nearby sites that figure prominently in the history of civil rights and women’s suffrage. Her series is inspired by her admiration for rule breakers and her belief in the power of love to change the world.

Book Review:  Murder in Moscow Fiona Figg Mystery #8 by Kelly Oliver @KellyOliverBook @boldwoodbooks

Murder in Moscow
Fiona Figg Mystery #8
by Kelly Oliver

 

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1918 Moscow
Will following her heart mean losing her head? It could mean losing her job.

Fiona Figg trails her nemesis Fredrick Fredricks to Moscow. But when she arrives at the grand Metropol Hotel, the bounder has vanished.

After Fiona doesn’t show up for work at the War Office, Kitty Lane raises a red flag and tracks her to Russia. Seeking haven at the British Embassy, Kitty and Fiona become embroiled in a plot to overthrow the Bolshevik government.

But the plot turns deadly when Fiona goes undercover as a governess in the household of Iron Viktor, the Bolsheviks’ Head of Secret Police. And when Viktor turns up dead in his study, Fiona finds herself wanted for murder and on the lam.

Can Fiona and Kitty find the real killer and escape the Kremlin before it’s too late? Or will this dangerous game of Russian roulette be their last?

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

She flashed her broken smile again… She smelled like stale onions and weasel.

Even after I’d scrubbed with the perfumed soap, I still smelled the lingering scent of fear.

I looked like a prudish spinster destined to spend the rest of her life reading about romance instead of actually experiencing it.

When she spoke, she sounded like a honeybee buzzing, soft and melodious.

I thought of one of my grandmother’s sayings: Old enough to know better and young enough not to care. I was neither.

 

My Review:

 

This installment of the popular series gave me new respect for the clever Kitty Lane, she is quite resourceful as well as agile. The engaging storylines were active, lushly detailed, unpredictable, and populated with a wide assortment of complex characters and occasional lashings of humorous observations. Ms. Oliver’s devious scheming is far too smart for me. The little pea in my brain was unable to put the various clues together to arrive at any semblance of the end result.

 

Kelly Oliver grew up in the Northwest, Montana, Idaho, and Washington states. Her maternal grandfather was a forest ranger committed to saving the trees, and her paternal grandfather was a logger hell-bent on cutting them down. On both sides, her ancestors were some of the first settlers in Northern Idaho. In her own unlikely story, Kelly went from eating a steady diet of wild game shot by her dad to becoming a vegetarian while studying philosophy and pondering animal minds. Competing with peers who’d come from private schools and posh families “back East,” Kelly’s working-class backwoods grit has served her well. And much to her parent’s surprise, she’s managed to feed and clothe herself as a professional philosopher.

When she’s not writing mysteries, Kelly Oliver is a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University. She earned her B.A. from Gonzaga University and her Ph.D. from Northwestern University. She is the author of thirteen scholarly books, ten anthologies, and over 100 articles, including work on campus rape, reproductive technologies, women and the media, film noir, and Alfred Hitchcock. Her work has been translated into seven languages, and she has published an op-ed on loving our pets in The New York Times. She has been interviewed on ABC television news, the Canadian Broadcasting Network, and various radio programs.

Kelly lives in Nashville with her husband, Benigno Trigo, and her furry family, Mischief and Mayhem.

 

Book Review: The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County by Claire Swinarski   @claireswinarski @avonbooks

The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County
by Claire Swinarski

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Armed with a Crock-Pot and a pile of recipes, a grandmother, her granddaughter, and a mysterious young man work to bring a community together in this uplifting novel for readers of The Chicken Sisters.

Esther Larson has been cooking for funerals in the Northwoods of Wisconsin for seventy years. Known locally as the “funeral ladies,” she and her cohort have worked hard to keep the mourners of Ellerie County fed—it is her firm belief that there is very little a warm casserole and a piece of cherry pie can’t fix. But, after falling for an internet scam that puts her home at risk, the proud Larson family matriarch is the one in need of help these days. Iris, Esther’s whip-smart Gen Z granddaughter, would do anything for her family and her community.

As she watches her friends and family move out of their lakeside town onto bigger and better things, Iris wonders why she feels so left behind in the place she is desperate to make her home. But when Cooper Welsh shows up, she finally starts to feel like she’s found the missing piece of her puzzle. Cooper is dealing with becoming a legal guardian to his younger half-sister after his beloved stepmother dies. While their celebrity-chef father is focused on his booming career and top-ranked television show, Cooper is still hurting from a public tragedy he witnessed last year as a paramedic and finding it hard to cope. With Iris in the gorgeous Ellerie County, though, he hopes he might finally find the home he’s been looking for.

It doesn’t seem like a community cookbook could possibly solve their problems, especially one where casseroles have their own section and cream of chicken soup mix is the most frequently used ingredient. But when you mix the can-do spirit of Midwestern grandmothers with the stubborn hope of a boy raised by food plus a dash of long-awaited forgiveness—things might just turn out okay. Includes Recipes

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Esther was from an age where loving your neighbor meant loving your actual neighbor, not just adding an emoji to your Twitter name in times of crisis.

Olivia was pregnant with her first and acted as if it made her incapable of lifting a dirty cup into the dishwasher.

The funeral ladies grouped organic devotees in with PETA activists, war criminals, and people who bought designer shoes. One time Iris’s dad had accidentally brought plant-based queso to a cookout at Esther’s, and they’d acted as if he’d murdered an entire village.

It was so different from Los Angeles, where everyone walked around as if they might bestow upon you the honor of doing them a favor.

Mary Frances had come into the world screaming and never stopped. The nurse kept asking, What’s her name? What’s her name? right after she was born, and Esther couldn’t even hear the question. Her daughter refused to be put down for the first two years of her life. They had her tested for everything under the sun, but she didn’t have any medical problems. Just an opinion, at such a young age.

 

My Review:

 

I adored this tale as well as all the inhabitants residing within. The characters were knowable and endearing, as well as amusing and authentically drawn. I fell right into their storylines and felt for each and every one of them as their vulnerabilities and regrets were exposed. Ms. Swinarski’s agile writing was well-honed, well-paced, and perceptively scripted. I’ll be on the lookout for more of her clever arrangements of words.

 

About the Author

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Claire Swinarski is the author of multiple books for both kids and adults. Her writing has been featured in The Washington Post, Seventeen, Milwaukee Magazine, and many other publications. She lives in small town Wisconsin with her husband and three kids, where she writes books, wears babies, and wrangles bread dough.

Book Review :Come Rain or Shine (Juniper Meadows Book 3) by Sarah Bennett   @sarah_bennettauthor

Come Rain or Shine
(Juniper Meadows Book 3)
by Sarah Bennett

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There are worse fates than growing up knowing that you will one day inherit a vast and magnificent Cotswolds country estate, but for Rhys Travers it has always felt like a huge responsibility.


Juniper Meadows is home to much of his extended family, not to mention the many local businesses that operate on the estate, so there’s no time to sit back and enjoy the view. Juniper Meadows is a full-time job, and that doesn’t leave much time for romance…

Tasha Blake’s career leaves no time for romance either – much to her mother’s chagrin. Tasha’s sister Danni has kindly provided two grandchildren, but Victoria Blake is keen for more! When her job takes her to Juniper Meadows for an extended project, the slower pace of life, the beauty of the countryside and the warmth of the Travers family, soon has Tasha in its thrall, and the future Lord of the Manor Rhys Travers is rather easy on the eye too.

As the busyness of life on the estate sweeps Tasha and Rhys along, they are both able to ignore the secrets and silences that are growing between them. But when the future of Juniper Meadows hangs in the balance, loyalties and love are tested to breaking point. When the chips are down, can Rhys and Tasha see a future together, come rain or shine…

Sarah Bennett is back with her signature blend of warmth and joy, plot and pace. A Sarah Bennett book is a ray of sunshine and a huge hug, guaranteed to brighten any day, perfect for all fans of Cathy Bramley, Katie Fforde and Phillipa Ashley.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Nothing was ever out of place in Victoria Blake’s kitchen. Even the plastic storage boxes on the bottom shelf all had their matching lids, proving to Tasha’s mind that her mother had done a deal with Satan at some point because how else to explain such an unnatural thing?

 

My Review:

 

This was a fun and vastly entertaining read that was enjoyable from start to finish. The storylines were unfailingly engaging, amusing, busy, and creatively detailed with a variety of activities and a full cast of uniquely quirky characters. I jumped into the series with book three, and although I didn’t struggle to keep up, I feel deeply compelled to read the first two for my own self-indulgence. I adored it!

About the Author

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Sarah Bennett writes feel good romantic fiction set in beautiful locations you will fall in love with. Her bestselling series include Butterfly Cove and Mermaids Point.

Her latest series is based in the heart of the Cotswolds on a country estate known to the locals as Juniper Meadows. Where We Belong and In From the Cold are out now in all formats. Come Rain or Shine will be released in March 2024, with a final book planned for late 2024.

Book Review: Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle    @rebecca_serle @atriabooks

Expiration Dates
by Rebecca Serle

 

Being single is like playing the lottery. There’s always the chance that with one piece of paper you could win it all.

From the New York Times bestselling author of In Five Years and One Italian Summer comes the romance that will define a generation.

Daphne Bell believes the universe has a plan for her. Every time she meets a new man , she receives a slip of paper with his name and a number on it—the exact amount of time they will be together. The papers told her she’d spend three days with Martin in Paris; five weeks with Noah in San Francisco; and three months with Hugo, her ex-boyfriend turned best friend. Daphne has been receiving the numbered papers for over twenty years, always wondering when there might be one without an expiration. Finally, the night of a blind date at her favorite Los Angeles restaurant, there’s only a Jake.

But as Jake and Daphne’s story unfolds, Daphne finds herself doubting the paper’s prediction, and wrestling with what it means to be both committed and truthful. Because Daphne knows things Jake doesn’t, information that—if he found out—would break his heart.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

The thing no one ever wants to say about dating is this: It’s hard to be real, sure. It’s harder to let someone else be.

Exercise isn’t really a part of my adult life, what with all the sweating, and the fact that I now have a hair-care regimen.

She’s not coming. Some mix-up with my personality. She decided she didn’t like it.

I once read that there are more stars in the sky than there are grains of sand on Earth. It seemed impossible. It always seems impossible to believe the things we cannot see.

My life has been filled with magical moments, I was just so busy waiting I didn’t see them when they were here.

 

My Review:

 

This was a delight to read and wickedly perceptive and observant. I smirked most of the way through perusal although there were several profound inner musings that I had to stop and reread a few times.

I adored every clever word as much as I did the quirky characters, each was authentically detailed yet I ached for just a little more of each chapter. The writing was well-honed, cleverly original, delightfully witty, keenly insightful, amusingly entertaining, and sparked sharp visuals across my gray matter.

Rebecca Serle has strong word voodoo and now rests at the top of my favorites list.

Rebecca Serle is an author and television writer who lives in Los Angeles. She is the author of six novels and codeveloped the hit TV adaptation of her YA series Famous in Love. She received her MFA from the New School in NYC. She loves Nancy Meyers films, bathrobes, and giving unsolicited relationship advice.

 

Book Review:  Murder at the Island Hotel (Miss Underhay #15) by Helena Dixon  @NellDixon  @Bookouture

Murder at the Island Hotel
(Miss Underhay #15)
by Helena Dixon

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A gorgeous island off the English coast, a beautiful hotel perched on the cliffs, a group of glamourous friends… and a suspicious death? Kitty Underhay’s invitation didn’t mention murder!

Spring, 1936. As the boat draws into the harbour of Bird Island, Kitty is absolutely delighted to see the stunning hotel for the first time. She and her friend Alice have been asked to join the distinguished guests before the hotel officially opens its doors, but they have barely unpacked when the owner is found dead in his own study…

Sir Norman’s death looks like suicide. But Kitty isn’t convinced – she cannot find a note, and he is left-handed but was shot on the right side of his head. Kitty tries to reach the police, but a violent storm engulfs the island and the power goes out. Kitty and Alice need to move quickly before anyone else finds death on their dinner menu!

With several old friends amongst their suspects, Kitty decides the investigation should stay secret. But it’s not until Kitty uncovers Sir Norman’s financial difficulties that she’s on the killer’s trail. Can Kitty and Alice catch the culprit in time for tea, or will they become the next guests on the murderer’s list?

Fans of T.E. Kinsey, Agatha Christie or Lee Strauss will adore this warm and witty whodunnit. An utter delight to read!

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

You all look like you’ve lost a shilling and found a farthing.

…best shake your feathers.

It’s so frightening now. One of the people I am friends with, and was working with, has killed two people. All the time we carry on talking, eating dinner, exchanging pleasantries as if nothing had happened. It’s as if I’m trapped in a nightmare.

 

My Review:

 

This was a multi-layered and complicated murder scheme that the little pea in my brain would never have unraveled, even knowing there was a limited pool of suspects. The storylines were deviously clever and well-nuanced while giving nearly everyone present a plausible motive for the first murder, but then things became more muddled with a second death. I cycled through my theories for each person several times and ended up suspecting them all. Sigh, only a clever sleuth such as the brilliant Kitty Underhay Bryant could have puzzled this one out.

And score, I achieved a new entry for my Brit Words and Phrases List with rum go – which Mr. Google told me refers to a surprising or peculiar event. And there were quite a number of those on the pages of this book.

 

 

About the Author

 

Nell Dixon was born and continues to live in the Black Country. Married to the same man for over thirty-five years she has three daughters, a cactus called Spike, a crazy cockapoo, and a tank of tropical fish. She is allergic to adhesives, apples, tinsel, and housework. Her addictions of choice are coffee and reality TV. She was the winner of The Romance Prize in 2007 with her book Marrying Max, and winner of Love Story of the Year 2010 with her book, Animal Instincts. She also writes historical 1930’s set cozy crime as Helena Dixon.