Bells, Tails & Murder: A Dickens & Christie Mystery Book 1 by @KathyManosPenn #CosyMystery set in the Cotswolds #RBRT #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted in Book Review, Contemporary Fiction, Cosy Mystery by Cathy

Author: Kathy Manos Penn

Published: February 2020 by Manos Penn & Ink

Category: Cosy Murder/Mystery, Contemporary Fiction, Book Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Do you like heroines who’ve lived a little? Who’ve suffered life’s ups and downs but kept on trucking? Then you’ll love Leta Parker and her new friends in the Cotswold village of Astonbury.

When tragedy strikes Leta Parker’s life, the successful banker and closet sleuth chases a lifelong dream to retire to England. Leaving her friends and neighbors in Atlanta, she settles into Astonbury with her talkative dog and cat, Dickens and Christie.

Leta Parker’s life changed irrevocably when her husband was killed in an accident while they were out biking. Eighteen months later she had fulfilled her dream of retiring to England and has a pretty, restored and cosy cottage in the Cotswolds. All she needs now is to pick up Dickens, a dwarf Pyrenees and Christie the black cat, from the airport. They both have a moan (literally) and Christie particularly has plenty to say about being crated for the journey. Leta is a female Dr Doolittle and can actually communicate with animals. It’s a fun twist, I’ve often thought it would be perfect I could understand ‘dog speak’. I’m glad, however, that the animals were portrayed and treated as pets and not given human traits (apart from the obvious)

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7Sep2021

A Double Life: The Yellow Cottage Vintage Mysteries Book 5 by J. New #VintageCrime #CosyMystery #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted in Book Review, Cosy Mystery, Crime, Historical Fiction by Cathy

Author: J. New

Published: July 2020 by Phantom Press

Category: Historical Fiction, Vintage Cosy Mystery, Book Review

Autumn, 1936. Ella Bridges, Scotland Yard’s only female consultant is shocked to find a baby abandoned in Kensington Palace Gardens. With no adult in sight and a deadly storm brewing she has no choice but to take him home. The child is swiftly reunited with his parents and Ella believes that’s the end of the matter, but the next day a body is found under the Serpentine Bridge.

Ella Bridges is in London, staying with her brother and his wife for a few weeks. Out for a walk in Kensington Park gardens one day, Ella hears a strange mewling noise emanating from the bushes surrounding the statue of Peter Pan. Thinking it could be a kitten, she’s shocked beyond measure when she discovers an abandoned baby in a pram. Unable to locate the nanny or anyone else in the vicinity, Ella decides the best course of action would be to take the baby to her brother’s house and phone the authorities.

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16Jul2021

The Art of Betrayal: A Kate Hamilton Mystery by Connie Berry ~ Cosy #Murder #Mystery @conniecberry @crookedlanebks

Posted in Book Review, Cosy Mystery, Crime, Murder/Mystery by Cathy

Author: Connie Berry

Published: June 2021 by Crooked Lane Books

Category: Cosy Murder Mystery, Police Procedural, Book Review

Spring is a magical time in England–bluebells massing along the woodland paths, primrose and wild thyme dotting the meadows. Antiques dealer Kate Hamilton is spending the month of May in the Suffolk village of Long Barston, enjoying precious time with Detective Inspector Tom Mallory. While attending the May Fair, the annual pageant based on a well-known Anglo-Saxon folktale, a body turns up in the middle of the festivities.

I was a little concerned when asked if I’d like to review The Art of Betrayal as it’s the third book in a series. Thankfully, it works perfectly well as a standalone with enough background information woven through the narrative that I didn’t feel at a loss at any stage.

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1Jul2021

#ThrowbackThursday ~ The Riviera Affair (The Yellow Cottage Vintage Mysteries #4) by J. New ~ #CosyMystery #BookReview

Posted in Book Review, Cosy Mystery, Crime, Historical Fiction by Cathy

This week I’m looking back on the fourth book in a vintage 1930s cosy mystery series I really enjoyed. And discovering there’s a fifth book is a bonus.

My Thoughts

When Ella Bridges takes a frantic phone call for help from her mother Elspeth, who lives in Cap Ferrat in France, she and her aunt Margaret waste no time in travelling to the French Riviera accompanied by Margaret’s dear but eccentric friend, Pierre DuPont.

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18Jun2021

Cold Case in Nuala (The Inspector de Silva Mysteries Book 10) by Harriet Steel #HistoricalFiction #Mystery @harrietsteel1

Posted in Book Review, Cosy Mystery, Historical Fiction by Cathy

Author: Harriet Steel

Kindle Edition

Category: Cosy Mystery, Historical Fiction, Book Review

It’s January 1940 and the day of Nuala’s famous motor rally. Excitement is at full throttle, but matters take a dark turn when that same evening, human remains are found buried in a lonely corner of a local tea plantation.
Inspector de Silva has a cold case to solve. Add a playboy racing driver, a missing Bugatti and a family scandal hushed up years ago into the mix and he has plenty to think about. You can be sure that whatever happened in the past, now de Silva’s in the driving seat, you’re in for a gripping ride.

The story opens as Inspector Shanti de Silva and his wife, Jane are attending Nuala’s famous car rally, the Hill Country Challenge held every four years, along with Archie and Florence Clutterbuck and Charlie Frobisher and his lady friend. This was de Silva’s third time at the rally but his appreciation of the array of wonderful cars, including a Bentley, Maserati and Bugatti, has not diminished. After the excitement of the race Charlie treated them all to a round of cocktails.

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7May2021

The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood @robthor Cosy #MurderMystery #FridayReads

Posted in Book Review, Contemporary Fiction, Cosy Mystery, Murder/Mystery by Cathy

Author: Robert Thorogood

Published: January 2021 by HQ

Category: Cosy Murder Mystery, Book Review

To solve an impossible murder, you need an impossible hero…

Judith Potts is seventy-seven years old and blissfully happy. She lives on her own in a faded mansion just outside Marlow, there’s no man in her life to tell her what to do or how much whisky to drink, and to keep herself busy she sets crosswords for The Times newspaper.

Seventy seven year old Judith Potts was very happy with her life, living alone in an Arts and Crafts mansion on the banks of the Thames. She’d inherited the house from her great aunt, along with a modest portfolio of shares. Although she didn’t need to work, Judith had a job she loved, compiling crosswords for a national newspaper. No doubt her life would have carried on in this way but for the small matter of a murder.

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1Apr2021

#ThrowbackThursday ~ The Curse of Arundel Hall by J. New, 1930’s #HistoricalFiction

Posted in Book Review, Cosy Mystery, Historical Fiction, Throwback Thursday by Cathy

This is the second installment of The Yellow Cottage Vintage Mysteries, featuring Ella Bridges in a cosy mystery series with paranormal undertones.

The ghost residing in the secret dining room beyond the pantry was causing Ella some problems in that Mrs Shaw, the housekeeper-cum-cook, refused to enter the pantry. Ella’s temporary solution was to move the food stuff into the kitchen proper, but she was determined to try and solve the mystery of who the woman had been and how she died. Ella decided she needed to visit her friend, Harriet, a local historian, to see if she could research The Yellow Cottage and shed any light on who the mysterious spirit was. Harriet is the founder of the local library and that’s where Ella finds her. It seems Harriet had found a connection between the cottage and Arundel Hall, now owned by Harriet’s old friend, Sir Robert Harlow. Harriet discovered that Ella’s cottage was once The Dower House belonging to the Hall.

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4Mar2021

#ThrowbackThursday ~ Murder at the Bridge (Exham on Sea Mysteries 5) by Frances Evesham #CosyMurderMystery

Posted in Book Review, Cosy Mystery, Murder, Throwback Thursday by Cathy

Murder at the Bridge is part of a very enjoyable cosy murder mystery series, published in June 2017.

My Thoughts

Taking a moment to relax in the marquee after her son, Robert’s wedding to Sarah, Libby Forrest has a strange conversation with Belinda, the bride’s mother, interrupted by an unnerving man in a kaftan, causing Libby to prickle with discomfort and Belinda to make a hasty exit. Libby’s innate curiosity is aroused but before she could process her thoughts she is dismayed to hear an altercation break out over a supposedly stolen ring.

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15Jan2021

Mini #AudiobookReviews ~ Murder Under The Sun/Killing Time/Still Dead by @neilmustard & @katonahprod #Cherringham #CosyMurderMystery #FridayReads

Posted in Audiobook, Book Review, Cosy Mystery, Crime, Murder, Mystery by Cathy

Cherringham is a long running cosy mystery series of shorts, featuring Sarah Edwards and Jack Brennan and narrated perfectly by Neil Dudgeon. Each story is complete, with character development and lives evolving as the time frame moves on. Great for a quick listen and I enjoy catching up with the characters.

Jack, a retired NYPD homicide detective, relocated to the Cotswolds after his wife died and now lives on an old Dutch barge moored at Cherringham, with his dog Riley. Sarah Edwards, a web designer, returned to Cherringham from London with her two children when her husband left the family for his boss. She now runs her own company. She and Jack are Cherringham’s answer to private investigators, except they help out for free.

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22Dec2020

High Wire in Nuala (The Inspector de Silva mysteries Book 9) by @harrietsteel1 #HistFic #BookReview for #RBRT #TuesdayBookBlog

Posted in Book Review, Cosy Mystery, Historical Fiction, Murder/Mystery by Cathy

Author: Harriet Steel

Kindle Edition

Category: Historical Fiction, Cosy Mystery, Book Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Much to the delight of the locals, a colourful Russian circus rolls into Nuala, but the fun ends abruptly when, on the opening night, a tragic accident takes place.

Shanti de Silva and his wife, Jane are among the crowd to witness the accident. Or was it an accident? Inspector de Silva senses murder, and soon, he’s juggling with the evidence. Will the trail lead to the circus’s dashing stunt rider and master of horse, Alexei Goncharov, or to Alexei’s brother Boris, its boisterous ringmaster?