An Absolutely Gripping Cozy Mystery (A Flora Steele Mystery, Book 1)
by Merryn Allingham
You know it very well by know, the pattern of these 1st in a series freebies at Amazon's Kindle shop, meant to make the reader buy the rest of the series.
And admittedly, much in this book followed the exact pattern I keep coming across, including the romantic interest between two people who at first have a more or less active dislike for each other.
But "The Bookshop Murder" was different in several ways, last but not least the author's style of writing and well researched 1950s English village setting.
The story was longer than other books of the "Cozy Mystery" genre, without drawing things out unnecessarily. Characters were developed better than in other books. The plot really DID have unexpected twists (and did not only claim so in the blurb), and I was kept guessing for quite a while.
In short, we have the series' heroine, Flora Steele. A young woman, trained librarian (of course that caught my interest), early orphaned and raised by her aunt who owned and ran the village bookshop that Flora has inherited upon her aunt's death.
She is plodding along with the shop, just about making ends meet, when a man is found dead in her bookshop. The police are quick to dismiss the death as by natural courses, but would a young, healthy man just drop dead like this, when he'd broken into the book shop after hours, obviously looking for something?
Add to this that the man was visiting from Australia and related to a family who had been living at the manor, now a hotel, for centuries.
Flora wants to save the bookshop and her livelihood and knows she has to find out what really happens, if she wants her scared customers to return.
Unexpected help turns up in the shape of a famous author...
This book kept me company on many a train trip, and I enjoyed the read. The 1950s setting is credibly painted, and the characters' interactions mostly plausible. I doubt I shall ever buy #2 or more of the series, but it certainly was not a waste of time.
Merryn Allingham has a good website, if you are interested in more of her work or herself. She was new to me, but my first impression of her work was definitely a good one.
No comments:
Post a Comment