I have not forgotten how to count, but my read #19 has had its own post already. The three books I am reviewing now have in common that they were all free at Amazon's Kindle shop, each of them the first in a series offered for free so that readers might get a taste for the series and buy the next ones.
Emma Davies
In this “cosy mystery”, the sleuth is not just one person, but a duo – and they are Adam and Eve, although not in the biblical sense.
Instead, Francesca Eve is a self-employed caterer, and Adam is the son of one of her clients. He’s only half her age and a tech nerd.
Fran and Adam meet under peculiar circumstances while Fran does the catering at his mother’s birthday party. The hostess and her small group of guests play a murder mystery over dinner, a game custom-ordered specifically for the event.
Everyone is given written instructions about the character they are to play for the evening, without knowing who is the intended “murder victim” – let alone who the “murderer” is, according to the game.
They appear to have great fun… until something goes deadly wrong.
Fran finds herself not among the suspects, but still has an interest in learning what has really happened.
She has to juggle her family life, work duties and her completely unofficial detective work, helped by Adam who shows surprisingly useful skills.
Of course the two of them solve the case, and of course they both are in danger at some stage or other, but as usual there is no question that they surive when the book is clearly marked the first in a series.
I enjoyed the story with some of the dialogue and scenes being rather funny, but I wasn’t convinced of every character and their actions.
It was a fun and easy read but not motivating me to buy more from the series.
The author's website is here.
Kate P. Adams
For me, the unusual setting was mostly what made this book a good read: The main character works at a large stately home in England, probably based on Chatsworth House; a beautiful palace-like house in vast grounds, still lived in by a duke and his family, but open to visitors.
Sophie manages the cafés on the premises, and her duties also involve taking care of the catering at events in the impressive rooms and well maintained gardens.
A food festival is held in the grounds, and Sophie has the chance to indulge her passion for coffee with two of the stalls that sell their own local roasts and pride themselves on their uniqueness and expertise.
Then, a body is found in one of the coffee stalls, and although there doesn’t seem to be much in terms of a motive for the murder, suspects are aplenty.
At the same time, a pattern of thefts of artwork from big houses like the one where this book is set begins to emerge. Are these related in any way to the murder?
Sophie helps the local police (against their advice, of course) by doing some investigating of her own, assisted by one of the tour guides at the house.
For a while it seems that the more she finds out, the less close she is to solving the puzzle, but of course she succeeds in the end.
As I said, the setting of the house and gardens made the book interesting, plus quite a lot of small detail related to working in such a place. The author has actually worked in similar capacities at stately homes for years (although she never had to solve a murder), and it is obvious she knows what she’s writing about. One example is the mention of why no red wine is served at receptions in marble-floored halls – any spills would be very hard to clean from the precious antique surfaces, whereas champagne and white wine do not present the same problems.
I also liked the characters and wouldn't mind reading more of the series, although I must admit I am not keen enough to spend money on it.
The author's website is here.
Harper Lin
Unlike the other two, this book is set in a small town in the US, most of it happening at the local book shop.
The owner is an elderly gentleman who is more interested in his books and helping the local community than in making a profit.
He employs Maggie, a young woman who is very pretty without knowing it, very smart and very bookish; she doesn’t like to talk to people and only really feels comfortable talking to her boss – mostly about books, of course.
When the old man dies, Maggie is not only heartbroken but also fears the unwelcome changes Joshua, the man’s son and heir, is going to make to the shop.
Then, someone is found dead in the shop – accident or murder? Someone has obviously been looking for something, but who apart from the owner and his employee would know how valuable some of the old books are?
Maggie's life revolves around the book shop, and she does not want to lose her job, which gives her enough motivation to investigate the goings-on.
She soon learns more about the people in the small town than she ever knew, and it’s not all nice…
While I liked the idea behind the book, the characters didn’t really come alive for me. Especially Maggie and Joshua could have done with some more fleshing out; they were left rather flat and two-dimensional:
He was gorgeous and not much else, while her dislike to talk to people was repeated frequently, as if the reader would need constant reminding.
Not a total waste of time, but definitely not a series I shall look into any further.
The author's website is here.
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