iiiiReader Book Reviews

This is both my first book by this author and the first book in this series that I have read.

I enjoy mysteries and I also enjoy Regency romance stories. While there is not really a romance per se, in this novel, the elements of a Regency are definitely present. The mystery is front and center.

Beatrice (Bea) Hyde-Clare is an orphan who was, rather grudgingly, taken in by her Uncle and Aunt when she was six years old. She lives with them and her two cousins. She has twenty the last twenty years trying to fade into the background, which is exactly what is expected of her by her family. They also prefer not to be noticed too much. They don’t believe in being too forward or being noticed too much.

Bea is happy to take that role until, at a country house party where her family are guests, she is confronted by a murder. When the investigation makes a wrong turn, she feels she must step in.

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I’ve read a number of the books in this series and have enjoyed every one. I am reading them out of order and find that it is easy to read them stand-alone but I want to read all of them because they are just that good.

In this book, Mary Russell and her husband Sherlock Holmes are on the Continent. Mary has gone by sailboat (believe it or not, as a deckhand) and has ended up in Monte Carlo.) Sherlock is MIA but will eventually join Mary.

Mary has gone for a specific purpose. That purpose is to find Mrs. Hudson. Mrs. Hudson left their employ and has retired but without letting anyone know where she has gone except a cryptic comment (in an earlier book) as she shook the dust of England off her feet.

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I’ve read every book in this series and some of them more than once. I wait each year for the new entry to appear and dive right in.

Davis Way works at the Bellisimo Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. Okay, she only works one quarter of the time. What she has been tasks with for the last few months is unbelievably boring.

Not only that, she is now at the mercy of Baylor, who is the individual who used to work for her. Somehow, she still treats him as if he did work for her. Oh, by the way, Davis’ husband runs the casino.

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This is the first book I have read by this author. It does follow the cozy mystery checklist to a T. It also seems to be aimed at a much older reader, which I am not. Having said that, I still enjoyed reading the book.

The series is about a librarian, Cleo Watkins, in her mid-seventies, who drives the towns library bus which brings books to places other than the library. That seems a bit of a stretch as many individuals of that age would hesitate to drive a repurposed school bus. She travels around the town solving crimes, including murder, as much as she seems to actually bring books to the citizens.

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Bailey King is making the wedding cake for Juliet and Reverend Brook. Juliet has planned for this day for years and wants everything perfect, including a cake with marshmallow icing. While it is a bit of a headache, Bailey along with her friends and family at the Swissmen Sweets candy shop, have it finished and ready and waiting.

The big day arrives but an uninvited guest makes a disturbance at both the wedding and the reception. The next day, the individual is found dead at the top of the church steps and the Reverend comes under suspicion of murder.

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