Tag Archives: cosy mysteries

#BookReview ‘Murder in First Class’ by Helena Dixon @NellDixon #cosymystery #crime

#BookReview ‘Murder at the Wedding’ by Helena Dixon @NellDixon #cosymystery #crime

Murder at the Wedding is seventh in the Kitty Underhay cosy mystery series by Helena Dixon and the series is definitely reaching that familiar point where it is necessary to read from book one to appreciate everything. There are so many familiar characters from previous books, the nuances of things said and not said, the promise of romance, that this novel is definitely not a standalone read. This time Kitty and her beau, private detective Captain Matthew Bryant, face a ghost, a shocking shooting, a domineering old lady and a fascist who supports Oswald Moseley. Kitty is in Yorkshire at Thurscomb Castle for the wedding of her cousin Lucy to her fiancé Rupert, now Lord, Woodcomb. This is ripe territory for mysteries. Rupert has only just assumed his title and ownership of the estate after the death of his uncle. The estate is rundown and in need of repair. There is a derelict wing burned in a horrible fire, the electrics have a mind of their own and there are rumours of a ghost. Kitty and her maid Alice arrive to find Lucy in the midst of pre-wedding jitters. The guests are gathering, the house is being spring cleaned and the flowers are arriving by the cartload.
There are some familiar faces – Lucy’s parents Lord and Lady Medford of Enderley Hall, Lord Medford’s cousin Hattie, Rupert’s sister Daisy and her new husband Aubrey. Newcomers include Aubrey’s cantankerous mother Adalia Watts, Rupert’s best man Sandy Galsworthy and his wife Moira, Moira’s father Ralston Barnes, Rupert’s old schoolfriend Sinclair Davies and his wife Calliope. It is quite a cast of characters to get your head around and they all appear by the second chapter.
When Ralston’s butler Evans is shot dead, the local inspector soon arrests a man staying at the local inn. But Kitty and Matt are not so sure this is the guilty man. Inspector Lewis is however cut from different cloth to the policemen Kitty and Matt are used to working with in Devon and on no account will he allow amateurs to interfere with police investigations. Then on the evening of the wedding there is a second death.
Murder at the Wedding takes a while to get going but once it does the shocks, the suspicions and the clues continue to arrive. There is a concern about poisoning, the electrics frequently fail plunging the house into darkness, and items of furniture and decorative items seem to be moving around. Then just when I’d forgotten about it, the ghost appears again.
This is a cosy mystery in that the gruesome details of murder are not described, but the action is fast and the threat to the vulnerable is great. Kitty as usual heads into danger without hesitation and by now Matt realises he can’t stop her. Is she simply too headstrong and independent for him, does he want and need a wife he can protect and care for. Their tentative courtship adds romance while the 1934 setting brings a dark political element, something which I’m sure will be developed in further books.
Great fun and tricky to predict.
Next in line is Murder in First Class.

If you like this, try:-
‘A Deadly Discovery’ by JC Kenney #4AllieCobb
‘The Silver Bone’ by Andrey Kurkov #1KyivMysteries
‘A Necessary Evil’ by Abir Mukherjee #2Wyndham&Banerjee

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#BookReview ‘A Royal Murder’ by @BrightVerity #cosymystery #crime

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The twists and turns in the Lady Eleanor Swift cosy mysteries written by Verity Bright are becoming even more tangled now the series is well-established. A Royal Murder involves a death at Henley Regatta, the royal protection police, a Russian spy and a criminal mastermind. The stakes are higher, and so are the risks to Ellie. Ellie is not in her comfortable place when she is ushered to the regatta by her new best friend, society girl Tiffany Persephone Fitzroy, better known as Tipsy. Ellie, who has already failed to live up to Tipsy’s long list of necessary style improvements to facilitate her entry into the highest of society – including pretending to have a ladylike appetite – is to be introduced to the king’s first cousin, once removed. Tipsy insists Eleanor must look her ‘fabulous best’ when she finally meets Xander Taylor-Howard at Henley. Soon she is trussed up in a sea of ivory silk frills and an enormous matching hat with ostrich feathers. Worst of all, Ellie must go the regatta looking like a ‘walking wedding cake’ where her favourite detective chief inspector, Hugh Seldon, is in charge of security.
Xander turns out to be a bit of a playboy. Unfortunately after the races at the prize-giving ceremony, he drinks from his glass of champagne and drops dead. Because Xander is one of the royal family, the murder hunt is run by the royal police headed by Sir Percival Westlake. Seldon is off the case but, much to her bemusement, Lady Swift is recruited by Sir Percival to investigate the people on his list of suspects.
Ellie and Clifford, her faithful butler, chase around interviewing suspects, secretly meeting the disgruntled Seldon to swap theories and discoveries. Xander Taylor-Howard had many secrets to hide, disgruntled husbands who have been cheated on, angry former girlfriends who were unceremoniously ditched. But when a second man is murdered, other secrets are uncovered. Who did Xander owe money to and how much; enough to be worth killing for. Or perhaps he was selling state secrets to the Russians.
The danger is more intense in this novel and, despite their best efforts, neither Clifford or Hugh can prevent Ellie from marching straight into trouble. But the familiar delights are still present; Clifford’s Mastermind-like ability to know the answer to every question; bulldog Gladstone’s ability to jump into the stinky overflow pond, the gorgeous food cooked by Mrs Trotman. And the ending is lovely.
Such an effortlessly entertaining series, the books continue to get better. A Royal Murder, the ninth instalment, has a lively cast of goodies and baddies. Ellie is unconventional and ahead of her time, Hugh is the strong silent hero, Clifford in indefatigable.

Read my review of other books in the Lady Eleanor Swift series:-
A VERY ENGLISH MURDER #1LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH AT THE DANCE #2LADYELEANORSWIFT
A WITNESS TO MURDER #3LADYELEANORSWIFT
MURDER IN THE SNOW #4LADYELEANORSWIFT
MYSTERY BY THE SEA #5LADYELEANORSWIFT
MURDER AT THE FAIR #6LADYELEANORSWIFT
A LESSON IN MURDER #7LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH ON A WINTER’S DAY #8LADYELEANORSWIFT

If you like this, try:-
‘Death and the Brewery Queen’ by Frances Brody #12KateShackleton
‘Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage’ by MC Beaton AR#5
‘The Secrets of Gaslight Lane’ by MRC Kasasian #4GowerDetective

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#BookReview A ROYAL MURDER by @BrightVerity https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7Jh via @SandraDanby

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#BookReview ‘Murder at Elm House’ by Helena Dixon @NellDixon #cosymystery #crime

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A convalescent home seems an unlikely setting for illegal goings-on but that’s exactly the location of Murder at Elm House by Helena Dixon. This, the sixth of the 1930s Miss Underhay cosy mysteries, starts immediately where the previous book, Murder in the Belltower, ended. Kitty Underhay and her beau, private detective Captain Matthew Bryant, are reluctant visitors to the nursing home in Torquay, sent there by Kitty’s grandmother to visit her friend Mrs Craven. This indomitable lady, who has been involved in some of Kitty’s previous detectoring, is recovering at Elm House after an operation. But she insists something is ‘not quite right.’ Strange noises in the night, people appearing and disappearing, and deaths. Not the usual sort of deaths expected in a convalescent home. After the death of another patient, one of the nurses asks Kitty to meet her the next day at a tea room in Torquay to discuss the happenings, but that night Nurse Hibbert falls from the roof and dies.
Long-running story threads are picked up again in Murder at Elm House. Kitty and Matt’s romance advances slowly and satisfactorily and she is now having driving lessons in her small red Morris Tourer. But all is not happy. The man she suspects of murdering her mother Elowed in 1916 has been seen in Dartmouth, and she has received an anonymous threatening note.
The threat level in this book is the highest yet, with fights and also guns making an appearance. Despite being banned by her grandmother from visiting Elm House, Kitty is not one to sit quietly by while others solve crime. Murder at Elm House combines two crime stories; the deaths and strange events at the nursing home, and the longer-running story of Ezekiel Hammett and his attempts to silence Kitty once and for all.
I raced through this book, finishing it in 24 hours. The stakes are higher, the risks are riskier. What’s going to happen in the next instalment of the Miss Underhay mysteries? This book has more of danger and a darker tone. The cast of characters is satisfyingly familiar with the addition of two younger members who get involved in the action. Dolly Miller – younger sister of Alice, housemaid at the Dolphin – has just started a new job at Elm House, and taxi driver and Kitty’s driving instructor Robert Potter. Both prove themselves worthy of surveillance, lock-breaking and being in the right place at the right time.
An easy-to-read series. Opening a new book feels like slipping on a comfortable pair of slippers and settling down with a mug of cocoa. Excellent.

If you like this, try:-
‘The Art of the Imperfect’ by Kate Evans #1ScarboroughMysteries
‘The Various Haunts of Men’ by Susan Hill #1SimonSerrailler
‘The Silent Twin’ by Caroline Mitchell #3JenniferKnight

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#BookReview MURDER AT ELM HOUSE by Helena Dixon @NellDixon https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7NX via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-

#BookReview ‘A Cornish Recipe for Murder’ by Fiona Leitch #crime #cosycrime

#BookReview ‘Death on a Winter’s Day’ by @BrightVerity #cosymystery #crime

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Death on a Winter’s Day is the eighth instalment in the Lady Eleanor Swift between-the-wars cosy mystery series by Verity Bright. Oh what an emotional ending! When a Christmas house party with friends on a remote Scottish island turns out to be less than hospitable, Ellie is a long way away from help. Except of course from butler-cum-personal assistant Clifford and her entire domestic staff, who have travelled with her north of the border to assist in the Christmas festivities. They didn’t expect to be confined to the island when a guest dies, stabbed in the back.
Novice lady of the manor Ellie has to use all her conversational and diplomatic skills at Castle Ranburgh to negotiate the tensions amongst her fellow guests. Already beset by staff problems – hence Ellie’s offer of arriving with her own domestic staff in tow – Baron and Baroness Ashley are struggling to be hospitable hosts. Ellie overhears talk of a business deal in danger of not happening, the usually romantic hosts seem to be at odds with each other, an American guest is rather too fond of the whisky and the Ashley’s begrudging cook is sabotaging the food. Clifford and his team of ladies from Henley Hall try to save the day with Stilton straws and other gorgeous canapes. Then a harmless game of ‘wink murder’ turns into the real thing and the local Inspector removes all boats from the island. The Ashleys, their guests and staff are effectively imprisoned together and squabbles turn into arguments. And there is an armoury, well-stocked with antique but deadly weapons.
At the request of her friend Wilhelmina Ashley, Ellie starts detecting. She and Clifford have already made a few observations of strange behaviour and gossip. An envelope passed to the local inspector. A man with a limp in a corridor he should not be visiting. This is a closed room mystery. The murderer must be one of the people on the island, but though their identities are known their real reasons for being at Castle Ranburgh are not. Why are Lord and Lady Fortescue, cousins of Lord Ashley, attending the Christmas house party when they seem to dislike their relatives so much. Why are Robert Campbell, the local Laird of Dunburgh, and his son Gordon, at loggerheads and is the Laird really the charming genial man he appears to be.
Death on a Winter’s Day includes another discovery for Ellie about her mother, tied in neatly with the sheer beauty and harsh conditions of this part of the Scottish coast. The island sits in a sea loch and can be reached only by boat, rowed over by a local man who appears to wear dead animals strung around his neck. A winter snow storm, a dangerous sea passage and the appearance of a selkie – a mythical creature that can shift form from seal to woman – add to the Scottish atmosphere in an isolated but beautiful corner of the world.
Another fun read, this time with a deadly chase that threatens the lives of all involved. The most touching book so far in this wonderful series.

If you like this, try:-
‘A Snapshot of Murder’ by Frances Brody #10KateShackleton
‘The Ninth Child’ by Sally Magnusson
‘Murder at Enderley Hall’ by Helena Dixon #2MissUnderhay

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#BookReview DEATH ON A WINTER’S DAY by @BrightVerity https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7E7 via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-

#BookReview ‘The Seaside Murders’ by Helena Dixon @NellDixon #cosymystery #WW2

#BookReview ‘Murder in the Belltower’ by Helena Dixon @NellDixon #cosymystery #crime

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I stayed up way too late to finish reading Murder in the Belltower by Helena Dixon, fifth in the Miss Underhay 1930s cosy mystery series. The plot is a reminder that this novel is set in 1933, six years before the outbreak of World War Two. Like Murder at Enderley Hall, second in the series, Murder in the Belltower continues the theme of espionage and the theft of military secrets. It is Christmas and Kitty and Matt, now officially girlfriend and boyfriend, have been invited to spend the season at Enderley Hall with Kitty’s aunt, uncle and cousin Lucy. In need of a quiet break, after startling revelations about her mother’s disappearance in the Great War, the couple long to spend time together to become closer acquainted. But at the last minute Matt is given a top secret assignment, which must be kept secret from Kitty too, to observe the house guests at Enderley Hall and watch out for dastardly intentions. No specifics are given and he’s at a bit of a loss what to look for.
There are familiar characters and many new ones. The house guests include Count Vanderstrafen and his sister, a coolly elegant brother and sister from Austria; an American couple, Mr and Mrs Cornwell, who seem devoted and travel the world wherever his work takes him; Lord Medford’s cousin Hattie who over-confidently considers herself a poet, singer and artist; and botanist Simon Frobisher who is using Lord Medford’s library to research his new book. Locals attend the celebratory meals and church services including the vicar and a variety of village ladies. There is discontent in the village, the new vicar is not popular and there is competition amongst the ladies which has led to name-calling and nasty gossip. There are familiar faces too including Kitty’s brave and intrepid maid Alice, Lucy’s dog Muffy (who has a key role to play) and stern-faced butler Mr Harmon (who frowns every time he sees Kitty climb on the back of Matt’s motorbike). It is quite a list of suspects when a lady is found dead, there are clues but nothing makes sense. Some guests seem the guilty sort, others far too nice to be a murderer. And all the time there are Christmas festivities, food and party games.
Kitty, whose common sense and clarity of vision often makes inspired leaps to identify the truth of a case before anyone else, is distracted. In the last book, Murder on the Dance Floor, she discovered some unwelcome truths about her mother’s last movements. Try as she might to be festive, she cannot forget the strange circumstances of Elowed Underhay’s death. Kitty’s investigation switches to a new phase as she places an advertisement in a local newspaper, asking for witnesses of her mother’s last days. She’s also irritated that Matt seems to be hiding something from her and jealous that he clearly once knew Juliet Vanderstrafen very well.
When the body of parish clerk Miss Plenderleith is found, at first an accident is assumed. Then a vagrant is blamed, and then a thief. Kitty, of course, knows instinctively that none of these answers is correct.
An excellent country house murder with sinister between-the-wars espionage in the background, lightened by the delicious flirting between Kitty and Matt. We never really get to know the truth of Matt’s assignment and I’m sure the espionage theme will feature again in future books, adding a welcome tougher edge to the storyline.
Very good.

And my review of the first in a new series by Helena Dixon:-
THE SECRET DETECTIVE AGENCY #1SECRETDETECTIVEAGENCY

If you like this, try:-
‘A Death in the Dales’ by Frances Brody #7KateShackleton
‘The Red Monarch’ by Bella Ellis #3BronteMysteries
‘Elizabeth is Missing’ by Emma Healey

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COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-

#BookReview ‘The Secret Detective Agency’ by Helena Dixon @NellDixon #cosymystery #WW2

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London 1941. Secret government worker Miss Jane Treen is addicted to coffee and cigarettes. Unfortunately, her new partner prefers tea and is asthmatic. The Secret Detective Agency is first in a new series of cosy mysteries by Helena Dixon, author of the 1930s Kitty Underhay detective books. Starting the first book of a new series is always a risky thing, it takes time to set up characters, back stories, context and as a result the pace can be slow. But I enjoy the Kitty books and the wartime setting of The Secret Detective Agency is another plus. Miss Treen works for an unnamed government department running Operation Exodus, her team of secret agents assist the escape of double agents from Germany to the UK. But Jane’s agents are dying and when Polly Flinders is killed at a safe house in Devon, Jane is sent to investigate. Her boss, referred to as The Brigadier, teams her up with asthmatic code breaker Arthur Cilentro. They make an unlikely pairing, especially in the first half of the book. Chain-smoking Jane brings her long-haired cat Marmaduke with her to stay at Arthur’s house, Half Moon Manor. While the two investigators sniff around, asking questions, squabbling and sulking as they go, Arthur’s manservant Benson is the grown-up.
This is a story of wartime spies, treason, double dealing and multiple identities with rather confusing code names. By the time Miss Treen and Mr Cilentro have relaxed together enough to call each other Jane and Arthur, the death toll has increased. Fuelled by gossip in an isolated wartime village where everyone’s business is well-known, the two detectives realise that everyone is a suspect.
It is inevitable that the trio – don’t forget the indispensable Benson, who is always on hand with the essentials without which Jane and Arthur would simply fail – will morph into a team by the end of this novel. I expected Arthur to be quite bookish; he is, but also a fussy bachelor with severe breathing problems and a sharp analytical mind. I expected Jane to be an efficient professional young woman from London, responsible for a top secret mission; she is, but as a detective on the ground she can be naïve and not tight-lipped enough. She also ignores Arthur’s asthma. I got a bit fed up of her blowing smoke in Arthur’s direction and letting her cat into his sitting room. Thankfully as the story progresses, the two learn to appreciate each other’s skills and their relationship becomes less spiky.
More a cosy wartime mystery than cosy crime, this is a good start to a new series which offers something different. Irritations aside, this was a quick enjoyable read. I enjoyed the wartime espionage setting and the idea of a government detective agency specialising in crimes too secret for the police. It’s easy to have unreasonably high expectations of a new series and, looking back to my review of the first Kitty Underhay mystery Murder at the Dolphin Hotel, it too was a 3* read for me. I’m now a firm fan of Kitty and Matt’s investigations in 1930s Dartmouth.
Coming soon is the second instalment of Jane and Arthur’s investigations, The Seaside Murders. Hints about Jane’s family background, including a glamorous actress mother, are sure to become storylines in future novels.

Here are my reviews of books in the Kitty Underhay 1930s cosy mystery series by Helena Dixon:-
MURDER AT THE DOLPHIN HOTEL #1MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER AT ENDERLEY HALL #2MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER AT THE PLAYHOUSE #3MISSUNDERHAY
MURDER ON THE DANCE FLOOR #4MISSUNDERHAY

If you like this, try:-
‘Dying in the Wool’ by Frances Brody #1KateShackleton
‘Hiding the Past’ by Nathan Dylan Goodwin #1MortonFarrier
‘The Heat of the Day’ by Elizabeth Bowen

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#BookReview THE SECRET DETECTIVE AGENCY by Helena Dixon @NellDixon https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-84X via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-

#BookReview ‘A Lesson in Murder’ by @BrightVerity #cosymystery #crime

8 Replies

When Lady Eleanor Swift is asked by her favourite teacher to return to school to give an inspirational talk about her solo travels around the world, Ellie does not expect a dead body. We, of course, do. A Lesson in Murder is seventh in the 1920s-set murder mystery series by Verity Bright. These books are so good. When Mrs Wadsworth is murdered, Detective Chief Inspector Seldon is prevented from taking over the case. Many of the pupils at St Mary’s are the children of diplomats and politicians meaning that police presence on site is forbidden in order to avoid press attention. And so with Seldon – Hugh, to Ellie – observing from a distance, and occasional meetings with Ellie and her butler Clifford in a tea shop, the two amateur sleuths move into the school as undercover detectives. Clifford – a bit of a stretch, this – joins the maintenance team and Ellie becomes temporary house mistress of her old lodgings, Holly House. A list of suspects is drawn up and a plan for questioning is agreed. But of course, Ellie never sticks to a plan. Then a second teacher is found dead.
When Eleanor meets the girls of Holly House, aged 9-11, it’s a reminder of how young she is for all she has achieved. At nine years old she arrived at the school, grieving the death of her parents, lonely at boarding school and her uncle always away, she was rebellious, mischievous and brave. Can she bring her spirit to today’s girls living in Holly House, the youngest of the houses, the overlooked, the quiet and bullied? And what memories of her own past will be unearthed? This storyline is rather endearing, reminding me of Malory Towers. Meanwhile in the background but with increasing intensity, the shy sparring between Eleanor and Hugh continues. As they circle each other with longing, unable to take the next step, being awkward, saying the wrong thing, I wonder how much longer this can be maintained.
The best of the series so far; I seem to keep writing that about these books, the last time was Mystery by the Sea. Both books fill in gaps about Eleanor’s family history and her life before we met her in A Very English Murder. Two thirds of the way through her investigations at St Mary’s, Ellie overhears another truth revealed. ‘Oh Ellie, how many more sad secrets do you have to uncover before you can catch a killer?’ A line not just applicable to the murder, but to Ellie’s own life.
Excellent.

If you like this, try:-
‘The Blood Detective’ by Dan Waddell #NigelBarnes
‘An Expert in Murder’ by Nicola Upson #1JosephineTey
‘The Cornish Village Murder’ by Fiona Leitch #2NoseyParker

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#BookReview A LESSON IN MURDER by @BrightVerity https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7Dw via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-

	#BookReview ‘The Reb… on #BookReview ‘The Instrum…
	#BookReview ‘The Reb… on #BookReview ‘The Forgotten Sis…
	#BookReview ‘The Reb… on #Bookreview ‘The Lady of the R…
	#BookReview ‘The Reb… on #BookReview ‘The Heretic…
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SANDRA DANBY'S BOOK REVIEWS

Sharing thoughts on the books I read, new authors, favourite authors, classics re-visisted

Tag Archives: cosy mysteries

#BookReview ‘Murder in First Class’ by Helena Dixon @NellDixon #cosymystery #crime

#BookReview ‘Murder at the Wedding’ by Helena Dixon @NellDixon #cosymystery #crime

#BookReview ‘A Royal Murder’ by @BrightVerity #cosymystery #crime

#BookReview ‘Murder at Elm House’ by Helena Dixon @NellDixon #cosymystery #crime

#BookReview ‘A Cornish Recipe for Murder’ by Fiona Leitch #crime #cosycrime

#BookReview ‘Death on a Winter’s Day’ by @BrightVerity #cosymystery #crime

#BookReview ‘The Seaside Murders’ by Helena Dixon @NellDixon #cosymystery #WW2

#BookReview ‘Murder in the Belltower’ by Helena Dixon @NellDixon #cosymystery #crime

#BookReview ‘The Secret Detective Agency’ by Helena Dixon @NellDixon #cosymystery #WW2

#BookReview ‘A Lesson in Murder’ by @BrightVerity #cosymystery #crime

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