Tag Archive for: Cozy mystery

A Dream of Death by Connie Berry

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Connie Berry’s debut novel, A Dream of Death, finds Kate Hamilton traveling to the remote Scottish Isle of Glenroth, a place she had vowed to never return. The birthplace of her husband, Bill, it was also the place he died three years ago.

Bill extracted a promise from her to help his sister if anything ever happened to him. Even though Kate and Elenor didn’t get along it was a promise easily given as Kate envisioned a long life with her husband. With that promise in mind, Elenor’s sudden plea for help couldn’t be ignored.

Glenroth is small, population 238, but attracts lots of tourists because of its history and a recent best-selling novel. Elenor owns one of, if not the, grandest manors on the isle and turned it into the Glenroth House Hotel. Tourist season has passed but the hotel is getting ready for the Tartan Ball.

Kate arrives on the day of the ball and her first stop is to see Elenor. A surprisingly cheerful Elenor who doesn’t have time to talk as she has a hair appointment. She shows Kate a beautiful small footed chest or casket. Kate’s reaction to it is one she has when recognizing an object of great age and beauty.

Back in her Ohio hometown, Kate owns an antique shop. She has a gift for being able to recognize a true antique in a room full of objects. Her reaction tells her that this is a special piece but Elenor won’t tell her about it or why she is scared and needs help until after the ball. Before she hurries off she informs Kate that she left a package in Kate’s cottage that she should open right away.

Kate will get to the package but her first order of business is to find something to wear to the ball. Her luggage took a side trip to the Dominican Republic and all Kate has is the jeans and shirt she has on. The hotel chef, Nancy, comes to her rescue with an offer of help and Kate just has time to open the package before Nancy arrives with dresses.

The package contains the novel that is drawing tourists to the island, The Diary of Flora Arnott, Volume One by Dr. Hugh Parker Guthrie. Also in the package is a note from Elenor and two newspaper clippings. One from 1810 on the murder of Flora who was shot through the neck with an arrow. The other is from 1811 on the death of Flora’s husband, James Arnott.

Kate heads to the ball puzzled as to how an old casket and the island’s history are cause for Elenor’s fright and request for help. The ball seems to be a great success until Elenor takes the stage. She has two announcements – she is selling the hotel to a Swedish chain and she is marrying Hugh Guthrie.

The sale is cause for great distress for many of the attendees as their livelihood depends on tourists coming for Scottish history not whatever a Swedish hotel will bring. The engagement is met with angry disapproval by Hugh’s mother who demands he take her home immediately and to Elenor’s embarrassment he does.

Elenor leaves the ball herself after a few minutes without talking to Kate. After helping with clean up, Kate goes back to the cabin where another surprise awaits. Someone has searched her cottage. Nothing is missing but now the note she found in the pocket of her borrowed dress takes on new meaning. Kate dismissed the GO HOME message as something the owner left in the dress but maybe it was meant for her.

Before she can leave the cottage the next morning to get answers from Elenor she is summoned to the hotel by the police. Elenor was murdered during the night. She died in the same manner as Flora – shot through the neck with an arrow.
Elinor’s murder is shocking but a mystery for the local police and Kate is ready to go home. However during her interview with the police she learns she is the executor of Elenor’s estate. Then they tell her the prime suspect is Bo, Bill’s childhood best friend. Bo is a gentle giant and wouldn’t hurt anyone except he confesses to hurting Elenor. Bo was born with cognitive disabilities and completely shuts down when being questioned.

His hospitalization and evaluation will buy Kate some time as now she has to find the killer. Despite his confession, Kate knows Bo is innocent. Unfortunately for Kate even on this small island there are plenty of suspects.

Flora’s story is integral to the mystery and Berry does a nice job weaving it into the narrative. This cozy mystery has a feisty intelligent protagonist, lots of suspects, and a touch of romance. And for those who like to read series (me), this is book one of A Kate Hamilton Mystery.

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Review by Patty crane, Reference Librarian

Murder at an Irish Castle by Ellie Brannigan / Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore

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I was set to introduce the first book in a new cozy mystery series for this review then I read The Lonely Hearts Book Club. I enjoyed it so much I decided to tell you about both titles.

Murder at an Irish Castle by Ellie Brannigan is billed as the beginning of An Irish Castle Mystery series. Rayne McGrath runs a successful bridal boutique on Rodeo Drive in Hollywood. Her specialty is designing one of a kind wedding dresses. So how does a California girl end up in an Irish castle?

On her 30th birthday she and her partner, Landon, are set to lunch with an investment banker then will hopefully be celebrating at dinner. Landon is her romantic as well as business partner and she is expecting that partnership will also go to the next level by the end of the evening.

I was set to introduce the first book in a new cozy mystery series for this review then I read The Lonely Hearts Book Club. I enjoyed it so much I decided to tell you about both titles.

Murder at an Irish Castle by Ellie Brannigan is billed as the beginning of An Irish Castle Mystery series. Rayne McGrath runs a successful bridal boutique on Rodeo Drive in Hollywood. Her specialty is designing one of a kind wedding dresses. So how does a California girl end up in an Irish castle?

On her 30th birthday she and her partner, Landon, are set to lunch with an investment banker then will hopefully be celebrating at dinner. Landon is her romantic as well as business partner and she is expecting that partnership will also go to the next level by the end of the evening.

Arriving at her shop she can’t get in as someone broke something off in the lock. Landon should be there and is not answering his phone. Rushing to his home she finds it empty, as empty as their bank account. At Landon’s suggestion all their money went into one account to make the business more attractive to the bank. When the police gain access to her boutique it is empty as well, Landon took her completed gowns.

Amid the devastation and chaos, Rayne receives a call from Ireland. Her uncle died and her presence is required at the reading of the will. With no trace of Landon and her mother providing a ticket and vowing to handle things in her absence, Rayne takes the long flight to Dublin.

Transported to Grathton Village by a less than cordial Ciara, Rayne is taken directly to the solicitor’s office for the reading of the will. She is shocked to learn that she not only inherited a castle but also has a cousin, Ciara. An even more hostile Ciara as she expected to be her father’s heir.

Rayne is ready to turn the castle over to Ciara but the will prevents it and if she sells all proceeds will go to a church. To inherit any money Rayne and Ciara must stay one year and somehow turn the castle into a profitable concern. The village, Ciara, and the castle staff are depending on Rayne to stay and find a way to bring the castle and the village into the 21st century.

To complicate things further, Ciara is convinced her dad’s death was no accident. So all Rayne has to do is learn how the castle functions, make it profitable to save the village, and create wedding gowns when her shop and customers are thousands of miles away. Oh, and help Ciara find Uncle Nevin’s killer.

This is a murder mystery so there is a killer waiting to be found but in this series debut the focus is more on the place and characters than the murder. It will be interesting to see how things work out in the next book.

Lucy Gilmore brings together an unlikely group for her latest novel, The Lonely Hearts Book Club. There is the seemingly meek self-effacing Sloane, mean and curmudgeonly Arthur, nurturing and empathetic Maisey, kind self-absorbed Mateo, and quiet considerate Greg.

Sloane, a librarian at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library, is reshelving items when she first meets Arthur. As he rudely points out, she is blocking his way to Roman history. Arthur is well known by most of the staff, including fellow librarian Mateo, and they scatter whenever he enters. But Sloane, surprisingly, is not intimated and in the ensuing conversation (banter from Sloane, insults from Arthur) she earns a little of his respect.

Sloane anticipates his visits each day even though he can be cruel at times. When he doesn’t show up for several days, she breaks the rules to look up his home address. Discovering he is ill and alone (because he throws out or runs off every nurse they send) Sloane is determined to help.

When her decision leads to being fired, she becomes Arthur’s full-time caretaker. Her ‘job’ is to catalog his vast array of books. As a retired literature professor, Arthur has amassed a huge collection stacked haphazardly throughout his home.

Arthur will tolerate Soane but Maisey, his neighbor, is another matter. However, Maisey needs someone to care for so Sloane and Arthur are it. Searching for a way to ensure her place, Maisey tentatively proposes they read The Remains of the Day together since there are multiple copies. Sloane loves the idea and their book club is formed.

Soon Greg, Arthur’s estranged grandson, and Mateo join their club. Then a stranger wants to join but why and what is his connection to Arthur?

This novel has five narrators as each member of the club tells their own story while moving the narrative along. Enjoyable with good, relatable characters this is a tale of five lonely people brought together through one cranky elderly man’s love of books.

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