I’ve loved murder mysteries since I first discovered the genre. As a child, I loved watching Morse, Miss Marple,and other detectives as they got to the bottom of whodunit. I was hooked. It wasn’t long before I started to read books starring these detectives. I really love the way that female amateur detectives often have far more ideas of what’s going on and why things have happened than the men who populate the books. What woman can’t resist reading about another woman who just gets to the bottom of it all? I know I can’t, but these books are some of the very best in the genre.
I fell in love with this book almost instantly when I first read it over ten years ago. It contains many of my favorite things about murder mysteries. I really enjoy books that have a strong sense of place or time, which this one does.
I also love people who almost reluctantly start investigating a murder but can’t help but try to get to the bottom of it. This story has the added bonus of a love interest, which I also really enjoy. I’ve read and reread this book so many times I’ve lost count now.
“What a thoroughly charming book! A beautiful combination of entertaining characters, minute historical research, and a powerful evocation of time and place.” —NYT bestselling author Barbara Hambly
Boston, 1868: The dawn of the Gilded Age, an era of burgeoning commerce and invention, of unimaginable new fortunes and lavish excess—for some. Born into poverty, young Nell Sweeney scratches by on her wits and little else until fortune blesses her with a position as nursery governess to the fabulously wealthy Hewitts. But she soon learns that ugly secrets lurk beneath the surface of their gold-plated world.
My all-time favorite amateur detective is Miss Marple, and if I had to pick a favorite book she is in, it would be this one. I love the idea of a quiet, mostly ignored spinster who most people dismiss being the one character who seems to know exactly what is going on and what people are up to.
I really like the way Miss Marple figures out why the main character thinks she is going mad and proves that she isn’t. In this book, Miss Marple really proves her status as one of the best amateur detectives, and I love it.
Hippolyta Napier is a delightful character. I love the way that she’s completely unapologetic about her nosiness and meddling. Set at a time when women were supposed to leave things to men to deal with; I can’t help but cheer for Hippolyta as she inserts herself into the goings-on to try and solve a murder.
I really enjoy the way that she isn’t always sure about her actions but doesn’t let that put her off. I can really relate to Hippolyta as a person, and I think many other women would, too.
The distant Scottish spa town of Ballater seems a world away from the stylish and familiar streets of Georgian Edinburgh, but recently married Hippolyta Napier is making a new life amidst its dark woods and pure, flowing waters. But suspicion, intrigue and death await both inside and outside her new home, and the forces of nature take few prisoners.
I was drawn into this book immediately by the cryptic crossword clues and the mystery of Fenn Church’s missing boyfriend. It’s impossible not to get drawn into this brilliant story.
Although I’m not a huge fan of World War II books, I adored this one set just at the end of the war. I also really enjoyed reading about the French winery setting as Fenn tries to solve the mystery. When I get a chance, I will be rereading this brilliant book.
Your lost love never came home after the war. Would you risk everything to find out what happened to him?
1944. While war rages in Europe, Fenella Churche is doing her bit in the green fields of England. But when she finds a letter addressed to her on the scrubbed farmhouse table, she knows the news won’t be good. She hasn’t heard from her fiancé Arthur since he was posted to France on a dangerous undercover mission, and from his very first words she knows he may not be coming back.
I can’t resist a book that can make me laugh and has a great storyline. This murder mystery has books in bucketfuls. I love the way that humor is woven into the story.
I think that the thing that really makes this story such a great read is the different characters that fill the pages. I fell in love with the main character, Jane, and her love interest, the padre, and I, of course, completely loved her dog, Sexy Beast.
Jane Delaney does things her paying customers can’t do, don’t want to do, don’t want to be seen doing, can’t bring themselves to do, and/or don’t want it to be known they’d paid someone to do. To dead people.
Life gets complicated for Jane and her Death Diva business when she’s hired to liberate a gaudy mermaid brooch from the corpse during a wake—on behalf of the rightful owner, supposedly. Well, a girl’s got to make a living, and this assignment pays better than scattering ashes, placing flowers on graves, or bawling her eyes out as a hired mourner. Unfortunately…
Helena Statham never imagined herself as a sleuth. But when she stumbles upon the body of a young woman while on a walk, she can't resist the urge to discover who she was and how she got there. Even if it means upsetting the tight-knit community of the small New Zealand town she lives in, and uncovering secrets that have long been buried. Thirty years ago, a young woman went missing, but no one tried to find out what had happened to her. As Helena investigates deeper, she learns more about what took place back then, putting herself in danger now. Join Helena on her journey as she becomes an unlikely amateur detective, determined to uncover the truth and bring justice to the long-forgotten young woman whose story has been buried in silence for far too long.
This book is set in Montauk, under looming threat from a warming climate and overdevelopment. Now outsider Clancy, a thirty-six-year-old claims adjuster scarred by his orphan childhood, has inherited an unexpected legacy: the power to decide the fate of Montauk’s last parcel of undeveloped land. Everyone in town has a stake in the outcome, among them Julienne, an environmentalist and painter fighting to save the landscape that inspires her art; Theresa, a bartender whose trailer park home is jeopardized by coastal erosion; and Molly and Billy, who are struggling to hold onto their property against pressure to sell. When Clancy…
The Stark Beauty of Last Things is set in Montauk, the far reaches of the famed Hamptons, an area under looming threat from a warming climate and overdevelopment. Now outsider Clancy, a thirty-six-year-old claims adjuster scarred by his orphan childhood, has inherited an unexpected legacy: the power to decide the fate of Montauk's last parcel of undeveloped land.
Everyone in town has a stake in the outcome, among them Julienne, an environmentalist and painter fighting to save the landscape that inspires her art; Theresa, a bartender whose trailer park home is jeopardized by coastal erosion; and Molly and Billy, who…
