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Fliss Chester
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The Moonlit Murders: A historical mystery page-turner (A Fen Churche Mystery Book 3) Kindle Edition

by Fliss Chester (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 743 ratings
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When a journey to New York is interrupted by missing diamonds and a body in the lifeboat, there is only one woman who can help: Fen Churche!

1945. Fen Churche follows her dreams and sails for New York. She books passage on a steam ship from France to America, excited to dance the night away in the glamorous ballroom and play games on deck. Nothing will stand in the way of her trip, not even when an eccentric heiress’s diamond tiara goes missing…

Looking forward to relaxing with her favourite crossword puzzles, Fen’s quiet passage is horribly disrupted by another crime – this time a murder. Fen finds Genie, a young actress bound for Broadway, strangled in her own cabin. With no police on board and a frantic captain, Fen decides to do a little snooping of her own.

When another body turns up, hidden in a lifeboat, whilst the ship is in the middle of the Atlantic, Fen feels sure these dreadful crimes are linked. Through her sleuthing she meets light-hearted lieutenants returning from the war, charming cabin boys and snooty first-class passengers who look down their nose at her. But it isn’t until Fen realises that one person is missing from the passenger list that she is finally on the murderer’s trail.

With only rolling waves and sea mists for company, can Fen solve the case before they dock in New York and the killer escapes for good?

You’ll be utterly hooked from page one of this warm and witty cozy! An absolute treat for fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Jacqueline Winspear.

Everyone is loving The Moonlit Murders!

‘I almost yelled out loud near the end; I most definitely did not see that particular twist coming!’Goodreads reviewer

‘Absolutely amazing… I devoured this book, it kept my attention from the first page to the last… I was so engrossed in this story…and then wham the ending totally blindsides you. Wow, I absolutely did not see that coming… Fantastic.’ Page Turners ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

‘I devoured it in one sitting… Light-hearted … Easy to read and kept me guessing throughout.’ Bookworm 86

‘Keeps you guessing with fingers being pointed in all directions. I was very happy with the ending.’ Goodreads reviewer

‘Kept me hooked and entertained till the last page… It kept me guessing and entertained. I can't wait to read the next.’ Scrapping and Playing ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

‘The ending is a surprise with interesting characters and puzzling plot twists.’ Goodreads reviewer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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  1. Book 3 of 3
    A Fen Churche Mystery
  2. Print length
    268 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    April 21, 2021
  6. File size
    1541 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08WC5Y5V1
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bookouture (April 21, 2021)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 21, 2021
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1541 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 268 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 743 ratings

About the author

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Fliss Chester

Fliss Chester

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Fliss Chester lives in a little village in West Sussex, and writes historical cozy crime. When she is not killing people off in her 1920s and 1940s whodunnits, she helps her husband, who is a wine merchant, run their family business. This means she's never far from a decent glass of something, which makes her very happy indeed.

Before writing her two cozy crime series, she wrote fun and flirty romances - the sort of thing that might make your mother blush. Not hers though, as it was her mother who always encouraged her to be 'anything you want, darling, as long as it's not dull'. Hopefully readers will attest to the fact that whether it's death by cyanide or a smooch in a hot tub, there's nothing dull about Fliss's books.

The current series that Fliss is working on is the Hon Cressida Fawcett Mysteries Series. Our heroine, Cressida, is a fun-loving heiress in 1920s England - though when she's not propping up the cocktail bar at The Savoy, she's helping people with their interior decorating projects. Through her love of decorating, and the fact she keeps tripping over dead bodies, she realises that her eye for design means she has an eye for a crime too. Why not pick up the series with the first book, Death Among the Diamonds, and join Cressida for a martini and a murder!

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
743 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars The best one yet
Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2021
Verified Purchase
Fen embarks on an ocean liner from France to England. When a mystery evolves and the trip continues on to America for her and James the bodies begin to stack up. Two murders and a jewel theft have everyone under suspicion but the real game plays through till the end and all the clues fall into place. This series was great and I hope there are more to come. Each one has gotten more intricate and I enjoy the main characters.
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Carolyn Brown
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed the read
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2023
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Enjoyed the story line, & feel I learned some things about life during that time period. Realistic figures. Never traveled on ship before & that was interesting.
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DMM-NH
5.0 out of 5 stars READ THEM IN ORDER
Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2021
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These. Books are about the aftermath of WWII, what happens after VE Day. Personal losses abound. Scores remain to be settled. Collaborators need exposure and punishment. How these things happen is the subject of these books, fiction, of course, but laced with probability.
One person found this helpful
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Martha
3.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't quite meet the other two
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2021
I have now read all 3 (so far) of the books in this series and I have very mixed feelings about this one. Promising story line but a fair number of stereo-typical characterizations, some historical bloopers: two that stand out: a suggestion that the lead female, Fen, had a brother still fighting Rommel in Africa towards end of the war, nope. (that was essentially done after Alamein); and placing Peenemunde, where the V1, and V2 rockets were built, in Bavaria (nope again, Pennemunde was in NORTHERN Germany). If someone is going to write a novel with historical references it is best to get those references right, even if most of the author's audience might not really care. Some will, it detracts from the authenticity. A reference to the idea early on that Paris did not suffer food shortages was very off base: perhaps the bistros/cafes did not but the Parisians certainly did. That was a glaring error. The named ship they sailed on did not return to the fleet of the French line until 1947, not 1945. As to how luxurious the first class travel might have been just 6 months after a catastrophic war.. call me skeptical. She paints something of an image of the pre-war FIrst Class. A bit more niggling: Fen's behavior re: the "German" is very strange. She jumps to all manner of conclusions, while at the same time telling herself not to. There is also no need to keep stating that she (Fen) finds it difficult to say the "right" thing to offer comfort. EVERY time the situation arises, we get this explanation. I really enjoyed the first two books and read them almost at one sitting, she manages to create some tension, and the ambiance (esp. in the first 2 books) is credible. I would call them enjoyable summer reading and hope there are more. The somewhat rushed endings with "loose ends" tied up very fast are a bit startling.. one minute you are reading a page and expecting more action and then.. it is finished. A tad awkward.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Fliss doesn't disappoint
Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2021
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Another excellent story blending the end of World War 2 with mysteries and interesting, well-developed characters.
I hope we will hear more from Fen et al very soon!
3 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Looking for another
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2021
Verified Purchase
I've enjoyed this whole series set at the end of World War II. I hope there are more adventures we get to share with Fen.
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ploegman nc
5.0 out of 5 stars Best series since long
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2021
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Great read. Finished it in one go. Cannot wait for the next episode. Please hurry up Fliss. I need more.
2 people found this helpful
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Honolulubelle
5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic and Lively Cozy
Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2021
Favorite Quotes:

I was told by Mama that I would be much better placed to marry well if I knew how to get out of a motorcar without flashing my own undercarriage.

Handsome? Heavens no, but he had two of the best qualities you can hope for in a husband…. a vast fortune and a dicky heart!

She’d scare Hades himself away from the Underworld… Churchill should have sent her into Berlin and cut the whole thing short years ago.

My Review:

This was a well-plotted, unpredictable, and slowly unwinding cozy mystery with lush descriptions and active storylines involving new friendships, post-WWII recovery challenges, transcontinental ocean cruise travel and hijinks, shopping and dining fare in three countries, crossword puzzle development, burglary, and murder. I couldn’t even begin to solve this one as Ms. Chester had me addled and intrigued with her well-contrived schemes, yet the clues were there, just to skillfully buried among the richly detailed and abundant aspects described in each crime scene and series of events for the little pea in my brain to put together.

The characters were an interesting and unusual grouping of personalities and circumstances with Americans including a radio showbiz entertainer, a wealthy American heiress, and her vile Aunt, who was a detestable and snobbishly elitist old dragon who bossed and insulted everyone and got away with it; as well as a Nazi scientist quietly hiding in cabin #13. I adore Fen Churche and her honorable and straightforward nature and keep hoping a romance will spark for her soon with the deliciously handsome and highly likable Viscount. I do loves me a HEA.
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Top reviews from other countries

DWJ WATSON
5.0 out of 5 stars Another great read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 28, 2021
Verified Purchase
Follow Fen as she travels to the USA on-board a ship carrying a murderer. This is a real page turner of a story.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely good
Reviewed in Australia on July 6, 2022
Verified Purchase
So good, in fact, I read all 3 one after the other. Set in a period just after the war the characters display all the manners of that time but the book is certainly not old fashioned. A great storyline with a mystery J could not work out - and solved with digital means! Well worth reading any of these books.
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BananaTricky
4.0 out of 5 stars Murder on a transatlantic passenger boat
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 15, 2023
Verified Purchase
Three and a half stars.

James and Fen are finally ready to leave France and come back to England. James is travelling First Class and Fen is travelling Second Class. Whilst waiting to board Fen meets a glamorous young couple, Stanley and Genie, he's a former radio star about to turn movie star and she's a former dancer who wants to break into theatre - they are on their way to New York. Meanwhile, all the passengers are distracted when a wealthy American woman in First Class creates a scene thinking her Cartier tiara has gone missing.

That evening, James and Fen are invited to dine at the Captain's table, alongside Stanley and Genie, and the American woman Mrs Archer and her niece Eloise. James drops a bombshell when he tells Fen he isn't planning on disembarking at Southampton, instead he intends to travel on to New York. Eloise persuades her aunt that Fen would be a sensible companion on the trip and persuades her to pay for Fen's cabin.

However, disaster soon strikes and Mrs Archer's priceless jewellery is stolen from her cabin while she slept. James and Fen volunteer to search the ship and investigate, not least to stop Mrs Archer from accusing all and sundry of the theft. But while searching the lifeboats Fen and Eloise come across a grisly discovery, one of the other Second Class passengers has been stabbed and wrapped in a swastika flag.

Only Fen knows that the dead passenger is also a German, was he a Nazi? Why was he on the boat? What was his name? Who else knew he was a German national?

I am enjoying these novels, particularly the historical detail. However, as with most cosy mysteries, there is a fair amount of repetition eg Fen feels awkward comforting people, Fen's affectation about creating crossword puzzles out of random key words in the investigation etc.

Are those small green shoots of romance between James and Fen - at least on his part?

Read on my Kindle Unlimited subscription.
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Rhonda
4.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Reviewed in Australia on October 15, 2021
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Nice yarn Nothing too grizzly and quite comfy to read Enjoyed it immensely and look forward to the sequel soon
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GT
5.0 out of 5 stars An Engrossing Read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 16, 2021
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Another great Fen Churche mystery. I find Fliss Chester's protagonist really engaging and am enjoying her viewpoint and characterisation. This time Fen finds herself on a luxury ocean liner en route for New York. Mysteries abound and Fen's detective skills are stretched to the limit as she uses her sharp brain to fathom out the murderer. Fliss's research is excellent and I really felt myself aboard that ship. Will Fen and the lovely James get together? I hope so! I can't wait to read the next novel to find out.
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