Showing posts with label cozy mystery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cozy mystery. Show all posts

4/16/2012

Christmas Is Murder (Rex Graves Mystery) Review

Christmas Is Murder (Rex Graves Mystery)
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The Large Print Hardcover version arrived super-quick and looks and feels great. Looks also like it's made to last. The font is easy on the eye for the visually impaired.

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12/19/2011

The Corpse Wore Tartan (Liss Maccrimmon Scottish Mysteries) Review

The Corpse Wore Tartan (Liss Maccrimmon Scottish Mysteries)
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Can there be such a thing as too many men in kilts? Normally Liss MacCrimmon, proprietor of Moosetookalook, Maine's one and only Scottish Emporium, would say no. But that's before one of them turns out to be murderous...The bagpipes are blaring at The Spruces, Moosetookalook's finest hotel, reopened just in time to host the Burns Night Supper, an annual celebration of Scotland's beloved poet, Robert Burns. In the midst of the long Maine winter, the festivities are just the thing to give the hotel a much needed boost - and to bring fresh business to Liss' shop. But when the Scottish Heritage Appreciation Society arrives on the scene, they bring more than a hunger for haggis and a passion for plaid. The quarrelsome group harbors their share of long held grudges, and the animosity only grows as the whiskey flows. Then a fierce blizzard hits, trapping everyone - angry Scotsmen, hapless hotel staff, and Liss herself - inside. It's a situation with all the makings for mayhem, and sure enough, it isn't long before a body is discovered, face down in a storage room, covered in tartan - and blood. Lucky for Liss, she's got some good friends alongside her to help sort out the facts: local police officer Sherri Willett, and Dan Ruskin, the man who's got Liss all tied up in Celtic knots. But they'll have to work fast, before another body goes as cold as the snowstorm keeping them cooped up with a killer.

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Can there be such a thing as too many men in kilts? Normally Liss MacCrimmon, proprietor of Moosetookalook, Maine's one and only Scottish Emporium, would say no. But that's before one of them turns out to be murderous...The bagpipes are blaring at The Spruces, Moosetookalook's finest hotel, reopened just in time to host the Burns Night Supper, an annual celebration of Scotland's beloved poet, Robert Burns. In the midst of the long Maine winter, the festivities are just the thing to give the hotel a much needed boost - and to bring fresh business to Liss' shop. But when the Scottish Heritage Appreciation Society arrives on the scene, they bring more than a hunger for haggis and a passion for plaid. The quarrelsome group harbors their share of long held grudges, and the animosity only grows as the whiskey flows. Then a fierce blizzard hits, trapping everyone - angry Scotsmen, hapless hotel staff, and Liss herself - inside. It's a situation with all the makings for mayhem, and sure enough, it isn't long before a body is discovered, face down in a storage room, covered in tartan - and blood.Lucky for Liss, she's got some good friends alongside her to help sort out the facts: local police officer Sherri Willett, and Dan Ruskin, the man who's got Liss all tied up in Celtic knots. But they'll have to work fast, before another body goes as cold as the snowstorm keeping them cooped up with a killer.

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7/24/2011

Death with Reservations (Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery Series) Review

Death with Reservations (Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery Series)
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I have read all the Pennyfoot Hotel mysteries having stumbled across them in the library. They are delightful - like a good cream cake and hot cup of tea in the local tea shoppe. Ms. Kingsbury depicts her characters in such a way as to make the reader truly care or revile them - my favorite to revile being the Vicar, who is hopeless. The local constabulary is also without lightbulbs. I hope to see Cecily & Baxter marry eventually. And I hope to see that poor maid with the twins go to Scotland and finally find some happiness. I reccommend these books highly!

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The doctor claims food poisoning killed Pennyfoot guest Lord Sittingdon. But Cecily finds this hard to believe. Now she'll have to do some investigating of her own--before murder becomes the daily special.

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Ring for Tomb Service (Pennyfoot Hotel Mysteries) Review

Ring for Tomb Service (Pennyfoot Hotel Mysteries)
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Finally, the most recent installment of Kate Kingsbury's "Pennyfoot Hotel" series is out. Those of us who have been following the series have been waiting anxiously for this one, wondering what will happen next. Will Baxter come back? Will he ever sit down in Cecily's presence? Indeed, does he even have a first name?
The one possible flaw in this book is that too much time is spent teasing the reader about what will happen between Cecily Sinclair, the owner of the Pennyfoot Hotel and Baxter, her former manager. But, and let's be realistic, isn't that why some of us were so antsy waiting for the release of this book? Several other old characters return in this book as well. While I did enjoy this book a great deal, it seemed to me that this book mainly was to rearrange the players and set the stage for the next book. But that is OK. It is still a good book and sometimes a rearrangement is neccesary. This is a wonderful book to take in a hot bath after a stressful day. I couldn't stop smiling after I read it. I highly reccomend this book, and the whole series in fact. Good, light, fun reading. Fans of light mysteries will definitely enjoy this one.

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Kept busy by her duties as Pennyfoot Hotel's owner when the London aristocracy flocks to the seaside festivities of St. Bartholemew's Week, Cecily Sinclair finds an additional challenge when murder visits Badger's End.

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6/09/2011

Chivalry Is Dead (Pennyfoot Hotel Mysteries) Review

Chivalry Is Dead (Pennyfoot Hotel Mysteries)
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Kate Kingsbury has done it again; she has produced another excellent mystery novel starring Cecily Sinclair, owner of the Pennyfoot Hotel. Things once again go awry at the Pennyfoot when Cecily's young footman is brutally murdered with a jousting lance. In addition to this tragedy, the child of an aristocratic couple staying at the hotel disappears. Cecily knows the two events are connected--the trouble is, can she prove it?
The mystery is great, and the characters are exceptionally well-developed. Cecily's romantic troubles with her manager, Baxter, add another source of tension to this excellent book. Kudos to Kingsbury for another great read.

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Looking forward to the upcoming St. George's Day jousting competition at Pennyfoot Hotel, Cecily Sinclair is shocked when her footman is killed with a lance by one of the scheduled jousters.

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5/06/2011

Room with a Clue (Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery) Review

Room with a Clue (Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery)
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Cecily Sinclair is the owner of the Pennyfoot Hotel, a charming little place on the seaside of England. Her husband, recently deceased, has left her to care for their much beloved little hotel, recently discovered by the London upper-crust for their weekend jaunts to the seashore in the summer of 1906.
When Lady Eleanor Danbury's battered body is discovered in the shrubbery, she is thought to be a victim of a 4-story fall from the lovely rooftop garden directly above.
Needless to say, all the current guests of the Pennyfoot become suspect, and most have some sort of reason for wanting Lady Danbury dead.
It's up to Cecily and her trusted, yet fussy, hotel manager Baxter to identify the killer (local police are not that bright) and save the reputation of the Pennyfoot Hotel.
This is the first in a series of 12 books and I had a terrific time reading this first installation. The characters are sweet and endearing, and even the wacky, minor characters are quite lovable. A wonderful, cozy read with a nice mystery to keep you guessing until the end. I can't wait to read the second one! Highly recommended!

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Beginning a new series set in a seaside hotel in Edwardian England, Room with a Clue shows that murder never needs a reservation at the Pennyfoot Hotel. Owner Cecily Sinclair runs a smooth hotel, but the death of an offensive snob could kill her business.

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4/23/2011

Ringing In Murder (A Special Pennyfoot Hotel Myst) Review

Ringing In Murder (A Special Pennyfoot Hotel Myst)
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Just in time for the holiday season, Kate Kingsbury has released her latest in the Pennyfoot Hotel series, Ringing in Murder. It's the winter holiday season in the early 1900's and everyone at the Pennyfoot Hotel, on England's south coast, is full of cheer. The staff rush about to decorate and prepare the various feasts for the holidays. The owner and manager, Cecily Sinclair Baxter, also has the added pleasure, of preparing for her friend Madeline's wedding, "knowing quite well that her friend would much rather have been married privately in the woods with only the birds and woodland creatures in attendance."
Against all hopes to the contrary, the annual Christmas curse on the Pennyfoot Hotel has returned. First, two of the exclusively designed Christmas crackers disappear; then a pair of guests is killed in a seemingly accidental fire at the hotel. To add some fun to the story, a mysteriously mobile snowman seems to be playing tricks on some of the staff.
Cecily has to investigate all the unusual events if she is to prevent more disasters that would mar the holiday festivities and the all important wedding. Not trusting the local constabulary with the investigation, the unlikely sleuth soon uncovers clues that point to a possible murderer. Will she discover the truth in time to prevent more deaths and help her friend get through the pre-wedding jitters and celebrate her nuptials? And what in the world is the meaning of the silly snowman that seems to move around outdoors and spook the staff? The characters are fun with their spot on old English vocabulary and various superstitions and neuroses. You will enjoy this fun frolic in the snow in Merry Olde England.
by Rhonda Esakov
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

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This season, Cecily has a surprise for her guests: gorgeous Christmas crackers handmade for the Pennyfoot. But when a mysterious fire breaks out in an upstairs room, it kills the Christmas mood-and two guests. Now Cecily's dead-set on solving this mystery before another deadly present turns up.

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3/26/2011

Mistletoe and Mayhem (A Special Pennyfoot Hotel Myst) Review

Mistletoe and Mayhem (A Special Pennyfoot Hotel Myst)
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It is the holiday season at the Pennyfoot Hotel in Badgern's End, England and this year the manager hopes to finally break the Christmas curse. Every year during the holiday season, proprietor Cecily Sinclair Baxter is involved in a murder case usually at the hotel. Cecily's husband Baxter prays for a quieter time because he worries about his wife investigating a homicide and has something on his mind that he needs to tell his spouse.
Alas, their hopes are dashed when the body of Charlie the footman is found in what looked initially as if an accident occurred when a gargoyle fell from the roof bashing in his head. However, they quickly realize a murder was committed. When Ellie the maid goes missing, another maid Pansy and stable hand Samuel find her body. Soon afterward, more homicides occur. Cecily investigates with the intention of uncovering the deadly culprit but she is ignorant to the fact the killer is observing her movements very closely.
The latest annual Special Pennyfoot Hotel Myst Series amateur sleuth (see Decked with Folly and Ringing in Murder) is a terrific holiday cozy that contains more than one mystery. Besides the murders, readers will want to know what is disturbing Baxter that he needs to inform Cecily of. The characters who many appeared in previous tales bring continuity to the Pennyfoot saga. Village life in Edwardian England provides a sense of time and place as Kate Kingsbury writes another entertaining yuletide whodunit.
Harriet Klausner


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This holiday season there'll be murder under the mistletoe at the Pennyfoot Hotel... As friends, family, and guests gather at the Pennyfoot Hotel to share the joys of the season, Cecily Sinclair Baxter and her staff are hustling and bustling more than ever. Cecily's friend Madeline arrives with her new baby and adds a kissing bough to the decorations. Cecily believes that the holiday couldn't get off to a better start... But after a footman and a new maid are seen kissing under the bough and then turn up dead afterwards, the downstairs staff is convinced a serial killer is among them...perhaps the mysterious guest known only as J. Mortimer. When Madeline's baby disappears, Cecily desperately tries to find the child. If she doesn't catch this killer in time, everyone's cheer will quickly turn to fear.

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3/23/2011

Slay Bells (A Special Pennyfoot Hotel Myst) Review

Slay Bells (A Special Pennyfoot Hotel Myst)
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Cecily Sinclair Baxter is annoyed when Sid Porter fails to show up at the children's party where he was hired to play Father Christmas. Her annoyance soon turns to horror when it's discovered that one of her footmen fell to his death from the roof where he was apparently helping Sid. Even worse, Sid, dressed in his Father Christmas costume, is found stabbed to death in her chimney. With the Pennyfoot Hotel filled at Christmas, Cecily does her best to keep the deaths quiet but it's not easy to do with a practical joker moving things around the hotel and a clown "ghost" hanging around the hotel. The police are on holiday and Cecily starts investigating the deaths herself. While Cecily is investigating, she is also worried about her husband Baxter's strange behavior and wonders what secrets he is keeping from her.
"Slay Bells" is a nice entry in Kate Kingsbury's delightful Pennyfoot Hotel series. The book is set in England in 1914 and has a nice old-fashioned feel to it. Kingsbury fills the book not only with the mystery but also with Christmas traditions such as holiday shows with skits and dancers and descriptions of food including blood pudding which makes the time period come alive. All the favorite Pennyfoot characters are there: Cecily, Baxter, Gertie, Mrs. Chubb, Michel, Madeline, the Colonel, and Phoebe are all there. Ex-maid Doris even pays a visit to the Pennyfoot and there's a new maid, Pansy, who figures quite prominently in the story line. There are several plot lines in the book: the murders, the "ghost", the practical jokes, Baxter's secret and Kingsbury neatly ties everything up at the end with quite a few surprises. The actual murder plot line is well done and the identity of the murderer will be a surprise to most readers. As Kingsbury often does in her books, the motive is a sad one that will have readers in some ways feeling sorry for the murderer.
"Slay Bells" is a nice cozy mystery to read.


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The second Pennyfoot Hotel Christmas reunion. Cecily Sinclair Baxter's Christmas becomes a working holiday when the man playing Santa Claus for her hotel is found murdered.

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3/22/2011

Decked with Folly (A Special Pennyfoot Hotel Myst) Review

Decked with Folly (A Special Pennyfoot Hotel Myst)
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It is the Christmas season and the Pennyfoot Spa is having its usual holiday celebration. Manager Cecily Sinclair Baxter prays they get through the Yuletide period without a murder as seems to be the tradition (see SHROUDS OF HOLLY, SLAY BELLS and NO CLUE AT THE INN - not a safe place for the holidays). Alas the homicidal jinx remains intact as a drunken man is found dead in the pond; they discover he is Ian Rossiter who used to work there and once was bigamously married to still-employed head maid Gertie. They also had a fight on the hotel's grounds in which she attacked him with a knife.
The local constable Northcott believes Gertie killed her former spouse, but Cecily thinks differently; the cops do not arrest her head maid, but remand her into her employer's custody. The Pennyfoot repairman saves Gertie's life twice, which has Cecily pondering the connection to Ian's death beyond the obvious. When Ian's current wife Gloria arrives looking for him only to learn he is dead, she goes hysterical; Cecily puts her in a guest room. Meanwhile someone watches the activity waiting for the opening to make a move while Cecily wonders what had Ian done to bring such misfortune to him and his family.
There are numerous suspects besides the ex wife whose motive is the most obvious as Ian wants to see his twins, but others also have powerful reasons to kill the rogue. Cecily is more of a modern woman than an early twentieth century female as she refuses to let her husband Baxter or any male dictate how she is to behave especially when he pleads with her to stay out of the murder investigation. The story line has the "Upstairs, Downstairs" feel that enhances the whoudnit as there is a wide schism between the classes as World War I had not started leveling the playing field yet. Readers will enjoy the latest Pennyfoot holiday mystery as a terrific historical amateur sleuth.
Harriet Klausner


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Make room for murder with all the trimmings... The Pennyfoot Hotel is decked out in holiday style, but when one of Cecily's candlesticks disappears, she realizes someone is lacking in Christmas spirit. Still, petty thievery seems the least of her problems when she learns a former employee has been found dead in her duck pond. He hasn't worked at the Pennyfoot in years, but his ex-wife is still their head maid-and now she heads the naughty list of suspects.

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