Tag: British Mystery

Review for The Scandalous sisterhood of Prickwillow Place

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry

Genre – Coming-of-age, Mystery, England

Series – No

Rating – PG for discussions about death, poison, and murder

Age Range – Middle-grade or YA

Synopsis –

The 7 girls who attend St. Etheldreda’s School for Young Ladies have been sent there to become proper young ladies. During their Sunday night supper with their headmistress Constance Plackett and her brother Mr. Godding, a queer thing takes place. Both Mrs. Plackett and Mr. Godding suddenly collapse and die at the table. So Smooth Kitty, the ringleader of the girls, hatches a plan to cover up their mysterious deaths and continue living at the school. Things begin to go awry when people begin visiting the school to celebrate Mr. Godding’s birthday. What will they do? Will the girls cave in and be forced to tell the truth? Who is the murderer behind all this?

My Thoughts –

What a fun & charming book!! Going into the book, I knew nothing about the plot and so was pleasantly surprised. It had been on my list, but I’d forgotten what led me to put it on there. I loved seeing the girls band together to try to solve the murders as well as keep the authorities at bay. Also, loved the setting – England 1890. What a fun time frame!

Each of the young ladies has a different skill set and personality. Most of the book is told from Kitty’s perspective. Personally, I liked Pocked Louise and Stout Alice much better! Seeing Stout Alice impersonate Mrs. Plackett was hilarious and I’m surprised they pulled it off for so long. 🙂 Of the girls, Kitty was my least favorite. While she was good at coming up with plans, I didn’t care for how high and mighty she could be at times.

The author does a great job keeping this light and humorous, despite being a murder mystery. They are constantly coming up with stories trying to cover up the bodies they buried under a cherry tree. My descriptions make it sound worse then it is. All in all I found myself chuckling at all their antics. Berry also adds a few twists near the end that left me guessing to figure out who was the culprit.

Now there is a bit of feminism thrown in the story, which was a bit off putting.

Quotes –

“The rosy sunset made even the mud of Farmer Butt’s vast acres of meadow land blaze with heavenly glory as far as the eye could see” (p. 12).

“She who opposed my scientific interests so strenuously is now the subject of my experiment” (p. 112).

“How is it possible to forget a present? Kitty made a face at her. If you recall, we had cooling corpses on our minds at the time.” (p. 124).

Language – None

Violence – Both Mrs. Plackett and Mr. Godding are poisoned by cyanide. Then the culprit tries to murder the pretend Mrs. Plackett with cyanide again and instead kills Admiral Lockwood by mistake. Also, the murder sneaks in, poisons the dog and steals some of the the girls belongings.

Innuendo – None

Conclusion –

If you are in the mood for a light easy read, this is good choice. I know its MG, but as an adult I enjoyed it quite a bit. I have found that many MG authors write wonderful and intriguing books often better then some YA or adult books out there. Also, they tend to be fairly clean. Berry does a great job creating a fun mystery that is engaging and keeps you interested in the characters.

Up next – I’m finishing up Beowolf. I had listened to a podcast that told the outline to the story and made me curious to read it myself. So far halfway through and liking it. After that I’m not sure.

How is your May going? What have you been reading? Do you enjoy Middle-Grade fiction?

Anna

Review for Murder at Hatfield House

Murder at Hatfield House by Amanda Carmack

Genre – Historical fiction, Mystery

Series – First book in the Elizabethan Mysteries

Rating – PG – for Mild language and violence

Synopsis –

Kate and her father are the musicians for princess Elizabeth who is quietly residing at Hatfield house after her sister’s ascension to the throne. Yet, trouble is brewing when a courier from the Queen suddenly appears with a dead servant. He demands to search the premise in search of banned religious materials. Kate’s life becomes difficult, but Elizabeth trusts Kate to find out who killed the servant. Will Kate be able to figure out what is going on before it is too late?

My Thoughts –

Hmm. What to say about this book??!! I cannot say that I really liked this book; however there were some good parts to it. I enjoyed the whole history behind princess Elizabeth and Lady Jane Grey as it had been a while since I had read about this time period. So it was nice to step back in and learn a little bit about the political upheaval of this time. The author also does a decent job of characterizing Elizabeth and Anthony.

Nevertheless I do have a couple quibbles. First, the writing style. The majority of the language in the book is very modern, and didn’t feel right for England in 1558. I get that writing in older English can be tricky to write, but I feel like the author could have tried to add some phrases used back in that time period to make it less modern sounding.

Secondly, I do not like the main character. Maybe that is just me, but she felt like every other heroine in a cozy mystery. Nothing really stood her apart for me. I wanted to like Kate, but I just couldn’t.

There were several good things about Murder at Hatfield House. It held by attention enough that I cruised through this novel in a little over a day. The plot moved along at a decent pace, and there were some good themes like kindness and standing up for what is right. I enjoyed the descriptions of how Protestantism was changing England politically and how it varied from Catholicism. The mystery started out quite interesting, but began to wobble by the end. The conclusion confused me a bit, and overall the book was fairly clean which I appreciated.

Language – Infrequent mild language, with a couple exclamations of “God’s wounds” or other similar phrases.

Violence – Overall, pretty mild. Several characters are killed by arrows. A few mentions of blood either on clothes or the ground. A character gets shoved and left in a locked room.

Innuendo – Two kisses on the hand (pretty common for back then) and a bit about developing feelings for character.

Conclusion –

Carmack wrote about an interesting time in history, and there is lots to learn from it. There were a few characters that I liked, but most felt flat to me. This novel would make for a nice beach read when you want something light and breezy. Murder at Hatfield House is aimed more at YA age range as main character is 18. Give this a go if you enjoy the Elizabethan era, or are looking for a new cozy series.

Cannot wait to hear how you all are doing!! Do you enjoy cozy mysteries? How is your June going? What Have you been reading lately?

Anna

Review for Murder on the Flying Scotsman

Murder on the Flying Scotsman by Carola Dunn

Genre – Mystery, 1930’s England

Rating – I would say in between a PG and PG-13. For mild language and intense moments

Series – Fourth in the Daisy Dalrymple Mysteries

Summery –

Daisty Dalrymple is on her way to visit another home for her Town and Country articles. She is on a train when she finds the Chief Inspector’s daughter, Belinda, who ran away from home. Daisy invites Belinda to join her until can call the child’s grandmother. Meanwhile, a large family has also boarded the train, and they bicker and argue most of the trip. What will Daisy do when Belinda becomes a witness to a crime?

My Thoughts –

Goodness, this was an exciting read!! So far, this was the best of the Daisy Dalrymple series. The plot flowed nicely, and kept moving. Instead of taking place at a mansion, this one takes place on a train. Yes, it is a little reminiscent of Murder on the Orient Express, but also completely unique. It honestly took me a while to figure out who the suspect was which was a nice change.

The thing that stood out to me was the characters. We knew several of the characters from the previous three books. I loved the interaction between Daisy and Belinda as they finally got to have some bonding time. It was also fun to see another side of Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher. I loved how he wanted to keep his daughter safe, but also solve the murder. Daisy and Alec together is also kinda cute. Their relationship is a slow one, which is nice compared to so many books/movies.

Negative Content

Violence – Only a little violence in this book which was a nice relief. A couple characters stumble upon a dead victim. The murder happens off the page so that you know it happened, but do not actually see if happen. A character stumbles into some bushes and gets scratched. Several characters get scratched. Also mentions of suffocation

Language – Not much, an occasional word mostly just words you would find in a PG movie

Innuendo – Two kisses both brief. One scene where Daisy is grateful a child is there or she would have done something that she would have regretted.

Conclusion –

This is nice cozy that you could read on a rainy day. There is a great cast of characters from the mysterious Indian doctor to the lovable Belinda. I loved having it set on a train which set the stage for whole book. So far, this is my favorite in this particular series. It was a nice, light read. Age range would probably be teen on up.

Have you read this book or the series? What are your thoughts?

Anna