Susan Morris is relishing the artificial cold of Ski Dubai, an indoor ski hill in the middle of the desert, with fellow ex-pat Pat Thornton when she sees the chairlift carrying Pat’s husband detach from its cable and plummet to the ground. After an attempt is made on Barry Thornton’s life while he’s in hospital, Susan begins to suspect the chairlift crash was no accident. Then the Thorntons’ home on the Palm Jumeirah is broken into and their Sri Lankan maid goes missing. Feeling the tell-tale prickling at the back of her neck, Susan is certain all these incidents are connected, but how?
In this second book in the Deep Mysteries series, the innate drive to help others puts ex-nurse Susan Morris in precarious positions. Her very life is threatened as she pokes her nose into places it doesn’t belong.
DEEP FREEZE (Deep Mysteries Book #2) by Anne Louise O’Connell is an engaging amateur sleuth mystery featuring an ex-nurse set in the exotic city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. This is the second book and is easily read as a standalone story, but I enjoyed Deep Deceit, book one in the series as well.
Susan Morris worked as a psychiatric nurse for thirteen years in a New Jersey hospital. She is now living as an ex-pat in Dubai with her husband, Mitch, who is working as a pilot for Emirates. It has been a major personal adjustment to the cultural differences and the divide between the ex-pats lives and the native Emirati.
Susan is out with other ex-pat wives for lunch and to help her friend, Pat Thornton, learn to ski at Ski Dubai, an oasis of cold and snow in the desert. They witness Pat’s husband, surgeon Barry Thornton, plummet to the ground when his chairlift detaches from its cable. As Susan and Pat watch over him in the hospital, Susan begins to suspect this was no accident when there is a break in at the Thornton home and their Sri Lankan maid goes missing. There is an attempt on Barry’s life and questionable activity by hospital staff members, which has Susan determined to find out if the attempt on Barry’s life and their missing maid are tied to the secrets in a locked lab at the hospital.
This is such an interesting and captivating mystery in many ways. First, the author does a great job of putting me in Dubai with her vivid descriptions of not just the architecture, but also the culture and differences between those who are born there, ex-pats who have upper class jobs and those immigrants brought in for menial labor and jobs. I found it all fascinating, while also making me appreciate our freedoms, especially for females, more. I was sorry that Susan’s personal life took such a turn, but I know it was necessary to move her to a place that is more conducive for future books in the series for a female to solve mysteries on her own. Susan is an intelligent and inquisitive protagonist who must deal with the rules of another culture and country which made it necessary to bring in a male detective from the city to deal with the government and native males for a solution, which for some readers may feel like a cheat in the plot, but I felt it was necessary to remain true to the location. The medical crimes/mystery plot itself is well paced with plenty of red herrings and twists that surprised me throughout.
I highly recommend this captivating amateur sleuth mystery and I am looking forward to following Susan in future adventures.
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About the Author
Author, developmental book editor and partner publisher, Anne Louise O’Connell, was a long-time expat, returning to Canada in 2016 after enjoying the sun and sand of Florida, Dubai and Thailand over a span of 23 years. Anne worked in the PR field for 17 years and then decided it was time to just write. From 2007 to 2016, Anne was writing books while freelancing, editing, author mentoring and social media consulting, along with conducting writing retreats and workshops. In 2013, she began facilitating the annual Paradise Writers’ Retreat. In 2016, she founded OC Publishing and she continues to write her own books while mentoring other authors and providing developmental book editing, writing coaching and publishing services.
While living the expat life, she contributed regularly to the Wall St. Journal Expat Blog, Global Living Magazine and Expat Focus. She has a passion for travel and that adventurous spirit has taken her all over the world. Anne grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia and has a bachelor of public relations and an early childhood education certificate, both from Mount St. Vincent University. She is the author of @Home in Dubai… Getting Connected Online and on the Ground; Mental Pause, her first novel, a 2013 Independent Publisher (IPPY) Book Award winner; and her latest novel, Deep Deceit, which launched March 8, 2015 and is the first in a planned mystery series. She has also contributed short stories to the Phuket Island Writers’ anthologies and has published a collection of travel and expat life stories called Swimming with the Elephants and Other Adventures. Blog: www.anne-writingjustbecause.blogspot.com.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE ORGAN BROKER by Deven Greene on this Partners-In-Crime Virtual Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links and a Kingsumo giveaway. Good luck on the giveaway and enjoy!
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Book Description
A devoted wife and mother faces the unimaginable as her life crumbles.
Crystal Rigler seems to have a perfect marriage. Derek, her handsome and charismatic husband, and their adult daughter, Cordelia, are her whole world. In addition to her already busy life, Crystal supports the volunteer organization she and Derek started: STOP (Stop Transplants of Organs from Prisoners).
STOP aims to end a new government policy of harvesting organs from executed prisoners. They learn that these organs are not distributed by the national transplant list, established to allocate organs fairly. Instead, a shadowy figure known as Broker Al pulls the strings. He expedites the execution of young and healthy prisoners and sells their organs at a high price to the rich and well-connected.
After Crystal learns a disturbing secret, events are set in motion that will potentially dismantle STOP, change her life, and cost her everything. Unless she is willing to do the unthinkable.
Genre: Psychological Suspense Published by: Panthera Publishing Publication Date: April 2025 Number of Pages: 321 ISBN: 9781964620060 (ISBN10: 1964620066)
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My Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
THE ORGAN BROKER by Deven Greene is a dark thriller which poses many ethical questions surrounding the morality of organ donation from death row prisoners. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those books that the readers either love or hate.
Crystal and Derek Rigler are a married couple with a grown daughter, Callie. They run the local office of a volunteer organization called STOP (Stop Transplants of Organs from Prisoners). Crystal does a lot of the work and writes all of Derek speeches, but Derek gets most of the attention due to his looks and magnetic personality. An investigative journalist, who helps with STOP, gets insider information about corruption in the distribution of the transplant organs from prisoners facilitated by a shadowy figure called Broker Al.
When Callie comes home from college ill and needs a liver transplant, this sets into motion very personal decisions and moral dilemmas that will change all their lives.
The questions are intriguing and made me interested in reading this book and I was not surprised by the morally bankrupt, money hungry evil antagonists but what I was not expecting was the main characters to be unlikable, also. Derek is a narcissist, and I did not like him from the start, so I was hoping Crystal would be a strong female character to balance his character out, but no, while not evil, I had difficulty with many of her decisions. Usually, this would put me off the book, but the author writes them into so many thought-provoking situations that I could not put it down. I do think the story has too much devoted to their marriage and its problems in the beginning of the book that could have been edited out.
The moral questions surrounding who gets donated organs and in what order have always interested me. You hear about corruption, but supposedly the system is set up for it not to happen, but this author takes you down the rabbit hole of “what if?” There are plenty of plot twists and surprises that do lead to a satisfactory ending even with the slower start.
I recommend this dark thriller for its ability to keep me engrossed with its intriguing concept.
***
Excerpt
Chapter 1
The East Texas sun was hotter than usual for September, the few clouds high above providing no relief. A half-hour earlier, overcome by heat and exhaustion, Crystal had let her sign reading “Save Kwami” slip to the ground. Standing near the front of the crowd, Crystal pushed up the visor on her baseball cap to get a better look at her surroundings. She was pleased with the impressive turnout which she estimated to be close to one thousand people. It was the largest they’d ever had. Most of the other protestors continue to hold their placards high, displaying myriad slogans such as “Justice for Kwami,” “Let Kwami Live,” “Impeach Gov. Percy,” and the most popular, “STOP.” She took a deep breath and lifted her sign again, fighting the pain in her fingers as she held it as high as she could.
The crowd of protestors was comprised of a cross-section of the community— young, old, couples, families, Black, White, Hispanic, and Asian. A colorful array of baseball caps, bucket hats, visors, straw hats, and cowboy hats protected most of the heads from the constant flood of the sun’s rays.
The makeshift podium and public address system were rudimentary, and there was the usual milling around often seen in large gatherings, but the audience, for the most part, was paying attention to the pudgy young man with a man bun speaking to them. At times, the crowd burst out in synchronous claps and hoots of approval. The assembly was peaceful, with only a few skirmishes breaking out at the edges where police stood watch.
Still thirsty after having finished her bottle of water, Crystal let her mind wander as the speaker droned on about the immorality of what was about to take place. Her clothes clung to her sweaty body, and despite wearing sunglasses with polarized lenses, the bright sun hurt her eyes. Looking down, she swatted away a bug that landed on her arm. Uncomfortable and impatient, she was eagerly awaiting the next speaker.
Finally, the man at the podium looked up and announced, “And now, the man you’ve all been waiting to hear, the leader of our organization, Mr. Derek Rigler.”
The mood of the crowd changed, and participants started chanting “STOP” in unison as they raised and lowered their signs. A tall, muscular man with tan skin and wavy blond hair, took to the stage next to the previous speaker and scanned the crowd with his magnetic blue eyes. Crystal looked up and smiled. His handsome, chiseled features gave him the look of a confident leader. Although he was nearly fifty years old, he looked at least ten years younger. He hasn’t lost the ability to attract attention whenever he enters a room.
Derek took his place on the podium and held out his arms as if to give a benediction. After almost a full minute of roaring applause, he raised and lowered his hands several times to quiet the crowd.
Crystal looked around, energized by the enthusiasm bubbling over. She noted more press vans set up around the perimeter than in the previous protest. Their organization, STOP, was gaining traction.
She wondered if Derek had picked her out of the crowd. If she were taller, he’d probably see her—she wasn’t far from the front—but she imagined her five-foot two-inch frame made her visage difficult to identify in the sea of people. From what she could glean, Derek hadn’t spotted her. After all, she was just another brunette under a baseball cap, surrounded by many others. Even so, Crystal smiled widely, wondering if anyone nearby recognized her. After all, she was notable as Derek’s wife and the mother of his child, Cordelia.
As Derek started his familiar diatribe against the Texas death penalty laws, Crystal tried to lock eyes with him, but his eyes never found her. Instead, he focused on members of the audience near and far, concentrating his gaze on one person for several seconds before moving on to the next pair of waiting eyes.
Crystal recognized the usual arguments against the event that was scheduled to take place momentarily—the uneven death penalty sentencing, the ugliness of exacting revenge, and the irreversibility of the punishment once meted out. The speech was powerful, and she agreed with everything Derek said. She could recite the words by heart, not only because she had heard them during Derek’s practice sessions, but because she had written them herself. Every time the crowd reacted with hollers and claps, she felt taller, each breath a bit more satisfying. She’d been to over six of these rallies in the past year, each protesting the execution of a prisoner found guilty of a crime deemed fitting for capital punishment.
The death penalty had never sat well with Crystal, but over the past two years, the practice had escalated, with four more executions scheduled over the next six months in Texas alone. Not only was the ultimate punishment meted out more often, but the evidence leading to convictions was frequently less convincing. She’d made up her mind to do something to stop the injustice and had established STOP almost a year earlier. A small, grass-roots collection of like-minded people, it was taking hold, thanks to her speech writing, community outreach, and organizational skills, bolstered by her husband’s charisma. He was the face of the organization.
Derek’s address was interrupted by a loud commotion as the officers stationed around the perimeter began to forcefully clear a path through the protestors to the entryway of the large building looming behind the speaker. Despite shouting and resistance from the crowd, with the most passionate demonstrators being handcuffed and dragged away, the police were able to open a wide berth.
“We are nearing the time,” Derek shouted above the commotion, “the time when our brother Kwami will be taken from us in an act that can only be described as state-sponsored murder. Let all those who have participated in this mockery of justice one day pay for their crimes, and let all those who directly benefit from this violent act realize the wrong they have participated in.”
A police transport moved through the clearing in the crowd as demonstrators chanted “Kwami, Kwami” in unison. Although the windows of the vehicle were covered, all knew who was inside—Kwami McKinney, sentenced to be executed that day. The van didn’t stop until it was a mere five feet from the door to the building. A massive construction of cement and glass six stories high, the structure dwarfed the trees and other buildings nearby. Derek was silent as he turned to watch the Black prisoner, his head shaved, exit the van’s side door.
Dressed in an orange jumpsuit accessorized with ankle and wrist shackles, Kwami was escorted by two armed guards, each holding onto one of his arms. Two more prison officers took up the rear. As the party of five walked towards the glass doors of the building, a Black woman around fifty years old ran towards them screaming. She was forcibly stopped by police, who grabbed onto her arms long before she could interfere.
Everyone there knew the woman was Sally McKinney, Kwami’s mother. She yelled and cried hysterically, flailing against those restraining her as her son was led through the automated doors that opened before him and the guards. They disappeared inside the structure as the glass doors shut.
People in the crowd yelled and cried, drowning out Ms. McKinney’s wails. Frustrated tears filled Crystal’s eyes; their protest had done nothing to dissuade the authorities from carrying out their sentence. She hadn’t expected the proceedings to be halted, but held onto a glimmer of hope until now, irrational as it was.
She looked to Derek for comfort, hoping they might finally lock gazes and convey their sadness to each other, but Crystal’s thoughts were interrupted by a female acquaintance. “Fantastic speech,” the woman said.
“I can’t disagree,” Crystal answered, buoyed momentarily by the woman’s words.
“You must be very proud, being his wife. He’s so handsome, and brilliant to boot. You two are the perfect couple. I’d sure like to be a fly on the wall at your dinner table to hear about all his great ideas.”
The words stung slightly, as Crystal chuckled politely. She was accustomed to being thought of as a mere appendage of her charismatic husband, but, she’d tried to convince herself that a successful protest, with Derek delivering a resounding speech, was all that was important. She didn’t need the admiration of others like he did. “Our dinners aren’t as interesting as you might think. Mostly, we talk about how we’re going to pay our bills.”
Members of the press, who until now had been scattered amongst the protestors while taking notes and silently recording videos, were now talking and interviewing people on camera. The crowd thinned, but Crystal didn’t want to leave. She’d have liked to remain until she knew Kwami had taken his last breath, but that moment was hours away.
She listened as a nearby male telecaster spoke into a camera. “Emotions are again high as another execution is about to take place. While many people feel that the crimes Kwami McKinney was convicted of, armed robbery and hostage-taking, justify the death sentence, some feel the punishment is too severe for the crimes the prisoner was convicted of. Still others believe he is innocent of the charges against him.”
The reporter turned to a middle-aged female bystander and asked, “What do you think of today’s events? Do you think justice is being carried out today?” After posing the question, he shoved the microphone close to the woman’s mouth.
“This is a travesty of justice,” she answered. “The real criminal was wearing a ski mask during the robbery, and escaped capture immediately following the crime. That was made clear during the trial. We also learned that Mr. McKinney was picked out in a lineup by two unreliable witnesses days later. There was a boatload of evidence that the so-called witnesses had drug charges against them dropped shortly after identifying Mr. McKinney. What kind of justice is that?”
The telecaster quickly turned to the camera and continued his reporting. “Despite the controversy, Kwami McKinney is still scheduled to be executed here and now at New Lake Hospital. While we are happy for the families of the six unnamed individuals who will be the recipients of much-needed organs, many are questioning the legality and morality of what is now becoming a common method of organ procurement. The objections are being led by the organization STOP, which stands for Stop Transplants of Organs from Prisoners.”
***
Author Bio
Deven Greene lives in Northern California, where she enjoys writing fiction, most of which involves science or medicine. She has degrees in biochemistry (PhD) and medicine (MD), and practiced pathology for over twenty years.
She has previously published the The Erica Rosen MD Trilogy (Unnatural, Unwitting, and Unforeseen), and Ties That Kill, as well as several short stories.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post for THE SECRET DETECTIVE AGENCY (The Secret Detective Agency Book #1) by Helena Dixon on this Bookouture Books-On-Tour bog post.
Below you will find a book description and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Meet Miss Jane Treen – the coffee-drinking cat lover dressed head to toe in tweed, who just happens to be a secret super sleuth!
London, 1941: Miss Jane Treenis at her desk, strong black coffee in hand and fluffy ginger cat by her side, when her top-secret government work is interrupted by an urgent call to Devon. A woman has been found dead in a lake in a place where she shouldn’t have been. Jane needs to gather the clues and find the killer before someone else from the agency gets hurt…Shy and handsome code-breaker Arthur Cilento is bewildered by the arrival of the efficient Miss Treen and her cat Marmaduke. She bursts into his life unexpectedly, forcing him out of his comfort zone. The reluctant colleagues huddle near the warmth of a crackling fire in Arthur’s country home, working to piece together the murderous puzzle at hand.
In the sleepy Devon village,someone is hiding something: but is it the busybody vicar and his sister, the dutiful housekeeper and her secretive son, the stern librarian, or someone else altogether? And who were the people with the woman in the lake on the day she died?
No sooner have Arthur and Jane have drawn up a list of suspects, than a parcel reveals a clue that sends them in hot pursuit of a coded diary stashed in a village church. But as the heavy wooden door slams behind them and a key turns in the lock, one thing is sure: they need to unravel the truth and crack this code before the killer decides their number is up…
But if they can catch the culprit in time, might this unusual pair become the finest crime-solving partnership since Holmes and Watson hung up their hats…?
Helena Dixon is the author of the best-selling Miss Underhay murder mystery series and lives in Devon. Married to the same man for over thirty-five years she has three daughters, a cactus called Spike, and a crazy cockapoo. She is allergic to adhesives, apples, tinsel and housework. She was winner of The Romance Prize in 2007 and Love Story of the Year 2010 as Nell Dixon.
With a newborn and two children, Molly Murphy Sullivan is tackling motherhood. Her husband, Daniel, is off to work in Washington as Easter break begins in New York. Her dear friend and writer, Ryan O’Hara, is shooting a movie, one of the first to involve a real plot and actors. He invites Molly and the children to visit the set and watch the excitement. When one of the actresses is fired, Molly’s adopted daughter, Bridie, is called to replace her in the scene. Turns out she’s a natural and is asked to star in the rest of the film. Molly is skeptical about leaving Bridie alone on set, but her great friends, Sid and Gus, offer to chaperone her.
The movie industry is still experimenting with ways to get the best shot, like pretending to tie Bridie to real train tracks. But soon, their special effects start to malfunction. After a few mishaps where no one is hurt, the special effects turn deadly. With rumors of a feud between studios, Molly believes these malfunctions are sabotage. She is invited to go undercover on set to investigate the burgeoning film war. Once again, Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles deliver an engaging mystery full of vibrant historical details and thrilling escapades featuring one of mystery’s most beloved sleuths.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Silent as the Grave by Rhys Bowen and Clare Broyles is a suspenseful historical novel. The book opens with a bang where the prologue immediately draws readers in.
Molly is contending with raising her young son, a 5-month-old infant, and her 14-year-old adopted daughter, Bridie. Her good friend Ryan O’Hara invites Molly and the children to watch the film he is making. After one of the actresses is fired, Molly’s adopted daughter, Bridie, is called to replace her in the scene. Turns out she’s a natural and is asked to star in the rest of the film. Molly is skeptical about leaving Bridie alone on set, but her great friends, Sid and Gus, offer to chaperone her.
There are mishaps on the set, including a fire in the editing room and Bridie’s near escape with death while filming a difficult stunt. Molly believes that the mishaps are not just coincidences, but sabotage. She accepts the invitation to find out what happened, especially since Bridie almost died.
This is an engaging mystery with a bonus that readers learn more about the budding movie industry.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: The idea for Hollywood like filmmaking?
Rhys Bowen: This is a non-Hollywood movie because all the movies were made in New York in the beginning. The character Molly lives just off 6th Avenue and Greenwich Avenue, close to the Biograph Studios.
Clare Broyles: I had read some articles that the actual father of film disappeared suspiciously when he got on a train and never got off. He had been in an argument with Edison before that happened. There was an interesting intersection between the family of the father of film and Edison that included lawsuits and studio ownership.
EC: Do you agree Edison was not the nicest of people?
RB: He was a bully who used thugs, blackmail, and intimidation against his rivals.
CB: He did steal inventions from other people. He was good in getting patents in his own name. There is proof that there was another movie, a film made of children, before Edison supposedly invented a movie camera. This makes more of the backdrop for an interesting mystery.
EC: Was the scene with the body on the train tracks real?
RB: Clare is the brilliant researcher. In the early movies there were no stunt doubles, and the actors took enormous risks to get the perfect shot. When the Keystone Cops went around the bend in the moving truck as it swings around the corner, it was real. The train operator was never told there was a body on the tracks. People really did die.
EC: Why did you have Mary Pickford and DW Griffith in the story?
CB: She started in vaudeville, which is how we would locate the time frame. We started in April 1909 when she came to Biograph Studios, because that is when she started out in pictures. It also fit because of the practicality picture. Molly was a sleuth with a baby, and we wanted the baby to be old enough to be left with a nanny, at 5 months of age.
EC: How would you describe the differences between the Biograph Studio owners, Arthur and Harry Martin?
CB: They are based on real brothers where one brother was the studio head and the other had a junior position. The character brothers were purely fictional, that they were twins, dressed alike, and looked alike. Arthur is more volatile while Harry is more of a ladies’ man and controls the power. There was a jostling of power.
RB: It came about because of something that happened in my youth. I was staying in this Italian hotel where the owners had a charming son. The next day he was incredibly rude. Turns out they were twins. We thought it would be fun to be put in the book.
EC: Can you speak of the character Alice Mann?
RB: She is based on a real person, a French woman, Alice Guy. She is listed as a secretary or assistant, but she is the one who came up with a lot of the innovations for cinematography. She invented the fade in/fade out by putting a cigar box over the lens of the camera and slowly opening it and closing it. Women did not get the accolades. Even today, how many female directors are there, not many? Look at the current Oscars regarding editing, directing, and producing it was all men.
EC: Did you intentionally want to make the mystery surrounding all the “accidents?”
CB: There was a lamp falling, a fire, and the train scene. We had to figure out a way to get Molly involved in the mystery when she has a five-month-old baby. The accidents are a way to get her fully invested because someone has threatened her adopted daughter, Bridie’s life. The accidents happened to pull Molly in to solve the murder mystery.
RB: We did the prologue intentionally to grab the readers. We needed to have a lot of set up before something dramatic. It is a signal that said danger is coming.
EC: Next book(s)?
CB: In the next Molly book, we are moving closer to her achieving her goal of opening her own detective agency. The arc of the series has gone from her having a detective agency not in her own name, pretending to be a man, to stepping out in her own right for a Molly Murphy Detective Agency.
RB: The next Molly book has a working title, Vanished in the Crowd, coming out this time next year. It will be about women suffrage and scientists. She will be hired to find a woman, a scientist, who has vanished and what happened to her. Daniel, her husband, is coming around to more and more appreciates her skills.
RB: My historical novel comes out in August, titled Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure. It is about a middle-aged woman in England, the perfect wife, until at the age of fifty, her husband decides to get a divorce. She steals his Bentley and with three other women drives to the South of France. They forge a new female bond. I will also talk about how WWII is coming to France. She becomes part of a group helping Jewish men escape.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
As Lady Phoebe and her betrothed say their vows of holy matrimony, a killer has vowed unholy vengeance on the town’s chief inspector . . .
June 1922: The blessed day has finally arrived. Phoebe Renshaw and Owen Seabright are to be wed, and lady’s maid Eva Huntford could not be more delighted for her lady’s happiness. But she is disturbed by one notable absence from the ceremony—her beau, Police Constable Miles Brannock. When Miles finally does appear, breathlessly running into the reception at Foxwood Hall, he brings grim news: he’s found Chief Inspector Isaac Perkins murdered, shot in his home in his favorite parlor chair with his own gun.
A policeman naturally makes enemies, especially those of questionable character. In charge of finding his former boss’s killer, Miles reviews the details of the crime scene. The murder weapon has been wiped clean and left on the table next to the remnants of the chief inspector’s breakfast: sausage pasty and coffee reeking of a bit of whiskey. No sign of forced entry. A seemingly peaceful scene—other than the bullet hole in the victim.
Before Miles can make much progress in his investigation, a Scotland Yard detective arrives in Little Barlow to take over the case—and promptly focuses his suspicions on the constable himself, who he reasons had motive and opportunity. Coming to their maid’s defense, Phoebe and Owen postpone their honeymoon to join Eva in clearing her beau’s good name and unmasking the identity of the true killer.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Two Weddings and A Murder by Alyssa Maxwell is a great historical cozy mystery. Readers will be sad to learn this is the last book in the series.
The book opens with the wedding of Phoebe Renshaw and Owen Seabright. Her lady’s maid, Eva Huntford, is distraught and worried that her boyfriend, Police Constable Miles Brannock, is not in attendance. After he finally appears, he brings the bad news that Chief Inspector Isaac Perkins has been murdered, shot in his home in his favorite parlor chair with his own gun. Because of the conflict of interest, an outside detective has been brought in to investigate. A Scotland Yard detective, Mick Burridge, arrives in Little Barlow to take over the case. He promptly focuses his suspicions on the constable himself, who he reasons had motive and opportunity. Phoebe and Owen postpone their honeymoon to join Eva in clearing her beau’s good name and unmasking the identity of the true killer
This series goes out with a bang. Readers will be riveted to their seats as they turn the pages but will also be disappointed when coming to the last page knowing this will be the last book in the series.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Is there a difference between your two series?
Alyssa Maxwell: Yes! The period and settings are different. The “Newport Series” takes place in the Gilded Age in the United States, specifically Rhode Island, while this book takes place right after WWI in England. There is a whole different social dynamic going on.
EC: How did you get the idea for this series?
AM:Downton Abbey influenced me. My editor came up with the basic idea of Downton Abbey with a mystery twist. I loved the idea of being out in the country.
EC: What historical events do you emphasize?
AM: After WWI, class lines started to change a bit, and women started in the work force. Some of the old ways of the landlord and the servant, the very strict class boundary was changing.
EC: Why did you start out with a wedding and end with a wedding in this story?
AM: In the prior book, A Fashionable Fatality, Phoebe the main character was engaged. Because this is the last book in the series, I wanted to tie up her life and the other main character, Eva. A happy ending for the series and a happy beginning into the readers’ imagination.
EC: How did you get the idea for this story’s murder?
AM: Chief Inspector Perkins has been a thorn in Phoebe and Eva’s life throughout the series. He does not do his job well and does not appreciate their interference to solve the murders. I thought this would make a good victim and who better to be accused than his partner, the person who potentially will take his over his job, Constable Miles Brannock. It also raised the stakes for Phoebe and Eva to solve it because he is Eva’s future fiancé.
EC: How would you describe Phoebe?
AM: She is a modern young woman for that period. She is forward thinking, independent, but not devoid of tradition. She believes people should be valued by how they live their lives and not what they were born into. Phoebe is caring, impulsive, and analytical. She lost her mother at an early age and Eva has filled that gap.
EC: How would you describe Eva?
AM: She is more traditional than Phoebe. She is set in her ways but realizes she can aspire to more. Eva is an older woman. She is honorable, loyal, faithful, and dutiful. She sees Phoebe as more of a daughter.
EC: How would you describe Miles?
AM: He is fiercely loyal, steady, and dependable. He can look at different sides of the same issue.
EC: How would you describe Owen?
AM: He is very honorable. He is cavalier because he has been raised with wealth and privilege. He is adventurous. He is completely devoted to Phoebe and accepts her forward thinking ideas.
EC: What role did Detective Burridge play in the story?
AM: Burridge comes from Scotland Yard. He has tunnel vision, focused on getting a suspect, bringing him in, and proving he did it to close the case.
EC: What did the gypsies in the story represent?
AM: The social changes happening and people set outside of their comfort zones. They had to be adaptable and willing to change to survive. They were not respected, and they followed their own traditions. They were seen as wild, uncivilized, and unscrupulous. I did envision that they felt trapped behind walls, rules, and closed in. They did not want to be regimented.
EC: Can you explain the quote referring to motive, opportunity, and means?
AM: These make up a mystery. Opportunity would be when someone could catch the victim off guard. Means is how the victim is killed.
EC: Next book(s)?
AM: There will be another Newport mystery titled Murder at Arleigh coming out in August. It is based on the real couple Harry and Elizabeth Lehr. Everybody thought they were a love match, and they are not at all. Elizabeth thinks her husband is trying to kill her.
THANK YOU!!
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Housekeeper Phyllida Bright is quite in her element at Mallowan Hall, the charming English manor that she keeps in tip-top shape. By contrast, the bustling metropolis of London, where her famed employer Agatha Christie has temporarily relocated, leaves Phyllida a bit out of her depth. Not only must she grapple with a limited staff, but Phyllida also has to rein in a temperamental French cook who has the looks of Hercule Poirot, but none of the charm.
When a man named Archibald Allston is found dead in an armchair onstage at the Adelphia Theater, first impressions are that he died of natural causes. But the very next day, the unlucky actor playing Benvolio at the Belmont Theater is found with his head bashed in. And when a third victim turns up, this time with double-C initials, the fatal pattern is impossible to ignore.
With panic erupting among theater folk—a superstitious bunch at the best of times—Phyllida steps up to help with the investigation. The murderer’s M.O. may be easy to read, but can Phyllida uncover the killer’s identity before the final curtain falls on another victim?
MURDER TAKES THE STAGE (Phyllida Bright Mystery Book #4) by Colleen Cambridge is another wonderful addition to this addictive historical mystery series featuring Agatha Christie’s housekeeper, Phyllida Bright. I look forward to reading each new murder mystery and catching up with this memorable cast of characters. Each book can be read as a standalone mystery, but the characters continue to evolve so I have enjoyed and recommend reading them in order.
Phyllida Bright is the housekeeper of Mallowan Hall for her friend Agatha Christie, but Agatha and her husband are in London at the moment to see about a proposed production for one of her plays and she has asked Phyllida to follow to take care of their rented home in the city. Phyllida is anxious about being in London due to her past, which is still a mystery to everyone but Agatha and Phyllida.
Phyllida gets a call to come to the theater and discovers a dead actor on the stage. While it appears to be a death by natural causes, she can’t help being struck by the circumstances. The actor was Archie Allston asleep in an armchair at the Adelphia theater. The very next day, Trent Orkney who is playing Benvolio is found on a stage balcony with his head bashed in at the Belmont theater. When a third victim, Claudia Carmichael is catapulted from the catwalk at the Clapham theater, Phyllida is determined to uncover and stop the killer before they can murder their way through any more of the alphabet.
This is my favorite so far in the series. Besides the fun alliteration and the perfectly paced murder plot, this book finally reveals Phyllida’s secret and the reason she never likes to travel far from Mallowan Hall or be around law enforcement. This book also advances the budding attraction between Phyllida and Bradford, the Mallowan’s chauffeur, but we are still waiting for more of Bradford’s backstory which is only hinted at. Phyllida’s denouement was dramatically given on a theater stage and walked the cast of characters and the reader through all the possibilities, twists, and red herrings which led to the grand reveal of the killer. It was a surprise to me, and I love it when that is the case.
I highly recommend this historical crime mystery series! It is always a must-read for me.
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About the Author
Colleen Cambridge is the pen name for an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. From a young age, Colleen has loved reading mysteries and now she couldn’t be happier that she is able to write them.
Under several pseudonyms, she has written more than 36 books in a variety of genres and is always plotting her next murder—er, book.
