London based lawyer Kyra Gibson returns to Martha’s Vineyard and the beach house she inherited for an extended summer holiday. Still reeling from her father’s brutal murder and the role she and the handsome detective, Tarek Collins played in uncovering it, Kyra is hopeful for some peace and quiet. But when a summer squall reveals the wreckage of the pirate ship, Keres, rich with rumored treasure, all hopes of peace are dashed. Conservationists and treasure hunters descend on the exclusive island to lay claim to the ship. When two of the salvagers are killed, Kyra and Tarek’s friend, pub owner and amateur historian, Gully Gould is arrested for murder.
Determined to prove Gully’s innocence, Kyra, Tarek, and reformed playboy Chase Hawthorn team up to clear their friend’s name. But someone wants the treasure for themselves. And with someone willing to kill for it, there is more than just danger lurking along the island’s caves and coves. There is death.
THE WRAITH’S RETURN (Martha’s Vineyard Murders Book #2) by Raemi A. Ray is the second book in the Martha’s Vineyard Murders series with Kyra returning to Martha’s Vineyard for an extended summer holiday and finds herself and her island friends helping one of their own accused of murder. This story can be read as a standalone, but I feel the books are best read in order as the main characters continually evolved in their relationships from book one.
This book has murder, conservationists vs. fisherman, islanders vs. vacationers, and a historical pirate story, and treasure hunters all combined in this mystery read. I am not sure if it is because there is so much going on, which should have made for many red herrings, but when I reached the end, I felt the killer was just there with no build up of tension or foreboding until very close to the end. All the information and side characters were interesting, but at times slowed the plot pace. I love Kyra, Tarek, and Chase and find them all to be interesting characters. I look forward to following them in future books, but I have to say that I liked the mystery plot in book one, A Chain of Pearls, better. The characters pulled me through this story more than the mystery plot.
Overall, a little bit of a let down after such a great debut.
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Author Bio
Raemi A. Ray’s travels to Martha’s Vineyard and around the world inspire her stories. She lives outside Boston. When not writing or traveling she earns her keep as the personal assistant to the resident house demons, Otto and Dolph Lundgren.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for A SCANDAL IN MAYFAIR (A Lily Adler Mystery Book #5) by Katharine Schellman 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. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Sometimes danger lurks in plain sight, and in the cutthroat London Season socialite Lily Adler must race against time to catch a killer.
London, 1817. The London Season is beginning once more, and Lily Adler’s return to her home on Half Moon Street feels different this year. No longer a recent widow, she has a life and friends waiting for her. Lily also has new responsibilities in the form of her protégée Amelia, the sister of her longtime friend Jack Hartley, who is escaping her own brush with scandal and murder.
It doesn’t take long for Lily’s growing reputation as a lady of quality who can discreetly find what is missing or solve what is puzzling to bring a desperate young woman to her doorstep. But helping her means unraveling a tangled web of family secrets. Soon, a missing will, a dead body and the threat of blackmail leave Lily facing danger every way she turns.
The glittering society of Mayfair conceals many secrets, and the back alleys of London hide even more. Lily Adler will need to find the connection between them quickly if she wants to stop a killer before it’s too late.
Genre: Historical Cozy Mystery Published by: Crooked Lane Books Publication Date: August 20, 2024 Number of Pages: 320 ISBN: 9781639108411 (ISBN10: 1639108416) Series: A Lily Adler Mystery, Book #5 | Each is a Stand Alone
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
A SCANDAL IN MAYFAIR (A Lily Adler Mystery Book #3) by Katharine Schellman is another intricately plotted and engaging amateur sleuth historical mystery featuring Lily Adler, a lady of quality who discretely solves mysteries with the help of a few friends among polite society. These books can be read as mystery standalones, but Lily and her friend’s personal and social lives continually evolve in each story.
The 1817 London Season is about to begin, and Lily Adler has returned to her home on Half Moon Street. This year Lily is returning to London with an established life and friends waiting besides the added responsibilities of mentoring Amelia, the sister of her longtime friend, Jack Hartley.
Lily receives a letter asking for her services from a young lady seeking help discovering the truth of her deceased father’s will. When Lily meets with the lady, she is shocked when the lady and her fiancé wish her to steal the will from her uncle. With the threat of blackmail, Lily, with the help of her friends, seeks out the will, only to discover a dead body. With a tangled web of lies and dead bodies, Lily faces danger once again as she seeks the truth.
I love Lily and this entire series! She is an intelligent, strong and independent protagonist. She is a widow conforming to society’s norms while also carrying on in her pursuit of delicate inquiries. Her personal life is certainly more exciting now with the return of Jack and the clearing of misunderstandings and emotional fears. All the secondary characters are as entertaining, intriguing, and fully developed as Lily. The mystery plot in this book starts out a little slow, but there is a lot to set up for all the different threads to be able to come together in the end. I always enjoy these Lily Adler books and look forward to the next.
I highly recommend this amateur sleuth historical mystery as well as the entire series!
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Excerpt
“You are Mrs. Adler? You do not look anything like I expected,” the young woman said bluntly. “I thought that someone who offers such investigations would be . . . more dramatic, I suppose. But you are very nearly plain. Well, not plain,” she added apologetically, looking Lily over once more. “Your gown is beautifully made, I must say, and you are very elegant—a tall figure helps with that, I suppose.” She sighed, glancing down at her own figure, which was of average height and rather waiflike. “But I thought you
would be more glamorous. Is it not a glamorous occupation that you have?”
“Hardly an occupation,” Lily said firmly. Miss Forrest was not wrong; with unremarkable coloring and looks only just on the pretty side of average, elegant was the best descriptor Lily could hope for from an impartial observer. But it still rankled to be sized up so bluntly. “And not a genteel one, if it were. Besides, I think what you have heard of are discreet inquiries for those who need them. A dramatic or imposing appearance would hardly serve that purpose.”
“Oh, indeed. That does make sense.” The girl’s eyes were wide as she nodded along. “That is what Mrs. Mannering said—that you were the soul of discretion. I am so hoping it is true, believe me. My predicament is dreadful, and it would become even worse were it to be
widely known and discussed.”
“That is often the case, especially in town,” Lily said, but her eyes narrowed as she spoke. The Mannerings’ daughter had disappeared one night, leaving no trace of where she might have gone, and they had been beside themselves when Lily arrived for tea with a mutual
friend. She knew Mrs. Mannering to be a loose-tongued woman, so rather than offering to help directly, she had presented them with one of her cards and suggested that her “acquaintance” might track down their daughter.
The daughter had been located—she had become so fed up with her parents’ matrimonial ambitions that she had run away to the home of her aunt—and the Mannerings had never known that it was Lily herself who had found her.
“So it was Mrs. Mannering who suggested you contact the lady of quality?” On the one hand, Mrs. Mannering loved to gossip. On the other hand, sharing such a story about her own daughter would hardly reflect well on her, even if that daughter was now well married. And Lily had no interest in assisting someone who began with lying to her.
“Yes,” the young woman said, nodding.
Lily waited silently, her brows rising just a hair.
“No . . .” Miss Forrest stretched the word out hesitantly, biting her lip as she looked away. “That is to say, not exactly. Mrs. Mannering mentioned that someone had assisted them with a sort of inquiry—she made it sound dreadfully dramatic, which is why I thought—well, and she showed my cousin, who is my companion, and me the lady of quality’s card over tea. And I was already so worried, and in need of help, that I—I took it.” The final words came out in a rush, and the girl looked suddenly both deflated and relieved. “I stole it, I suppose. And then I wrote because I so desperately needed someone to help me. Can you?” She raised her eyes hopefully to Lily’s.
“Perhaps,” Lily said. “Though beginning with a falsehood does not bode well.” Miss Forrest’s face fell, and she looked like nothing so much as a scolded puppy. Lily sighed. “Tell me what it is you need assistance with.” She glanced at Clive and added coldly, “And how you come into it, sir. Then I shall make up my mind.”
Miss Sarah Forrest sat up very straight. “I need your assistance to escape my uncle. I fear he has stolen all the money my father intended for me to inherit.” Her mouth and hands both trembled, and she clasped her fingers together tightly to keep them still. “He says it is for my own good that he controls my inheritance. But I do not believe my father would do such a thing. And now, because he has kept my independence from me, my uncle is preventing me from marrying in order to keep me dependent on him, perhaps forever.”
Lily sat back against the bench. She glanced at Clive. “And that is where you come into it, I suppose?”
He, still standing, bowed. “I have asked Miss Forrest to marry me, yes. We met during the winter and were instantly in sympathy with each other.”
“Mr. Clive’s family is from Suffolk, and his property is there too, of course.” Miss Forrest said, holding out her hand to her suitor. “But he felt so dreadfully isolated that he came to London last winter.”
“I had not recalled that your family was from Suffolk,” Lily said, her eyes fixed on Clive. Her hands were clenched into fists by her sides; she took a deep breath, trying to relax them. “How forgetful of me.”
“No matter,” Miss Forrest went on, not noticing Lily’s tone. Clive’s sideways glance, however, said he had not missed it. “Such a handsome, charming young man is much better suited to life in town, do you not think?”
“My dear Sarah is too kind to me,” Clive said gallantly, taking the hand she held out to him, giving her a warm smile as he pressed it between his. “And I am fortunate indeed that she is. She is the love of my life.”
“So Miss Forrest said in her letter,” Lily said a little more cynically than she intended. But it was impossible to keep a completely straight face as she watched their romantic interlude, or as she remembered the melodramatic turns of phrase the young woman had employed.
“Yes.” Miss Forrest smiled at her sweetheart, showing no hesitation or embarrassment over her elevated prose. “He is a most dashing, wonderful young man. Though I hardly need tell you that,” she added earnestly, turning back to Lily, “as you are already acquainted.”
They were acquainted. And when Lily had met him in her aunt’s small Hampshire village, he was a cardsharp and a bookmaker, accepted into more elevated circles than the ones into which he had been born because nearly every young man with pretensions to dissipation owed him money. No one had trusted him, but no one could risk offending him either. He knew it, and he despised those around him even as he needed them in turn.
Once or twice, Lily had thought she saw a hint of the more admirable man he might have become had he chosen a different path. But if there was, he had not bothered to cultivate it. And he had made no secret of his plan, during that brief week of their acquaintance, to use his ill-gotten income to one day place himself in the role of a gentleman and improve his lot in life.
It seemed he had succeeded. Or would have, if Miss Forrest’s inheritance had not disappeared.
“But it seems this dashing, wonderful young man will not marry you without your inheritance?” Lily asked.
That prompted a scowl from Miss Forrest. “I know what you are thinking, ma’am. But you are wrong. My dear Mr. Clive has some money of his own. The problem we face is that my uncle will not give his consent.”
“How old are you, Miss Forrest?” Lily asked, glancing sideways at Clive.
“I am not yet two-and-twenty,” Miss Forrest said sitting up very straight, as though to look as mature and worldly as possible.
“Then you are legally able to marry, even without your uncle’s consent,” Lily said pragmatically. “If it is not a question of needing your inheritance, why not simply do so?”
Clive sighed. “Because—”
But Miss Forrest broke in. “Just because he is not marrying me for my money does not mean we’ve no need of something to live on,” she said, the irritation plain in her voice. She gave Lily a look up and down. “You will forgive me for saying, ma’am, but you look like you are no stranger to comfort. Is it so wrong that we might wish for the same in our own lives?”
Lily wanted to argue the point, but it was a reasonable one. Or it would have been, were it not for what she knew of the gentleman in question. “Very well,” she said, inclining her head. “I merely wish to know all the facts of the situation.”
“And if I had come to you for marriage advice, your interference might be warranted,” Miss Forrest snapped, her cheeks going splotchy with irritation. “But I did not.”
“Sarah,” Clive said before Lily could reply. When she glanced at him, his smile was firmly in place, but there was a cynical edge to it. “It is a mark of her good character that she asks such questions. Mrs. Adler does not know me as you do.”
Miss Forrest took a deep breath, reining in her emotions once more. “I suppose. But my uncle’s refusing his consent only proves my concern is warranted.” She clasped her book tightly against her midsection, as though it were a shield she could hide behind. “Even if my father did change his will, whatever inheritance my uncle is currently steward of would pass from Uncle Forrest’s control to that of my husband if I marry. What other reason could he have for refusing his consent if not to keep control of those funds?”
“Skepticism of your suitor, perhaps?” Lily murmured.
“But we have never met,” Clive put in. “He has refused to do so.”
“Which is also suspicious!” Miss Forrest declared.
Lily glanced around. Miss Forrest’s emphatic tones had drawn curious stares from the couples strolling nearby. One of the women glanced at them several times, though she had not stopped talking to the man with her. A feeling of unease settled in Lily’s stomach. She
thought she recognized the woman, though she could not put a name to the face.
She needed to leave this conversation as soon as possible.
“Well,” she said, tapping the tips of her fingers together, “you tell an interesting story.”
Miss Forrest met Lily’s eyes; her own, for the first time, were wide and sober. “I know it sounds like something out of a novel. But it is the truth. All I want is to reclaim the independence that should be mine.”
“Then you would be best served by speaking to your father’s solicitor,” Lily said briskly. “He would be able to assist you in understanding how your father left things, I’ve no doubt.”
The young lady scowled, her cheeks flushing red. “I do not know who his solicitor was. And for obvious reasons, I cannot ask my uncle for the name.”
“Then what is it you are hoping I will do?” Lily said. “I am one woman, Miss Forrest. I cannot retrieve your money for you.”
“I know that. But my uncle will have a copy of my father’s will in his house, and I think I know where it would be.” The girl leaned forward, her breath coming quickly and her hands trembling once more. “I want to hire you to steal it for me so I can prove what he has done.”
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Author Bio
Katharine Schellman is a former actor and one-time political consultant. These days, she writes the Regency-set Lily Adler Mysteries and Jazz Age Nightingale Mysteries. Her books have been praised in outlets from Library Journal to The New York Times, with reviewers calling them “worthy of Agatha Christie or Rex Stout” (Library Journal). Katharine writes in the mountains of Virginia, where she lives with her husband, children, and the many houseplants she keeps accidentally murdering.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for MURDER IN THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS ((An Ally McKinley Mystery Book #1) by Dee MacDonald.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Majestic mountain views, whisky by the fire and… a murder to solve? Join Ally McKinley at her cozy little guesthouse in the Scottish Highlands as she tackles her first puzzling case!
For recently retired Ally McKinley, the tiny village of Locharran is the perfect place to open the guesthouse of her dreams in a lovingly restored old Scottish malthouse. Before long she is making friends with the locals, including Hamish Sinclair, the earl who owns the nearby castle. But things take an unexpected turn when her first paying guest, American tourist Wilbur Carrington, is found sprawled across her cobblestoned courtyard with a dagger in his back…
With the police baffled, Ally’s instincts get the better of her, and she can’t resist launching her own investigation. In no time at all she and her Labrador puppy Flora are on the case, making enquiries over tea and excellent shortbread. She finds that Wilbur, a keen amateur genealogist, was convinced that he was the rightful Earl of Locharran… Even worse, he had plans that would put many people out of their jobs and even their homes.
But which of the locals resorted to murder? The hotel owner furiously trying to save his business? Locharran Castle’s fiercely loyal housekeeper who’d do anything for the earl? Or the earl himself, whose entire way of life was threatened by what Wilbur knew?
Looking for clues, Ally finds a faded photograph in a hidden drawer in Wilbur’s room. Could this be the key to solving the mystery? But when one of her suspects dies in a suspicious accident, Ally realizes that things are getting a wee bit too close for comfort…
Can she uncover the truth or will a killer get off scot-free?
MURDER IN THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS (An Ally McKinley Mystery Book #1) by Dee MacDonald is an entertaining guesthouse cozy mystery set in the Scottish Highlands. This is the first in this new series featuring a retired TV researcher, Ally McKinley, who is widowed and starting over in an old malthouse converted to a guesthouse.
Ally McKinley believes she is in the perfect place for her next phase of life. The old Highland malthouse has been beautifully converted to a guesthouse with three rooms to let besides her own living quarters and a room for family or friends. When she hears her cleaning lady scream, Ally finds she has discovered her first paying guest, an American, stabbed with a dagger in his back outside the back door.
Ally feels the local police are getting nowhere, so her inquisitive nature takes over and as she meets all her new neighbors, she begins to take their measure and piece together the mystery. The small village Highlanders do not like outsiders, especially when they threaten to destroy their livelihoods and take away their homes. No one is sad the American is dead, but when one of their own is murdered, Ally becomes determined to uncover the killer.
This story was a mixed bag for me. I loved the author’s descriptions of the highlands which were vivid. Ally and the cast of village characters were entertaining with dialogue that made me laugh at times, especially the gossip mill that was faster than the wind. I also enjoyed Ally trying to pretend there is no ghost in her one guest bathroom. I loved meeting everyone, and would enjoy reading about them again, but it also took too much of the story away from the murder mystery plot. I do not mind that it was easy to solve, but there were times I felt you had to believe the police were incompetent and Ally was only simi-involved in solving the crime until the last few chapters.
I enjoyed Ally and the villagers, but I hope now that they are introduced the next book in the series has more cozy mystery plot intertwined throughout and Ally as a researcher is more involved than just the last few chapters.
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Author Bio
Aged 18, Dee arrived in London from Scotland and typed her way round the West End for a couple of years before joining BOAC (forerunner of British Airways) in Passenger Services for 2 years and then as a stewardess for 8 years.
She has worked in Market Research, Sales and at the Thames TV Studios when they had the franchise.
Dee has since relocated to Cornwall, where she spent 10 years running B&Bs, and only began writing when she was over 70!
In Murder at the Elmsone of the wealthy families, the Berwinds, invite those high in society to view their newly completed Bellevue Avenue estate. It is a modern mansion, that has been wired for electricity, generated by coal from Berwinds own mines. Yet, days before the party the servants go on strike, hoping to negotiate better working conditions since they work seven days a week with no time off. They are all fired and replaced with new staff. At the party there is fine dining and music but the evening ends tragically when a chambermaid is found dead in the coal tunnel and a guest’s diamond necklace is missing. Because Emma and Derrick were there, they are asked by the police to help in uncovering who is the murderer and what is the connection between the necklace and the murder.
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Book Description
Murder At Vinland is the most recent book in the series. Vinland is the Viking themed home of Florence Vanderbilt Twombly. There she is having a fundraiser for the local Audubon Society attended by the wife of Theodore Roosevelt and Harriet Hemingway. The following morning one of the guests is found to have been poisoned. However, more poisoned desserts are sent to socially prominent women who had attended the luncheon, and tension increases even as the dangerous toxin used is identified. Asked her to help to find the person sending the poisons is Emma’s good friend, police detective James Whyte. Emma and Jesse must sort through possible motives because now more than the birds are in danger.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Each ofMurder at the Elms and Murder at Vinland by Alyssa Maxwell intertwines a mystery within an historical novel. The setting is the turn of the century Newport where during the Gilded Age there is vast income and a power disparity. The main character, Emma Cross, is the “poor Vanderbilt” having inherited some money from the famous family. But she is an anomaly because she is independent and a working journalist who owns the newspaper The Newport Messenger along with her wealthy husband, Derrick.
Maxwell brings turn-of-the-century Newport to life by taking readers into the mansions and how the wealthy lived. Combining mystery with real-life personalities and events from the Gilded Age makes for an entertaining and informative read.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: What about the TV series?
Alyssa Maxwell: It is not a TV series. Hallmark Mystery made the first book, Murder at the Breakers into a movie. We do not know if any new ones will be made. They do tend to move a little slowly. I have no say in anything.
EC: Why make your heroine, Emma, a woman journalist in the early 1900s?
AM: She is independent. It is unusual, not the norm, but not out of the question. There were other female journalists at that time and other women in other occupations. They did have their own business and made their own money. I always refer to Nellie Bly as the inspiration for Emma, a Gilded Age journalist who took a lot of risks. At the beginning of the series as a society journalist she was able to get into the balls and the wealthy activities in Newport. Now she is more of an investigative reporter. Jesse, her detective friend, relies on her insight because she knows the wealthy and the ordinary Newport people.
EC: Has Emma changed since she married?
AM: She has come to see there is still strength in depending on others. In the beginning she tended to be a lone wolf, that in accepting help there might be strings. With her husband, Derrick, she realizes it is possible to be a team. She is more confidant in herself and her relationships.
EC: Since Emma is pregnant will that jump the shark?
AM: Emma needed to settle into her married life and in the early 1900s that would include having a child. Nanny and Katie will help in looking after the baby as well as having her work from home. I think it is a natural progression of her life.
EC: Will Jesse ever get a love interest?
AM: I have hinted in an earlier book that Jesse and one of the maids of a mansion had met and were striking up a friendship. I need to get back to it, but have not since I have been so focused on Emma and Derrick’s relationship
EC: What would you say is the historical part of Murder at The Elms?
AM: The mystery and the historical wrap around each other in all my books. I do take some historical events and wrap them around the mystery. There was some backstabbing, with societal climbing but there was also female friendships and relationships that I explore. There is also yellow journalism with the sensationalism and embellishment. One of the journalists, Brown, uses it. He did not care how his reporting might affect someone. He did not have a lot of scruples as evidenced when he covered the striking of the servants. At that time there actually was a service strike at the Elms where everyone was fired.
EC: In Murder at Vinland how did you get the idea for the story?
AM: This house has a Nordic and Viking design, which led me into thinking of nature. The archived newspapers of the period showed how Audubon Societies were springing up.
EC: How would you describe The Ladies of the 400?
AM: Many were smart, savvy women who if allowed would have been CEOs of companies. They were frustrated in their lack of choices. This is why being on the top of society was so important to them, being like their business. They could be set in their ways because their choices were limited, so they felt other women’s choices should be limited as well. They can be good and bad. They were involved in altruistic projects and are philanthropists. They helped their communities but at the same time there was rivalry about who would be considered the most important one in society.
EC: What was the role of Jennie?
AM: She wanted to start up an Audubon Society. She was passionate about the protection of birds. At the time women were wearing hats adorned with feathers. She gets angry with these women and because of this Emma suspects her. By the 1920s, feathers on hats were out because of the efforts of the consciousness and education, but at the time of the story this was in the beginning. I put in two historical figures, Harriet Hemingway who established the Massachusetts Audubon Society and Edith Roosevelt because of her husband’s activism in preserving the environment. I thought they would be likely figures to attend a luncheon on the dangers to birds.
EC: Next books?
AM: In the book that I am finishing now, the next Newport mystery there are fewer suspects than this book. The book is titled Murder at Arleigh, coming out this time next year. A societal couple believed to be madly in love has a wrench thrown when the wife comes to Emma and tells her she thinks her husband is trying to kill her. The couple is real, Harry and Elizabeth Lehr. Two Weddings and a Murder will be my next book in the “A Lady & Lady’s Maid” series. It begins with a marriage and that same day the chief inspector is murdered, coming out in February.
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.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Mini Book Review for THE LAST BIRDOF PARADISE by Clifford Garstang on this Black Coffee Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my mini book review, an about the author section, and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Two women, nearly a century apart, seek to rebuild their lives when they reluctantly leave their homelands. Arriving in Singapore, they find romance in a tropical paradise, but also find they haven’t left behind the dangers that caused them to flee.
In the aftermath of 9/11 and haunted by the specter of terrorism, Aislinn Givens leaves her New York law practice and joins her husband in Southeast Asia when he takes a job there. Seeking to establish herself in a local law firm, Aislinn begins to understand the historic resentment of foreigners who have exploited the region for centuries. Learning about the turmoil of Singapore’s colonial period, she acquires several paintings done by an English artist during World War I that she believes are a warning to her. The artist, Elizabeth Pennington, tells her own tumultuous story through diary entries that come to an end when the war reaches the colony with catastrophic results. In the present, Aislinn and her husband learn tragically that terrorism takes many shapes when they are ensnared by local political upheaval and corruption.
In a lyrical blend of historical and contemporary drama, The Last Bird of Paradise explores the consequences of power imbalances-both domestic and geopolitical, against a lush, tropical backdrop. Clifford Garstang, author of the award-winning novel Oliver’s Travels, once again draws on his decades of experience in Asia to tell an unforgettable story of romantic intrigue.
THE LAST BIRD OF PARADISE by Clifford Garstang is a captivating dual timeline mash-up of mystery, suspense, romance, and political thriller featuring two expat women, a century apart who end up in the tropical paradise of Singapore linked by compelling paintings produced by one of the women that appear to come to life. The story intricately weaves together the historical timelines of an artist, Elizabeth Pennington leaving 1915 England behind and a present-day corporate lawyer, Aislinn Givens leaving post 9/11 New York with her husband.
This is a sweeping, beautifully written book that kept me entranced from beginning to end. Both protagonists could walk right off the page, they are so fully developed and believable. Singapore comes to life in both past and present with not only its cultural history and lush beauty, but also its colonization and political upheavals. This story covers many difficult issues; personal, social, and political with a narrative prose that is both thought-provoking and riveting.
I highly recommend this spellbinding story.
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About the Author
Clifford Garstang, a former international lawyer, is the author of two previous novels, The Shaman of Turtle Valley and Oliver’s Travels, and three short story collections, House of the Ancients and Other Stories, In an Uncharted Country, and What the Zhang Boys Know, winner of the Library of Virginia Literary Award for Fiction. He is the editor of the anthology series Everywhere Stories: Short Fiction from a Small Planet, and the co-founder and former editor of Prime Number Magazine. He is the recipient of a Walter E. Dakin Fellowship to the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and an Indiana Emerging Author Award from the Indianapolis Public Library Foundation. His work has appeared in numerous literary magazines and has received distinguish mention in the Best American series.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for MURDER IN BLOOM (Maybridge Murder Mysteries Book #3) by Liz Fielding on this Books ‘n’ All Promotions Book Tour.
Below you will find a book synopsis, my book review, and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Synopsis
One part jealousy. Two parts rage. Somewhere in Abby’s sleepy little village, the perfect murder is brewing . . .
Abby enters the Maybridge Flower Show, never dreaming for one moment that she’ll win the gold. Or an invitation to appear on telly, alongside gardening legend Daisy Dashwood!
Some people say Daisy’s a tiresome diva. But starry-eyed Abby can’t wait for the cameras to start rolling. Until . . .
Daisy staggers out on stage. Only to collapse at Abby’s feet.
Her demise might seem like a tragic accident — resulting from a cocktail of booze and hay-fever medicine.
But Abby’s not so sure. She starts digging, to uncover shifty suspects at every turn. From snarky co-stars to a toy-boy lover, they all had reason to want Daisy dead and gone.
And that’s not the only puzzle playing on Abby’s mind . . .
In life, Daisy went nowhere without her trusty caddy of healing teas. Now it’s vanished.
What if someone’s been tampering with Daisy’s favorite cuppa?
MEET YOUR NEW FAVOURITE AMATEUR SLEUTH
Brilliant gardener and the busy mum of three, Abby Finch’s dreams of winning gold at Chelsea Flower Show were put on hold by an unplanned pregnancy and marriage. But she wouldn’t have it any other way. These days she’s kept on her toes looking after her beloved family, running her own business and dealing with her imminent divorce. In an effort to keep things cordial, she’s allowed her ex to bully her into restoring the garden of his family home. Thankfully she’s surrounded herself with a great group of friends to lean on.
THE SETTING
Pretty Maybridge is a charming village set in the sheep-dotted Cotswolds hills, with a long history stretching back to Tudor times. It’s the type of place where everyone knows each other, but there’s a wonderful bookshop on the corner of the bridge, a popular riverside café and a bustling market at Christmastime. And with Bristol nearby and a big supermarket round the corner.
MURDER IN BLOOM (Maybridge Murder Mysteries Book #3) by Liz Fielding is another well written, enjoyable addition to the Maybridge Murder series. The inquisitive Abby Finch is back once again, and murder just seems to happen in her vicinity. While this is the third book in the series, it is easily read as a standalone. I have read and enjoyed all three books.
After months of work, the Maybridge Flower show is here, and Abby is hoping for the best with her first major show entry. To her surprise she won gold. As the legendary gardener and host of The Potting Shed TV show, Daisy Dashwood invites Abbey to appear on her show filming at the event. When she shows up for the filming, Daisy appears very ill and incoherent and falls on the stage. She is rushed to the local hospital and is pronounced dead.
Her death appears to be an accident, but Daisy had many secrets and with her secrets come many suspects. Daisy’s personal assistant discovers Daisy’s favorite tea ball and caddy are missing in which she always used her own herbal tea mix. Could someone from the show or Daisy’s infamous chef boyfriend want her dead? Abby has questions once again that place her in the middle of a murder investigation.
This is such a well written series. The plot is well paced and contains plenty of red herrings and twists that always keep me guessing to the climax. Abby is an endearing protagonist who is realistically written with no exaggerated problems. She has her own gardening business and is starting to believe in herself and her professional abilities. Her three children are all in their teens and happy. She has a boyfriend, many friends in the village, and in the police force. Maybridge’s inhabitants are all very believable and I want to continue to visit the village even if there do appear to be a few too many murders.
I highly recommend this winning addition to the Maybridge Murder Mystery series and quite frankly the entire series.
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Author Bio
Award winning author Liz Fielding was born with itchy feet. She was working in Zambia before her twenty-first birthday and, gathering her own special hero and a couple of children on the way, has lived in Botswana, Kenya and the Middle East, all of which have provided rich inspiration for her writing.
She has written more than seventy books, several of which have won awards, and sold over 15 million copies. In 2019 she was honoured with the Romantic Novelists’ Association Outstanding Career Award. She lives in West Sussex.
