cozy mystery

Murder Most Royal

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Murder Most Royal: Her Majesty the Queen Investigates by SJ Bennett

This is the third mystery by Bennett featuring Queen Elizabeth II, age 90, and her assistant private secretary, Rozie Oshodie. The Queen has solved quite a few mysteries over the years with the assistance of her assistant private secretaries, and has managed to keep her detecting a royal secret. Not even the Queen’s private secretary, Sir Simon, has a clue. Quite a fun premise for a series; I enjoyed The Windsor Knot, set at Windsor Castle and All the Queen’s Men set at Buckingham Palace. In this book, the Queen and her husband Prince Phillip are headed to Norfolk for the winter holidays in 2016, for several weeks at Sandringham House. Both the Queen and her husband are dealing with flu or colds at the beginning of her visit, leaving her more time to sit and think when a hand is found on a nearby beach. Rozie shows the Queen a photo, and she identifies the ring as belonging to the St. Cyr family.

Life at Sandringham House is described with just the right amount of detail, and the Queen and Rozie both narrate chapters. Rozie meets her immediate predecessor, and is introduced, reluctantly, to wild swimming. Some of the St. Cyr family are interested in wilding, returning their estate to a more natural state, but there have been problems with wild boars and beavers. Rozie and the Queen uncover several secrets about the St. Cyr family, both recent and decades old. As the Queen would like, there are lots of dogs and horses in this mystery, even providing a clue or two. A rather twisty plot has all the loose ends solved in the end. Book Four, A Death in Diamonds, will be a prequel set in 1957, much of it on the royal yacht Britannia. Another book set at Balmoral Castle in 2017 is planned. The Queen and Rozie are likeable characters in these mysteries, and the dialogue is nicely written, making for engaging reads. Enjoy!

Birder, She Wrote and other Cozy Mysteries

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One of my very favorite cozy mystery writers is Donna Andrews. Birder, She Wrote is #33 in the delightful Meg Langslow series. Meg is a blacksmith in Virginia with a large extended family. It’s not a spoiler to share that she marries actor and drama professor Michael and they have twin boys. Almost every year, Donna publishes a winter holiday mystery and another mystery. The audiobooks are narrated by Bernadette Dunne, and I can’t decide whether I enjoy reading the print books or listening to the audiobooks more. There is good character development, lots of humor, and a good mystery. Also, pets, mostly dogs and sometimes a whole litter of Pomeranian puppies. Living outside Caerphilly, the extended family also has a number of other animals, from sheep to occasional peacocks and more. All of the books have a bird in their titles, beginning with Murder with Peacocks. They always entertain and amuse me, and are even good to reread or to listen to again. Most of the audiobooks can be downloaded from Hoopla or Libby/Overdrive library collections. I think readers can jump into the series pretty much anywhere, especially any of the first five or six books.

I recently reread the third book, Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingos, set near Yorktown, during a Revolutionary War enactment. Meg is selling her wrought iron wares, hiding a case of flamingos made for her mother’s friend, admiring Michael in his French officer’s uniform, and making peace after Michael’s mother hands out another fine as she seeks complete authenticity among the crafters and reenactors.

Book 17, Good Emus, Bad Emus has the Langslow family searching for Meg’s grandmother Cordelia, who gave her son up for adoption. Meg looks just like a young Cordelia, and they’ve found her cousin. A murder must be solved, and the whole clan are trying to rescue a group, or mob, of feral emus.

In Meg’s latest mystery, Birder, She Wrote, she is hoping for a lazy summer day, lounging in a hammock sipping a cold drink and watching hummingbirds sip nectar from feeders. This sounds like a perfect day to me as well. Alas, Meg soon has several tasks to add to her to-do list. Edgar, a wildlife photographer and beekeeper, is missing, Meg’s father wants help moving beehives, and Edgar’s new neighbors keep complaining about his beehives. Meg goes along on a search for a lost graveyard and finds a body, but it isn’t Edgar. And then there’s a persistent young reporter who wants to interview Meg’s grandmother for a magazine profile. More mysteries then in many of the earlier books, but as full of family, humor, and animals as the others. More, please!

Brenda

Murder Before Evensong

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Murder Before Evensong: A Canon Clement Mystery by The Reverence Richard Coles

This English village mystery, the first featuring Canon Daniel Clement, is set in Champton. A reference to Celine Dion winning the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland establishes the year as 1988. Daniel Clement has been the rector of Champton for 8 years. He shares the rectory with his dachshunds Como and Hilda, and his opinionated and outspoken mother Audrey. She often asks the questions Daniel is too polite to ask. Daniel’s younger brother Theo is visiting, studying up for a television role as a clergyman.

Some members of Daniel’s congregation are upset that Daniel wants to remove two back pews from the church to install a restroom. The Flower Guild ladies want a room with a sink, but not a lavatory. Others claim that that the pews are very old and mustn’t be removed, or perhaps just don’t want to lose their favorite pew.

When a body is discovered in the church, followed by another death, Daniel investigates to discover what secrets have led to the deaths. Daniel and the dogs are very good company, and his mother and brother are entertaining as well. I look forward to Canon Clement’s next mystery. Murder Before Evensong will be published in July in the U.S. and is already a bestseller in Great Britain.

Readalikes include The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood, Isabel Puddles Abroad by M.V. Byrne, and Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder club series.

Death Comes to Marlow

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Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood

I quite enjoyed this clever sequel to The Marlow Murder Club. Londoner Judith, 78, likes to go swimming in the Thames, in the buff. It helps clear her mind. She has just been invited to a pre-wedding celebration by Sir Peter Bailey at his home, White Lodge. They’ve never met, but Sir Peter is afraid someone will poison him, and he’s heard of Judith’s skill as an amateur sleuth. Sir Peter is marrying his live-in nurse, and his two grown children are of different opinions about his upcoming marriage.

Judith decides to attend the party, and brings her friends Suzie, a dog walker and local radio host, and Becks, the local vicar’s wife. Together, along with DS Tanika Malik, they make a good crime-solving team. This time, they are dealing with a locked room mystery. Tanika’s superiors aren’t even calling the resulting death anything but an accident. There are, of course, several suspects with various motives. What they all have in common are excellent alibis, including one that Judith, Suzie, and Becks can all confirm. The room was locked with a large, ornate key, which was found inside the room, and no copies seem to have been made. Suzie and Judith are also worried about Becks, who has been acting very secretive of late.

This cozy British mystery has lots of lovely plot twists, and the four women have pleasingly different personalities and skills. Crossword puzzles are also featured here, as Judith both creates and solves puzzles. If you like to read mysteries for a good plot but also want interesting characters, this might be your cup of tea, or, as Judith prefers, your glass of whisky.

More, please! Readalikes include The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman and The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz.

Brenda

High Spirits

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High Spirits: A Haunted Haven Mystery by Carol J. Perry

I really enjoyed this cozy mystery set in the fictional town of Haven on Florida’s Gulf Coast, a sequel to Be My Ghost. Recently, Maureen Doherty unexpectedly inherited the Haven House Inn. The town and the inn are haunted, but the ghosts are not at all scary. Haven’s resident ghost, Lorna, likes to “borrow” Maureen’s clothes and share some history of Haven, which welcomed quite a few celebrities decades earlier. Maureen is slowly refurbishing the inn, and the dining room and bar are next on her list. The local movie theater is showing Christmas movies, so Maureen and chef Ted, who joins Maureen and her dog Finn for early morning runs on the beach, coordinate a dinner and a movie promotion. Petals and Tea, a local business, creates holiday table decorations including antique Christmas ornaments Maureen found.

Unfortunately, there’s a suspicious death during the first holiday movie showing, and gruff police officer Frank Hubbard wants Maureen’s insight. Maureen’s experience buying accessories for a Boston department store proves as useful as tips from the local ghosts in solving the crime. I look forward to future mysteries set in Haven. Readalikes include the Lucky Lexie mystery novellas by Shanna Swendson.

Brenda