Book #15 in the A to Z Mystery Tour
Elizabeth Blake 2019
Book 1 of the Jane Austen Society Mystery Series* – yes, the second JA mystery series I’ve run into on this tour, and I’m only in the B’s.
The town of Kirkbymoorside has a lot of sweaty people.
Sometimes they’re sick, sometimes they’re stressed, and sometimes they’re just too hot – but these people are damp. Droplets of sweat on upper lips, foreheads, under collars – lots of droplets.
Regardless, and in spite of an amateur detective who is arrogant and pushy, this is a fairly entertaining cozy mystery. Once one accepts the idea that the Jane Austen Society seems to run the town, and once one gets used to the point of view abruptly jumping from one character to another every once in a while (not too often), one will find oneself happy to read to the end, where one will be quite surprised by the identify of the killer.
Erin Coleridge, bookstore owner, sometimes-writer (although that fact seems to slide out of the picture), and newly self-appointed sleuth, is on the case after a member of the community is murdered, and while she is decidedly more attractive in her yoga pants than Agatha Raisin ever was, her abrupt style does bring Agatha to mind. Regardless, I – sorry – One – kept reading, more out of interest in whodunit than out of engagement with Ms. Coleridge. I didn’t guess the killer – not even close. Neither did Erin, until the evidence smacked her upside the head.
Three stars for this book: It’s flawed, but I didn’t hate it, and didn’t have to struggle to read it. If you are a Jane Austen fan you’ll enjoy the frequent Austen quotes, and if you are a British contemporary cozy mystery fan, this is your book.
*At present there is only one other title in this fairly new series: Death and Sensibility, published in 2021.