I have enjoyed other novels by Eliza Knight including The Mayfair Bookshop and The Queen’s Faithful Companion. So, when I see her name on a book cover, I am excited.
This time, Knight explores the world of publishing in the early 1960s. To say that women were not highly valued for their skills is an understatement.
As this story opens, Bernadette is working on editorial tasks but is not respected for this. Rather, she is asked to bring her boss’s dirty laundry to the cleaner. Understandably, Bernadette does not appreciate this and wants more. Will she succeed? Will friends that she makes at the New York Public Library help her? Find out in this enjoyable read that also features a likeable editor who has fallen for Bernadette. I recommend it.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks-Landmark for this title. All thoughts are my own.
I think that Emylia Hall’s excellent series does not garner the attention that it deserves. I have found every title in the Shell House Detective books to be enjoyable.
The stories are set in Cornwall with the area brought to life in a way that lets me recall past time there and leaves me wishing that I could go back.
The Shell House Detectives are Ally and Jayden. Ally’s husband Bill was a local police officer who has died by the time that the series begins. She becomes close to a divorced writer, Guy, in the earlier books. Jayden stands out in the community where most people are white. He is married and at the time that this story begins, his second child has just been born. As a side note, credit to the author for acknowledging how difficult the days of parenting a newborn can be. Ally and Jayden began solving cases (of course) in the first of the series.
As this story begins, an arts festival is about to start. A famous artist has returned to be the guest of honor. Interestingly, he does not seem to bring his best work. He does bring an art dealer, semi significant other who (no spoiler because it happens early in the novel), is murdered. Was she the intended victim? Will there be other deaths? Is the graffiti that is popping up related to the murder? These are just some of the questions requiring answers in the story.
There are many characters to follow. The story line is involving.
Of interest to those who have followed Ally and Gus, a man from Ally’s past has arrived for the festival. Will he and Ally rekindle their relationship? What has brought him back?
This book is about 400 pages long which I loved as I was happy to remain in the company of these characters.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this book. All opinions are my onw.
Note: The e book costs under $5.00 which amazes me
Pub date: 08 April 2025
The audio book:
I toggled between reading and listening as I often do. Listening while I exercise makes the time so much more enjoyable.
The narrator here is spot on…easy to understand, able to speak in the voices of the different characters and able to bring the story to life.
Really well done!
Thanks to NetGalley and the audio publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.
This is the first in, what appear to be, at least three Cornwall set mysteries featuring two characters with complex pasts. They are Ally and Jayden. Ally was widowed and misses her police officer husband deeply. Her daughter would like Ally to leave Cornwall to be with her in Australia; Ally is very ambivalent. Ally is an artist who creates works from the detritus that she finds on the beach. (She makes a relevant find there).
Jayden worked as a police officer who left the force after a tragedy. He is biracial and not sure if he fits into his wife’s community. Both of these characters are trying to keep their lives moving forward. Will solving a case help them to achieve their goals?
Ally’s husband Bill was haunted by one person’s death. When he arrested this man’s son, Bill offered to help him in the future. When this young man comes knocking on Ally’s door, she (regretfully) turns him away.
Events move forward and this young man is now in the hospital, gravely wounded. His grandmother and only support was not there for him when he got out of prison. Lewis Pascoe has an interaction with the couple that built a new home where his grandmother had been. These events set the scene for the novel.
I enjoyed the main characters in this book and was also interested to meet the people around them. There are many community members in the story so there is no lack of suspects. For example, there is the coffee shop worker and a recently divorced man who is trying to write a novel.
In addition to the mystery and the characters, Cornwall is also a strong presence in the book. Readers will be able to smell the sea, see the cliffs and walk along the shore.
All in all, this was a most enjoyable read. I recommend it to anyone who likes cozy mysteries.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK. All opinions are my own.
Readers will so enjoy meeting Nora Breen, the former nun, who serves as the amateur investigator in this 1950s set novel. Formerly Sister Agnes, she has left the convent after many years to take up residence at Gulls Nest. Nora has chosen this location because someone close to her, who had been living there, is missing. Did Frieda meet with foul play? Nora fears so as Frieda had promised to write weekly and her letters have stopped.
At Gulls Nest Nora meets quite an assortment of characters. There is the woman who owns the boarding house and her daughter, Dinah, who does not speak. The reader never knows where she will be found. There are also the housekeeper (an awful cook) and Rose, who both work there, and then, of course, the boarders. These include a couple Teddy and Stella, a puppeteer and performer called Professor Poppy, the mysterious Karel, and others. On the side of the law is Rideout who engages in much verbal play with Nora.
The story becomes more intricate when someone is found murdered. This is not Frieda but, no spoiler, so I won’t say who. What else will happen? Will order be restored?
Nora is outspoken and sometimes brash (she throws a shoe at an unresponsive officer in the police station). She is also determined, bright and a keen observer with whom I loved spending time.
This is a terrific mystery and one that it is easy to recommend. I eagerly await Nora and Rideout’s next appearance.
Kirkus Reviews notes: “A delightful series kickoff in a cozy community primed for more murder.”
Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this title. All opinions are my own.
Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 