A thoughtfully constructed and elegantly executed murder mystery in the classic style.
A newly minted amateur sleuth is thrust into the center of a murder investigation in Rosett’s mystery novel, the first in the High Society Lady Detective series.
Down-on-her-luck Olive Belgrave is hired to vet her cousin Violet’s fiance, Alfred Eton. Violet’s well-bred family suspects that Alfred may not be who he claims to be; his behavior is somewhat ill-mannered, and his associates are less than savory. Olive isn’t the most conventional private eye. Her family’s sizable fortune has been frittered away thanks to her father’s poor investments. Now she must make her own way in London. Could this investigation be the beginning of a lucrative career and financial independence? Olive attends a party at the grandiose Archly Manor, hoping to sniff out some facts regarding Alfred, only to be present for her target’s unexpected murder. The primary suspect is Violet, of course, and Olive must work to clear her cousin’s name. But who could be the real culprit? The stakes aren’t only Violet’s freedom, but Olive’s reputation as a high-society lady detective! Rosett’s polished prose is pitch-perfect for its 1920s setting, summoning all the formality and intrigue of London society at the time: “Thea moved closer to me and fingered the tulle of the overdress. ‘Lovely. Where did you find this?’ ‘At a little shop in London.’ ‘You must give me its name.’ She gestured with her glass at Sebastian. ‘He’s always telling me to cut the flounces and flourishes, but I do love them so.’ ” The author lovingly evokes the world à la Agatha Christie while focusing the action firmly on the women. Olive gets some help from an old crush and a police inspector, but these men primarily play foil to the protagonist and the many female suspects who surround her. With several sequels already published, satisfied readers can happily dive right into the next tale.
A thoughtfully constructed and elegantly executed murder mystery in the classic style.Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-950054-24-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: McGuffin Ink
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fascinating genre mashup for the discerning—and reflective—mystery reader.
A young Indian American man finds himself playing detective when a murder interrupts his relaxing vacation.
In some possibly extraneous backstory, Ro Krishna attends a pair of birthday parties in Bermuda and in London, where we learn that he and his friends are highly educated, affluent, glamorous jet-setters. Ro is trying to recover from a mysterious traumatic experience at his most recent job, so he decides to take some time off and spend the Christmas holidays at Samsara, a luxury Ayurvedic spa in India, surrounded by friends both old and new. When a guest is murdered, Ro finds himself helping the local inspector, the hotel’s eccentric owner, and an embedded CIA agent solve the crime, as well as the subsequent ones that follow. There are tongue-in-cheek references to Agatha Christie, who may have provided inspiration for the cozy surroundings and frequent musings about class, wealth, and race, but the dialogue is fully contemporary, as is Ro. The novel takes a while to get going; the story would have benefited from a tighter, faster beginning that plunged straight into the action at Samsara. The moments of foreshadowing leading to the murder feel somewhat heavy-handed. But the easy rapport of the people at the spa creates a lovely foundation for the psychological intrigue of the mystery. One minute someone can be making off-color jokes about death, and the next Ro is dealing with very real grief. Though he often claims to feel alone, Ro’s involvement with the rest of the characters creates sympathy, humor, and complexity, and it’s the interactions within the different pairs and groups that make the narrative flow—as well as some well-timed twists.
A fascinating genre mashup for the discerning—and reflective—mystery reader.Pub Date: June 18, 2024
ISBN: 9780063319301
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
Zippy and fun, with an otherworldly hook that’s further enhanced by characters with a little magic of their own.
Magic and mayhem collide when the owner of a Connecticut crystal shop is arrested for murder and her ghostly mother comes to her rescue.
Though her store is strictly about healing and feeling, not everyone is a fan of Violet Mooney’s Full Moon crystal shop, as she learns when town official Carla Fernandez yells at her about some supposed séance one morning when Violet’s just trying to caffeinate. Carla’s aura is a bright blue that some might see as evincing creativity but Violet is seasoned enough to know speaks of Carla’s strong opinions, which Carla seems more than willing to speak of herself. Before Violet can fret too much about the fallout from Carla’s verbal firestorm, she’s being asked by North Harbor police about Carla’s murder. But wait, Carla’s been killed? It seems so, and when the police bring in Violet—whose alibi is that she was napping—as a likely suspect, an unlikely ally comes to Violet’s aid: her mother, Fiona Ravenstar. Accompanied by Violet’s teenage sister, Zoe, Fiona ducks out of her responsibilities in the astral realm to help the daughter she hasn’t seen since she was 5. Literally hasn’t seen, because Violet’s recently deceased grandmother, Abigail Moonstone, evidently cast a spell blocking Violet from Fiona’s visions. Now that Fiona can see her daughter’s in trouble, she’s more than ready to help. But Violet isn’t sure she wants help from a mother she’s always been told abandoned her, and Fiona can’t help Violet until she earns her daughter’s trust.
Zippy and fun, with an otherworldly hook that’s further enhanced by characters with a little magic of their own.Pub Date: June 30, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4967-1760-3
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
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