The Secret of Chimneys is my final entry for the Cozy Mystery Challenge and I’m glad I ended with it because the whole story is just so cosy and a per...moreThe Secret of Chimneys is my final entry for the Cozy Mystery Challenge and I’m glad I ended with it because the whole story is just so cosy and a perfect example of the genre. It has a grand ancestral house with secret passages, mysterious deaths, famous thieves, compromising documents, disguised identities and fun characters. I really enjoyed it!
Somewhere in Africa, in the 1920s (the book was published in 1925) two friends meet and have a strange conversation about stolen love letters and the memoirs of a famous balkan politician. One of them, Anthony Cade, returns to England intending to give the letters back and see the biography published, however he is visited by a strange man wanting the book and he unexpectedly finds that the letter writer is not what he thought… not to mention that she will involve him in a mysterious death.
The Chimneys of the title is the home of the Marquis of Caterham and a favourite place for political reunions much to the current Marquis’ desperation. All the characters will end up there looking for a famous jewel stolen a few years and that is connected with the letters, the biography and the story of a fictional country named Herzoslovakia. When a murder occurs Superintendent Battle is called to Chimneys to investigate all the clues and see if he can not only solve the murder but also unravel the mystery of the stolen jewel. All this in an atmosphere of secret and political intrigue since the happenings may influence Herzoslovakia’s government. The political events mentioned felt very much inspired in what was going on at the Balkans at the time, from the secret society mentioned down to the royal assassination due to a poor choice of a bride and the fragile political balance the governments had.
What a lovely story! I spent an afternoon reading it with a cup of tea by my side. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Since then I discovered that some of the characters appear in another Christie’s book – Seven Dials Mystery – and now I can’t wait to pick that one up.
I really do enjoy cosy mysteries and I prefer historical to contemporary so it was with great expectation that I started this Snobbery with Violence,...moreI really do enjoy cosy mysteries and I prefer historical to contemporary so it was with great expectation that I started this Snobbery with Violence, an Edwardian murder mystery.
I must say that I enjoyed it very much and I almost laughed aloud at times. Lady Rose Summer was almost unbelievable at times, as she was much focused in the women's rights movement and the equality of rights between the lower and upper classes but at the same time, she seemed unaware of the proper behaviour to live in polite society and without proper knowledge of what being of the lower classes might entail.
The story starts with Lady Rose being pursued by a gentleman who is taking its time with the marriage proposal, Lady Rose's father hires Captain Cathcart to discover which are the man's intentions and unfortunately those were less than honourable. I understand Rose's anger at him and wanting to shame him publicly but it seemed odd that she did not know the double standard would actually make her an outcast while his sins would be quickly forgotten.
Rose and Captain Harry meet again when he is hired once more by her father to stop a visit from the king to their estate. It has come to the Earl's attention that the king wants to try his luck with Rose now that she is a fallen woman. Harry comes up with the idea of blowing up a bridge on the estate and blaming it on the bolshevists, which effectively scares the royal guest to be.
Due to her reputation, Rose is then invited to a house party on a strange fake castle where Lord Hedley has decided to gather those girls whose season was a failure and helping them find husbands. Not that Rose wants a husband of course. And here is where the mystery really starts. One the guest is found dead of what seems to be arsenic poisoning and the police are called to investigate but progresses little as the influences of the upper classes manage to call off the inquest. Rose immediately decides she must investigate and since Harry had been invited by Lord Hedley to try to solve the investigation discreetly there is nothing more obvious than bringing those two together.
This is a light and fun read and I think Chesney strong point is the characters she creates. Becket, who is Harry's man, and Daisy, a former dancer girl who becomes Rose's lady's maid are interesting characters and so is Inspector Kerridge. The police detective who keeps trying to solve the murders and mysteries he comes across only to see his actions stopped by the upper classes. The book is full of information about the distinctions between classes and about women’s role in society. I did like Harry and Rose although Rose did sometimes sound a bit TSTL and too socially awkward to truly be real. They are attracted to each other but spend most of the book in denial or misunderstanding each other's intentions.
The mystery ends up being solved by both of them after investigating everyone’s history and possible motives and Rose cannot resist a final confrontation with danger. A nice and entertaining read!
In Carrot Cake Murder, Hannah Swensen 10th mystery we have the return of Gus, Hannah’s partner Lisa’s uncle, after a 30 year absence and there are man...moreIn Carrot Cake Murder, Hannah Swensen 10th mystery we have the return of Gus, Hannah’s partner Lisa’s uncle, after a 30 year absence and there are many questions about why he went away in the first place, is he really Gus and is he really as successful as he keeps announcing to everyone. He seems a really suspicious character but when he is found dead Hannah discovers that a lot of people may have had a motive to do away with him and the first suspect that the police considers his Lisa’s dad. On my review of the last book of this series I had read I mentioned how I was becoming more and more disappointed with the love triangle Hannah is involved in. One of the things that I liked in this story was that Hannah’s love life seems to have faded a bit in the background. Both Mike and Norman appear but more as helpers for the crime investigation or friends than as love interests. However I think that the crime investigation is also treated almost as a secondary thing and it is life in Lake Eden with all the characters we’ve known before and of course Hannah’s recipes that make the book. While that is interesting it seemed to me that the book needed something more to add to the plot and keep us interested. Grade: 3.5/5
As the title indicates this is a ghost story with the particularity of being a cosy mystery too. Young widow Penelope Thornton-McClure has moved in wi...moreAs the title indicates this is a ghost story with the particularity of being a cosy mystery too. Young widow Penelope Thornton-McClure has moved in with her aunt Sadie to a small town intending to raise her son as she sees fit while helping her aunt running an old bookstore.
They renovate the shop and Penelope has great plans for it so she decides to start having autograph sessions with famous authors. The first one is crime writer Timothy Brennan, author of the Jack Shields’ mysteries.
However, just when Brennan is speaking about his books and their connection to a murder in the 40s and Penelope’s bookstore he falls dead. And Penelope starts hearing voices in her head. The voice belongs to Jack Shepard, now a ghost, but also the man who was murdered in the 40s and in which Brennan based his famous character.
Brennan wasn’t exactly an easy person to live with and family and friends seem mostly relieved that his dead. And when the police starts investigating his death and the clues seem to point towards murder Penelope and Jack, the ghost, join forces to find out who did it.
While I do like Cosy mysteries I had some trouble getting into this one. Penelope just didn’t seem all that interesting and while Jack was very interesting - I kept imagining someone like Humphrey Bogart - that just wasn’t enough to keep me entertained. I wanted to know more about what had happened to Jack and less about Brennan.
While it’s not bad, in the end it seemed a very light and forgettable story and it didn’t interest me enough to continue the series. Grade: 3.5/5 (less)
Another Edwardian murder mystery this is the second instalment in the series about the adventures of Lady Rose Summer and Captain Harry Cathcart.
Afte...moreAnother Edwardian murder mystery this is the second instalment in the series about the adventures of Lady Rose Summer and Captain Harry Cathcart.
After the end of book one where we met them and they solved a murder, it seems Lady Rose has some tender feelings for Captain Harry and wouldn’t be averse to a match between them. Unfortunately Captain Harry seems clueless and is ready to go on as a private investigator without Lady Rose.
Lady Rose is your usually spoiled debutante but you can’t help finding her funny and her attempts to lead a normal life. She decides to be a working girl, and, with some discreet help from Harry, manages to find employment in a bank with her companion and friend Daisy. One can’t help but shudder at the difficult like working women faced at the time having to live in hotels and in deficient conditions. Not what Lady Rose is used to so she quickly goes back to her parents and continues to drive them mad with not wanting to marry.
The mystery plot is not very strong and maybe that’s why I was more interested in Rose and Harry’s adventures than in finding out who murder a young gentleman who could have been blackmailing a number of people. But Rose and Harry soon turn their attentions to catching the killer and I followed along with them.
Parts of the book are actually quite funny, with Rose realising that working girls didn’t have an easier life as she thought or with Harry’s secretary falling for him, so that actually compensated for the fact that I wasn’t that interested in the mystery. By the end of the book Rose is nowhere near marriage but she and Harry devise a plan when her parents threaten to take her to India in search of a husband. They’ll pretend they’re engaged and that will leave Rose with more freedom for a while till they decide to part ways and she jilts him. I can’t wait for the next book to see how they are going to pull that one off.
Although the characters are very atypical I think Chesney can give a decent enough feel of the period in a light charming way.
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