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Ben Abbott Mysteries #5
Mausoleum
When Newbury Connecticuts three hundred year old village cemetery is invaded by a gaudy, half-million dollar mausoleum, Ben Abbott is not happy.
- GenresMystery
392 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2007
About the author
Justin Scott
109 books90 followersAlso writes as Justin Scott, Paul Garrison, J.S. Blazer, and Alexander Cole.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 12, 2018
Moroccan chicken, gaudy mausoleums, and crooked relatives aside I didn’t have much hope for this book. My six year old picked up the fifth book in a crime series I had never read and said I needed it because it had a cool title. Somewhere in the midst of Connecticut I was charmed by the investment in the immigration situation, the insights into relationships, and the Agatha Christie like determination to find some symmetry and justice in what is openly acknowledged as a frequently unjust world. Pick it up. Make the chicken. Love the ending.
November 4, 2019
This book wasn't anything great in terms of writing style, characters, or plot development. It was a pretty straight forward murder mystery where you could guess the last three chapters.
However! It is completely 100% based on my town. The author wove in local history and even kept place names the same. One resident that he briefly mentions he didn't even bother to give a pseudonym! Some of the other characters are current residents of my town and he changed their names by one syllable. I was laughing out loud as I realized who was who - it was like reading the town's dirty secrets from a decade ago.
There are things that irked me besides the simplistic writing. The political undertones and the stereotypes of large cities like Bridgeport and certain demographics came through clearly and are still modern topics of contention. The sexualization of every single woman he wrote about was unreasonably excessive. Trophy wives and beautiful blonds a plenty while the men are all hard working middle aged businessmen or twenty-something rough necks on parole.
This book fit my reading challenge for a book that takes place in my hometown and I would recommend it to anyone who is familiar with the town because it is hilarious to read about this place as the setting for a "who dun it" when you know exactly where/who they are talking about.
However! It is completely 100% based on my town. The author wove in local history and even kept place names the same. One resident that he briefly mentions he didn't even bother to give a pseudonym! Some of the other characters are current residents of my town and he changed their names by one syllable. I was laughing out loud as I realized who was who - it was like reading the town's dirty secrets from a decade ago.
There are things that irked me besides the simplistic writing. The political undertones and the stereotypes of large cities like Bridgeport and certain demographics came through clearly and are still modern topics of contention. The sexualization of every single woman he wrote about was unreasonably excessive. Trophy wives and beautiful blonds a plenty while the men are all hard working middle aged businessmen or twenty-something rough necks on parole.
This book fit my reading challenge for a book that takes place in my hometown and I would recommend it to anyone who is familiar with the town because it is hilarious to read about this place as the setting for a "who dun it" when you know exactly where/who they are talking about.
September 24, 2023
A decent cozy mystery, just didn't grab me.
August 30, 2013
This review first ran in ICCFM magazine.
Fifth in a series of murder mysteries, Mausoleum features New England real estate agent Ben Abbott, who moonlights investigating crime. A dead body is found locked in a gigantic McMansion of a mausoleum in an historic Connecticut cemetery, and the usual red herrings and hijinks ensue.
This novel has many interesting features for ICCFM readers, including a quite novel motive for the crime that would have been completely solved by proper endowments and estate planning. There’s also a real sense of the importance of a cemetery for a community. One of the characters says, “Changes I hate, kids will take for granted; but we owe protection to the people already in the burying ground.” There is an ambitious mausoleum company, some truly unreasonable ‘death videos’, and a lot of discussion about how the meaning of death has changed over the generations. The author has clearly done a lot of research and knows a good deal about the issues of cemetery management.
However, if you are in search of a good mystery novel, this one may not be it. Cookie-cutter characters, a thick boring middle section in the plot, and a lot of places where the willing suspension of disbelief is completely lost (Rural cemetery boards are packed with discontented blonde wives looking for affairs? This should be better known in the industry!) make this a problematic work for the mystery maven.
The author has won some awards in the genre, so he obviously has the chops. This one is just not one of his best efforts. Enjoyable, if this is your cup of tea.
Fifth in a series of murder mysteries, Mausoleum features New England real estate agent Ben Abbott, who moonlights investigating crime. A dead body is found locked in a gigantic McMansion of a mausoleum in an historic Connecticut cemetery, and the usual red herrings and hijinks ensue.
This novel has many interesting features for ICCFM readers, including a quite novel motive for the crime that would have been completely solved by proper endowments and estate planning. There’s also a real sense of the importance of a cemetery for a community. One of the characters says, “Changes I hate, kids will take for granted; but we owe protection to the people already in the burying ground.” There is an ambitious mausoleum company, some truly unreasonable ‘death videos’, and a lot of discussion about how the meaning of death has changed over the generations. The author has clearly done a lot of research and knows a good deal about the issues of cemetery management.
However, if you are in search of a good mystery novel, this one may not be it. Cookie-cutter characters, a thick boring middle section in the plot, and a lot of places where the willing suspension of disbelief is completely lost (Rural cemetery boards are packed with discontented blonde wives looking for affairs? This should be better known in the industry!) make this a problematic work for the mystery maven.
The author has won some awards in the genre, so he obviously has the chops. This one is just not one of his best efforts. Enjoyable, if this is your cup of tea.
January 9, 2008
MAUSOLEUM (Private Invest-Ben Abbott-Connecticut-Cont) – VG
Scott, Justin – 5th in series
Poisoned Pen Press, 2007, US Hardcover – ISBN: 9781590584682
First Sentence: It was too gorgeous a summer day to kill someone.
*** Ben Abbott is a realtor and part-time private investigator in a small town Connecticut town celebrating it’s tercentennial. The town’s cemetery has been invaded by a newcomer’s mausoleum, which has come to be nicknamed “McTomb.” During the celebration, the mausoleum’s owner has been found locked inside; dead from three gunshots. Homeland Security Immigration Criminal Enforcement is hunting for an Ecuadorian immigrant, Charlie Cubrero, who was known to have bought a gun after the victim had refused to pay him for work done. Ben doesn’t believe it and, working for the Village Cemetery Association, sets out to protect Charlie and find the true killer.
*** Scott is an author whose work should be much wider known that it is. His characters are wonderful; everyone from proper Great-Aunt Connie, the family matriarch, to Ben’s Chevalley cousins, who are not wealthy and certainly not proper. His sense of place is wonderful right from the first sentence. The puzzle is subtle and clever with an effective sub-story dealing with the effects of modern times on an historic small town. Scott has a wonderful voice that is wry, funny, and poignant. I’ve enjoyed every book I’ve read by Scott, and this is no exception.
Scott, Justin – 5th in series
Poisoned Pen Press, 2007, US Hardcover – ISBN: 9781590584682
First Sentence: It was too gorgeous a summer day to kill someone.
*** Ben Abbott is a realtor and part-time private investigator in a small town Connecticut town celebrating it’s tercentennial. The town’s cemetery has been invaded by a newcomer’s mausoleum, which has come to be nicknamed “McTomb.” During the celebration, the mausoleum’s owner has been found locked inside; dead from three gunshots. Homeland Security Immigration Criminal Enforcement is hunting for an Ecuadorian immigrant, Charlie Cubrero, who was known to have bought a gun after the victim had refused to pay him for work done. Ben doesn’t believe it and, working for the Village Cemetery Association, sets out to protect Charlie and find the true killer.
*** Scott is an author whose work should be much wider known that it is. His characters are wonderful; everyone from proper Great-Aunt Connie, the family matriarch, to Ben’s Chevalley cousins, who are not wealthy and certainly not proper. His sense of place is wonderful right from the first sentence. The puzzle is subtle and clever with an effective sub-story dealing with the effects of modern times on an historic small town. Scott has a wonderful voice that is wry, funny, and poignant. I’ve enjoyed every book I’ve read by Scott, and this is no exception.
April 4, 2014
Mausoleum
By Justin Scott
Hardcover, 244 pages,
Poisoned Pen Press
254 pages, $24.95
December, 2007
A very long time ago, in a far distant land, a king, King Mausolus of someplace called Caria, decided to be buried in a significant structure. His was the first mausoleum. The year was 79 B. C. Mausoleums have provoked trouble ever since.
Here we have a pushy west coast hotshot former developer who retires to Newbury Connecticut, your typical small idiosyncratic New England town. Why does he do this? Good question. Next thing you know he has built a large, gaudy mausoleum complete with surround sound in the midst of a quiet town’s peaceful burying place. The structure is totally out of place in its modest surroundings and a lot of people are offended. But not everybody. The town is split. On one side are the older tradition-minded citizens. On the other are the others.
And then the retired newcomer, Brian Grose is found murdered in his mausoleum. Enter part-time private investigator, part-time real estate agent and, not incidentally, local boy, Ben Abbott. Just about everybody knows him and he has contacts all over town so he’s able to do some probing where the Police are frustrated.
The novel is a fun read that nicely illuminates small-town connections and abrasions. Scott writes with a nicely honed view of life and the times. The result is a most satisfying novel.
By Justin Scott
Hardcover, 244 pages,
Poisoned Pen Press
254 pages, $24.95
December, 2007
A very long time ago, in a far distant land, a king, King Mausolus of someplace called Caria, decided to be buried in a significant structure. His was the first mausoleum. The year was 79 B. C. Mausoleums have provoked trouble ever since.
Here we have a pushy west coast hotshot former developer who retires to Newbury Connecticut, your typical small idiosyncratic New England town. Why does he do this? Good question. Next thing you know he has built a large, gaudy mausoleum complete with surround sound in the midst of a quiet town’s peaceful burying place. The structure is totally out of place in its modest surroundings and a lot of people are offended. But not everybody. The town is split. On one side are the older tradition-minded citizens. On the other are the others.
And then the retired newcomer, Brian Grose is found murdered in his mausoleum. Enter part-time private investigator, part-time real estate agent and, not incidentally, local boy, Ben Abbott. Just about everybody knows him and he has contacts all over town so he’s able to do some probing where the Police are frustrated.
The novel is a fun read that nicely illuminates small-town connections and abrasions. Scott writes with a nicely honed view of life and the times. The result is a most satisfying novel.
February 2, 2015
In this story, a newcomer builds a huge gaudy mausoleum in the cemetery in the quaint town of Newbury, Connecticut, much to the dismay of the town. During a town fair, the owner's body is found (dead of course) in the mausoleum. Too many suspects, and one of them shot and killed Brian Grose, who may not be all he seemed to be.
Add to that some possibly illegal aliens and the hunt for them , and you have a couple of story lines that come together at the end of the story.
This looks like it is 8th in the Ben Abbott series (Ben is a realtor, and part time PI). Sometimes books in a series can stand alone; sometimes you have to be very familiar with the characters to figure out what is going on. In this case, it would have helped if I understood the characters and their prior interactions and relationships...but the story line was interesting. I gave it 3 stars just because of the necessity to understand who these people as that slightly detracted from my enjoyment of the book.
Add to that some possibly illegal aliens and the hunt for them , and you have a couple of story lines that come together at the end of the story.
This looks like it is 8th in the Ben Abbott series (Ben is a realtor, and part time PI). Sometimes books in a series can stand alone; sometimes you have to be very familiar with the characters to figure out what is going on. In this case, it would have helped if I understood the characters and their prior interactions and relationships...but the story line was interesting. I gave it 3 stars just because of the necessity to understand who these people as that slightly detracted from my enjoyment of the book.
March 6, 2012
My 1st Ben Abbott by Scott...I think I may have read a couple of novels under the pseudonym of Paul Garrison...reminiscent of Julia Mott Davidson, but instead of a caterer the hero is a real estate agent turned investigator in a toney exurb in Connecticut...our hero is pulled into murder of a developer...the investigation pits the old vs. new within the community...enough insights into human nature and plot twists to be fun read...I will read more Ben Abbott mysteries!!!
July 17, 2016
An "OK" mystery. It was a quick read and nothing I could not hand to a 12 year old to read and enjoy as far as sex, violence, and language are concerned. If I can find more of the series at the library I may pick them up. Nice and mindless.
January 31, 2012
Justin Scott adds another entertaining and very readable tale about Ben Abbott, realtor, P.I.and ex-con. Set in Newbury CN a village that old families are trying to slow the takeover of the Library board, when a developer is murdered Ben is hired to find out who and why.
August 26, 2008
This was my first time with Justin Scott. He started with some wit but soon is was ordinary. I will try him again.
January 17, 2010
enjoyable P.I. Connecticut-based mystery.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews