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Rose Beckingham #1
A Subtle Murder
Murder and intrigue on the Arabian Sea...
When Rose Beckingham sets sail for England in the summer of 1926, she brings more than souvenirs from her years in India. She carries the memory of a family tragedy and a secret so terrible it could destroy the new life she hopes to build in London.
But Rose isn’t the only passenger aboard the RMS Star of India with something to hide. Halfway across the Arabian Sea, death strikes and a murderer begins a deadly game only Rose can hope to end.
With a mysterious Frenchman haunting her steps, can Rose outrun her past? And can she stay alive long enough to decipher the clues left by a taunting killer? Or will murder call again before the first port?
When Rose Beckingham sets sail for England in the summer of 1926, she brings more than souvenirs from her years in India. She carries the memory of a family tragedy and a secret so terrible it could destroy the new life she hopes to build in London.
But Rose isn’t the only passenger aboard the RMS Star of India with something to hide. Halfway across the Arabian Sea, death strikes and a murderer begins a deadly game only Rose can hope to end.
With a mysterious Frenchman haunting her steps, can Rose outrun her past? And can she stay alive long enough to decipher the clues left by a taunting killer? Or will murder call again before the first port?
210 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 25, 2018
2117 people are currently reading
1231 people want to read
About the author
Blythe Baker
117 books388 followersBlythe Baker is a thirty-something bottle redhead from the South Central part of the country. When she’s not slinging words and creating new worlds and characters, she’s acting as chauffeur to her children and head groomer to her household of beloved pets.
Blythe enjoys long walks with her dog on sweaty days, grubbing in her flower garden, cooking, and ruthlessly de-cluttering her overcrowded home. She also likes binge-watching mystery shows on TV and burying herself in books about murder.
Blythe enjoys long walks with her dog on sweaty days, grubbing in her flower garden, cooking, and ruthlessly de-cluttering her overcrowded home. She also likes binge-watching mystery shows on TV and burying herself in books about murder.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 165 reviews
January 28, 2019
This is an entertaining light reading story. I enjoyed it. I can't help saying, and I don't like to do it, but I wish the author would take some basic grammar lessons particularly in handling objective and subjective pronouns. Too many errors in that aspect. We hear the same all the time, but professional writers should do better. Or is she saying that her characters are ignorant and don't know how to speak the language? She has not presented them that way, so I have to believe the ignorance is with the author and editor.
January 5, 2019
Seems like a cute, light mystery. Love the setting. But I got about a quarter of the way into it and hit the sentence "Lady Dixon led Jane and I through the dining room." I'm honestly not sure a book where the author and editor both pass a sentence like that can possibly be worth reading. I regret that I paid money for it.
January 17, 2019
Rose
While to me this was geared toward young adults, it was enjoyable. However, I really don't believe I'll be following this series or author. Characters were shallow and the plot predictable with no surprises.
While to me this was geared toward young adults, it was enjoyable. However, I really don't believe I'll be following this series or author. Characters were shallow and the plot predictable with no surprises.
June 9, 2019
First in a Kindle Unlimited series. This isn’t a book that I would ever have bought, but since I’ve got free KU for one month, I am exploring what books are offered. I’m up for a light summer read, and since I like historical mysteries, I thought I’d try this series set in the 1920s with a protagonist whose father, a British governor general in India, was just murdered along with her mother by a bomb tossed into their car. Rather improbably, Rose, our heroine, survived with only a fractured, lacerated cheek: seriously? After telling us how packed into the car she was with the other passengers?
MAJOR SPOILER ALERT: PLEASE DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED THE BOOK
The identity of the murderer was no real surprise, but there was one major twist near the end that I did not expect. Rose is an impostor, an American orphan with a secret in her abusive past who somehow ended up as a lady’s maid to the real Rose’s family, and even more improbably as a friend and surrogate daughter. The real Rose was killed in the explosion along with her parents, but was burned beyond recognition so Nellie Dennet, her real name, assumed Rose's identity.
An heiress, Rose is traveling back to England with a middle-aged married couple as chaperones, and she seems to turn off her feelings about the horror she just endured rather easily. The writing is competent, even pleasant to read, but everything is a bit shallow and superficial: characterization, emotions, and plot logic. And rather shamelessly, the author even created a French detective with whiskers à la Hercule Poirot, someone named Achilles Pridoux. Maybe it’s meant to be an homage.
One note: she named her ocean liner the RMS Star of India, but the only boat I can find by that name is a famous windjammer built in 1863. The story seems to be filled with anachronisms as well. The characters do not speak nor conduct themselves the way the upper crust British did in the 1920s, and the details of shipboard routine don’t seem accurate to the era either. The examples are too numerous to list, but here is one: Mrs. Worthy brings Rose a kiwi for breakfast. Oh no, she didn’t! :D That word wasn’t even invented by New Zealand farmers until 1962 as a marketing ploy for what had been called up until then a Chinese gooseberry. This is 1926! I very much doubt they would be serving Chinese gooseberries at all, and they certainly would not be calling them kiwis.
There are also are a number or typos and other errors. At one point, Rose mistakenly refers to the murdered woman, Ruby, as Rose. [This is one reason why you never name two characters with the same first initial.] There were several other simple issues like this.
I ended up skimming the book and will only skim the others to find out what else Rose is hiding.
MAJOR SPOILER ALERT: PLEASE DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED THE BOOK
The identity of the murderer was no real surprise, but there was one major twist near the end that I did not expect. Rose is an impostor, an American orphan with a secret in her abusive past who somehow ended up as a lady’s maid to the real Rose’s family, and even more improbably as a friend and surrogate daughter. The real Rose was killed in the explosion along with her parents, but was burned beyond recognition so Nellie Dennet, her real name, assumed Rose's identity.
An heiress, Rose is traveling back to England with a middle-aged married couple as chaperones, and she seems to turn off her feelings about the horror she just endured rather easily. The writing is competent, even pleasant to read, but everything is a bit shallow and superficial: characterization, emotions, and plot logic. And rather shamelessly, the author even created a French detective with whiskers à la Hercule Poirot, someone named Achilles Pridoux. Maybe it’s meant to be an homage.
One note: she named her ocean liner the RMS Star of India, but the only boat I can find by that name is a famous windjammer built in 1863. The story seems to be filled with anachronisms as well. The characters do not speak nor conduct themselves the way the upper crust British did in the 1920s, and the details of shipboard routine don’t seem accurate to the era either. The examples are too numerous to list, but here is one: Mrs. Worthy brings Rose a kiwi for breakfast. Oh no, she didn’t! :D That word wasn’t even invented by New Zealand farmers until 1962 as a marketing ploy for what had been called up until then a Chinese gooseberry. This is 1926! I very much doubt they would be serving Chinese gooseberries at all, and they certainly would not be calling them kiwis.
There are also are a number or typos and other errors. At one point, Rose mistakenly refers to the murdered woman, Ruby, as Rose. [This is one reason why you never name two characters with the same first initial.] There were several other simple issues like this.
I ended up skimming the book and will only skim the others to find out what else Rose is hiding.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 19, 2019
Every summer I find myself desperate for new books that fulfill the following criteria:
1. summer mystery
2. fun story
I can feel you roll your eyes, but hear me out. I am a fan of dark thrillers and deep-thinker stories, but lying on the beach sand under a blazing sun in 100+ degree heat is not the time to be reading that stuff. No. I want to read a light fun story where, typically, our quirky female heroine captures the bad guy before afternoon tea. These types of stories are perfect for reading while listening to waves crash on to shore. I specifically search for these stories (hence the theme week) and found A Subtle Murder.
I was disappointed. A Subtle Murder wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t that great. I almost always feel guilty writing these types of reviews, but in this case…I know Blythe Baker could have done so much more.
The plot was good. It was well developed and planned out. I liked Rose Beckingham: her past, her secrets, and her personality. But that was where my enjoyment of the story ended. Nothing else seemed to be developed past the initial draft stage. The setting needed more description. The supporting characters were rather one-dimensional, with their negative traits overshadowing any positive attributes. I can not remember any of their names and I just finished the book last month!
I know Blythe Baker is a decent story teller, because I easily found myself drawn to Rose and her journey. She did a decent job writing that one specific character. And yet, here I am giving A Subtle Murder a resounding meh. This is my main issue with cozy mysteries. They are typically published while still needing one to two good draft edits where the author works on developing the background ‘fluff.’
I’d like to say I am tempted to continue the series just to find out what happens to Rose….but let’s be honest…I won’t be reading the next book in the series.
Are you a Blythe Baker fan? Does the series get any better? Do you have any vacation themed mysteries I should check out instead? Hit me with up any info you have!
Lindsay
Check out more reviews at History and Mystery!
1. summer mystery
2. fun story
I can feel you roll your eyes, but hear me out. I am a fan of dark thrillers and deep-thinker stories, but lying on the beach sand under a blazing sun in 100+ degree heat is not the time to be reading that stuff. No. I want to read a light fun story where, typically, our quirky female heroine captures the bad guy before afternoon tea. These types of stories are perfect for reading while listening to waves crash on to shore. I specifically search for these stories (hence the theme week) and found A Subtle Murder.
I was disappointed. A Subtle Murder wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t that great. I almost always feel guilty writing these types of reviews, but in this case…I know Blythe Baker could have done so much more.
The plot was good. It was well developed and planned out. I liked Rose Beckingham: her past, her secrets, and her personality. But that was where my enjoyment of the story ended. Nothing else seemed to be developed past the initial draft stage. The setting needed more description. The supporting characters were rather one-dimensional, with their negative traits overshadowing any positive attributes. I can not remember any of their names and I just finished the book last month!
I know Blythe Baker is a decent story teller, because I easily found myself drawn to Rose and her journey. She did a decent job writing that one specific character. And yet, here I am giving A Subtle Murder a resounding meh. This is my main issue with cozy mysteries. They are typically published while still needing one to two good draft edits where the author works on developing the background ‘fluff.’
I’d like to say I am tempted to continue the series just to find out what happens to Rose….but let’s be honest…I won’t be reading the next book in the series.
Are you a Blythe Baker fan? Does the series get any better? Do you have any vacation themed mysteries I should check out instead? Hit me with up any info you have!
Lindsay
Check out more reviews at History and Mystery!
March 18, 2019
Read the entire series in a week - books are entertainingly light and fluffy, although the situations do get more and more far-fetched, and I was pleased to get to the end of Book 5. The main complaint is the liberal splattering of 'Americanisms' throughout the books - even with everything taken into account in the storyline, there are many characters who would say streets and pavements rather than blocks and sidewalks. The first book is the best of them all. Enjoy!
January 21, 2020
This is the first in what promises to be a very good historical mystery series. I really liked Rose's character. I hope we'll get to see more of Aseem and Achilles in the subsequent books.
March 30, 2021
What a ripoff. This was one of those teaser introductory offers which Amazon Prime occasionally offers, but I clicked the "buy it" instead of "get it free" box and didn't notice until too late that I'd actually paid for it. Once I started reading the book, something seemed off. It almost reads as though it was written by a clever AI algorithm. Insert basic plot outline and off it goes. Every noun requires two or three adjectives culled from a word list from 1925. Every piece of clothing is described in minute detail. Random example: "Her dark hair, covered with a white cloche hat, was tucked into a bun at the base of her neck, and she wore a light blue tea gown with loose sleeves that cuffed at her wrists." There are also some jarring inconsistencies and grammatical errors, mentioned in other reviews, when references clearly not from the 1920's appear. The lack of editing is unfortunately typical.
I suspect that the algorithm's target audience options were set to vapid teen girl; I realized too late that this is a Young Reader's novel, and is clearly aimed at the Nancy Drew audience. The problem is that the Stratemeyer syndicate did a far better job of editing Nancy Drew. It would have been interesting if the same plot (which I figured out quickly and confirmed by reading some of the spoiler reviews) were applied to the "1949 hardboiled detective" or "little old lady detective" or "alienated loner" genre.
In any event, after about 50 pages, I gave up.
I suspect that the algorithm's target audience options were set to vapid teen girl; I realized too late that this is a Young Reader's novel, and is clearly aimed at the Nancy Drew audience. The problem is that the Stratemeyer syndicate did a far better job of editing Nancy Drew. It would have been interesting if the same plot (which I figured out quickly and confirmed by reading some of the spoiler reviews) were applied to the "1949 hardboiled detective" or "little old lady detective" or "alienated loner" genre.
In any event, after about 50 pages, I gave up.
August 19, 2019
Real talk: I had to google whether this book was satire. I don’t leave reviews if I’m not going to rave about the beautiful writing; however, I am making an exception. So, here’s the good stuff first— the premise had so much promise. The execution was poor at best. There were so many places in which the plot was difficult to follow. It didn’t feel polished. I was left with so many questions— the most prominent of which was WHY THE HELL WAS ROSE EVEN GETTING INVOLVED? There was no reason. It was like the author was like, “readers are dumb.” I wanted to quit so many times, but I didn’t because I’m not a quitter. I thought for sure the whole book was a spoof once I got to the bit about Achilles the detective (a pitiful attempt to equate this book with the likes of Agatha Christie). Market this as a parody.
April 13, 2020
This is quite a tough book to review.
On the one hand, the writing draws you in and encourages you to continue reading.
On the other hand, this isn't a very good book.
Rose is a very bad detective, she has zero skills and flounders around until she stumbles on the solution. She's also a criminal and deserves to be spending a long time in jail.
The secondary characters are almost all deeply unpleasant and / or very annoying.
There are also a lot of details that don't ring true for 1920's British society.
On the one hand, the writing draws you in and encourages you to continue reading.
On the other hand, this isn't a very good book.
Rose is a very bad detective, she has zero skills and flounders around until she stumbles on the solution. She's also a criminal and deserves to be spending a long time in jail.
The secondary characters are almost all deeply unpleasant and / or very annoying.
There are also a lot of details that don't ring true for 1920's British society.
June 28, 2020
A rather preposterous imitation of the Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers drawing room cosy mystery, only on a 1926 passenger steamer from India to London. After a passenger is murdered, the crew does virtually nothing and the mysterious death is solved by the plucky young heroine. The holes in the plot would sink a large steam ship. The title is a mystery. The cover art for the series is cute, but the Hon. Phryne Fisher got there first. Re-reading one of the mystery classics would be a better use of your time.
December 12, 2022
A silly and obvious knock-off of a Phryne Fisher novel, Death by Water. Funnily enough, I was reading both these books at the same time - one in hardcover, the other on Kindle.
The MFC in this one is one of those "detectives" who first decide who the killer is, and then looks for the evidence.
She also has a secret that sets up the next book in the series.
Phryne's story is much better.
The MFC in this one is one of those "detectives" who first decide who the killer is, and then looks for the evidence.
She also has a secret that sets up the next book in the series.
Phryne's story is much better.
June 18, 2019
Light mystery
Enjoyable premise. If you are an avid mystery reader, you will figure out the plot rather quickly. The setting and time period add interest.
Enjoyable premise. If you are an avid mystery reader, you will figure out the plot rather quickly. The setting and time period add interest.
July 12, 2019
Rose Beckingham has secrets. She is the only survivor of a bombing in India. Mourning her loss, she's going home to England. Can she start over after the loss of her family? As she sails on the Star of India, a woman she knows is murdered. Rose decides to investigate. Will her inquisitive nature put her in danger? Rose is an interesting character. She's quick witted and resourceful. The mystery surrounding her pulled me in. Her questions on Ruby's murder put Rose in a risky position. When she gets close to discovering the perpetrator, she fears for her safety. Blythe Baker wrote a suspenseful mystery. There are quite a few suspects and surprising twists that made it difficult to know who the killer was. The setting on a luxury liner was a perfect setting. I enjoyed the dialogue which was subtle but pointed. This a great start to this new series.
April 5, 2023
Rose's hidden secret actually seem to be more appealing than the murder mystery this book dealt with, this secret is never fully revealed. The book, which is in part a page turner, is not affected by this non revelation as its story is complete.The characters were well drawn, especially Rose, sufficiently so that I found myself in empathy with her. It was not difficult to work out the perpetrator of the crime as the suspect list was not that long. The story line is sufficiently interesting to keep you reading to the end, so go ahead and read.
February 6, 2023
I really enjoyed this murder mystery book. It was cute and engaging, I think I will get the next one in the series ❤️
April 22, 2022
The beginning of another excellently written murder mystery series by Blythe Baker. Rose Beckingham's story leads into that of the Miss Alice Murder Mysteries, so is a must-read for those who have read about Miss Alice Buckingham.
Strong mystery, a slight thread of romantic possibility, and a life-and-death secret all combine to make this a page-turner.
Strong mystery, a slight thread of romantic possibility, and a life-and-death secret all combine to make this a page-turner.
May 20, 2020
I have struggled to find books that keep my interest during this quarantine. I started several and couldn’t get into anything. My bookworm sister suggested this mystery series and it is just what I needed. Light and fun murder mysteries. Thanks, Nikki!
March 10, 2025
This was a fun, quick read.
November 23, 2022
This is a surface level review based on what I have read so far. I'll update once I finish.
The problem I have with this book is that the main character doesn't feel like a main character. She feels more like a Dr.Watson than a Sherlock Holmes.
Watson was created so that the audience had a voice, a brain, an insight into the case.
Rose Beckingham fulfills that part. What is missing is the main character 'spark'. The element that elevates her to the level that allows her to carry the plot on her shoulders and I don't believe she has this.
Columbo has this, even tho the plot is from the murderers POV, columbo has the gravitas, the charisma, the quirks and the character to make it all fit.
Poirot, again makes it fit. He is a vain Belgian but again he has the personality to make the case his own regardless of his 'faults'
Holmes was very much operating on a different level, didn't suffer fools and was only concerned with keeping mentally 'busy'
Even Batman had a keen mind and deductive abilities but couldnt show them off 50% of the time as during this times he was a 'foppish playboy'.
These extremes made the characters human, not just a one note murder solving machine.
They were human, regardless of anything else and even though they were beyond audience ability they were still relatable
Rose Beckingham has none of this. Every character in the book is defined by one trait and only has one level to them.
Rose is a survivor of a terrorist attack so u can assume that she has a penchant for foiling plots or exposing 'bad guys'. That is an interesting hook and wants you to keep reading to find out the layers of her personality to find out the depths of her commitment, her desires. But, everything she does is based on what the 'audience' thinks.
There is no nuance to her actions. No intuition. No quirks, personality or window into her thoughts.
She believes a suspect is the murderer based on what she believes. Nothing more, nothing less.
You could argue she is a fledgeling, a novice and this holds up but again, she is playing the part of the audience as a supporting character.
There is no main character, no plot depth, no revelation as she works things out.
She follows the main suspect and branches out as she finds things that slowly move her gaze.
Well written but it will have to have a good ending for me to revise this
The problem I have with this book is that the main character doesn't feel like a main character. She feels more like a Dr.Watson than a Sherlock Holmes.
Watson was created so that the audience had a voice, a brain, an insight into the case.
Rose Beckingham fulfills that part. What is missing is the main character 'spark'. The element that elevates her to the level that allows her to carry the plot on her shoulders and I don't believe she has this.
Columbo has this, even tho the plot is from the murderers POV, columbo has the gravitas, the charisma, the quirks and the character to make it all fit.
Poirot, again makes it fit. He is a vain Belgian but again he has the personality to make the case his own regardless of his 'faults'
Holmes was very much operating on a different level, didn't suffer fools and was only concerned with keeping mentally 'busy'
Even Batman had a keen mind and deductive abilities but couldnt show them off 50% of the time as during this times he was a 'foppish playboy'.
These extremes made the characters human, not just a one note murder solving machine.
They were human, regardless of anything else and even though they were beyond audience ability they were still relatable
Rose Beckingham has none of this. Every character in the book is defined by one trait and only has one level to them.
Rose is a survivor of a terrorist attack so u can assume that she has a penchant for foiling plots or exposing 'bad guys'. That is an interesting hook and wants you to keep reading to find out the layers of her personality to find out the depths of her commitment, her desires. But, everything she does is based on what the 'audience' thinks.
There is no nuance to her actions. No intuition. No quirks, personality or window into her thoughts.
She believes a suspect is the murderer based on what she believes. Nothing more, nothing less.
You could argue she is a fledgeling, a novice and this holds up but again, she is playing the part of the audience as a supporting character.
There is no main character, no plot depth, no revelation as she works things out.
She follows the main suspect and branches out as she finds things that slowly move her gaze.
Well written but it will have to have a good ending for me to revise this
February 8, 2019
It wasn’t a bad start to the story and Rose had an interesting back-story with continuous hints of a mysterious secret. Although even with the revelations at the end of the book I was still not sure about her. At times she was a bit pathetic, but on other occasions she was a strong capable woman.
The mystery was OK, but I would have liked more ‘normal’ interaction between Rose and the other characters, everything was just seemed to be about the murder.
Overall I quite enjoyed the book, although I could have done without Achilles Prideaux, he just seemed to keep turning up giving out meaningless dire warnings, I just worry that the author has lined him up as a future romantic interest.
The mystery was OK, but I would have liked more ‘normal’ interaction between Rose and the other characters, everything was just seemed to be about the murder.
Overall I quite enjoyed the book, although I could have done without Achilles Prideaux, he just seemed to keep turning up giving out meaningless dire warnings, I just worry that the author has lined him up as a future romantic interest.
July 17, 2019
If I hadn’t known this was a published book, I would have thought it was a high school writing project. Everything about it was flat and corny. The characters were blah, Rose was seemingly paranoid, because she kept mentioning that people didn’t like her, and since when did a luxury ship of the 1920s have a travel cup? No well-to-do woman of the era would have carried her tray out to the deck, let alone be sipping her tea or coffee out of a travel cup! It was all china back in the day. The author kept reminding us of the era we were in by
describing the clothing the characters wore. Too bad someone on the boat died, but I really didn’t care.
describing the clothing the characters wore. Too bad someone on the boat died, but I really didn’t care.
October 10, 2019
Predictable plot
Achilles Pridoue, an obvious knockoff of Christie’s Hercule down to his mustache, but with the added gloss of handsome features, lent little to the plot. Too many anachronisms that belied the 1926 setting, and regrettable grammatical errors using subjective pronouns where objective case was indicated made me want to scream for an editor. Author needs authentic detail found only through taking the time and effort to research the period beyond a few obvious fashion observations.
Achilles Pridoue, an obvious knockoff of Christie’s Hercule down to his mustache, but with the added gloss of handsome features, lent little to the plot. Too many anachronisms that belied the 1926 setting, and regrettable grammatical errors using subjective pronouns where objective case was indicated made me want to scream for an editor. Author needs authentic detail found only through taking the time and effort to research the period beyond a few obvious fashion observations.
January 25, 2019
Rose is making the trip back to England after a terrible ordeal in India. The novel is set in the mid 1920’s. Early the first morning at sea, a woman is found dead. Rose had been seated with her at dinner the previous night and wants answers. This begins a slow moving story thru the solution of the murder. There are a few surprises along the way. It was an interesting story but is lacking in development.
March 30, 2019
Somewhat disappointing
There was no real reason for the main character to investigate the murder, and she did it so clumsely, blyth ly ignoring warnings of danger while proclaiming constantly that she could take care of herself, which she could not. She showed no sympathy toward the little stow away, who eventually saved her life, letting him go off into London without trying to repay him. I didn't care for her or the story at all.
There was no real reason for the main character to investigate the murder, and she did it so clumsely, blyth ly ignoring warnings of danger while proclaiming constantly that she could take care of herself, which she could not. She showed no sympathy toward the little stow away, who eventually saved her life, letting him go off into London without trying to repay him. I didn't care for her or the story at all.
November 18, 2019
Much has already been said about the editing need, so I'll just mention that too much of this supposed 1920's 'luxury liner' sounded like a modern day cruise ship. No where near similar. Buffets in the dining room, cafes, waitresses?, mugs, bills. And a steamer trunk of the time packed with the kind of clothing needed for a three week sailing unpacked in less than 15 minutes, not likely. And where were the maids and cabin stewards, and proper dining room waiters. And the maitre de?
April 12, 2021
Rose travels aboard ship from India to London, under the watchful eyes of her guardians, after escaping, scarred, from a horrible terrorist attack that killed her family. While at sea, a woman is found murdered, and Rose plays invesrigator to try to find the murderer. What secrets was the woman hiding? Was the victim the only one with secrets? An OK book, but after the mystery was solved, I'll probably not read all of the Rose series.
May 13, 2021
Unfortunately, lame!
I had just finished reading the author’s series, Anna Fairweather mysteries. (So much better!) I found this book and thought it would be a good read. So many faults - usage of language foreign to the time period, juvenile writing. It read like a young adult book. No depth of character information. The ending is leading to the next book, but I’m going to pass. I recommend that you pass on this book too.
I had just finished reading the author’s series, Anna Fairweather mysteries. (So much better!) I found this book and thought it would be a good read. So many faults - usage of language foreign to the time period, juvenile writing. It read like a young adult book. No depth of character information. The ending is leading to the next book, but I’m going to pass. I recommend that you pass on this book too.
April 2, 2023
Rose Beckingham is a wealthy young woman whose parents were killed in a bombing in India. She is on her way home to England under the care of another couple. The entire story takes place on the ship. A woman from their dinner table is found dead the first morning. Rose feels the need to try and solve the murder. I didn't find Rose a particularly interesting or appealing character and the mystery was easily solved.
June 24, 2020
Sadly, didn’t care for this book. Unconvincing characters that I just couldn’t develop an interest in, stilted conversations, phrases and terms that didn’t come into use until years (even decades) later, and just lost interest in the plot line. I didn’t so much dislike the book as just couldn’t care about the characters.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 165 reviews