Cyanide with Christie

Crime with the Classics #3

by Katherine Bolger Hyde

Having finished transforming Windy Corner, the grand Victorian mansion she inherited from her great aunt, into a writers' retreat, widowed literature professor Emily Cavanaugh is ready to receive her first set of guests. But her careful planning is thrown into disarray by the unexpected arrival of outrageous true-crime writer, Cruella Crime, whose unpardonably rude behaviour is causing great offence. As a ferocious ice storm rages outside, the guests entertain one another with a game of charades. But their revelries are brought to a sudden halt by the discovery of a body in one of the guest bedrooms. When it transpires the victim was poisoned, Emily decides to take a leaf out of the book of her favourite detective writer, Agatha Christie, and investigate. But as she pursues her enquiries, it becomes chillingly clear that she herself may have been the intended victim...

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Romance, Audiobook, Christmas, Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2019

About the author

Katherine Bolger Hyde is the author of the Crime with the Classics series as well as several books for children. A lifelong lover of literature (and alliteration), Katherine has a degree in Russian literature and works as editorial director for Ancient Faith Publishing. She lives in the redwoods of Santa Cruz County, California, with her husband and the youngest of her four children. Katherine loves to sing and knit, and she dreams of one day designing and building her own storybook cottage in the woods.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cyanide With Christie is the third book in the Crime With the Classics series. I have had this series on my TBR list for some time, but just never seemed to start it. Once I saw the newest title was an homage to Agatha Christie (my favorite author for 40+ years), I finally got with the program and started reading. So glad I did! I really enjoyed this book!

Although the background theme of a relative inheriting a huge house and lots of money from a dead relative is a bit of a trope in cozy mysteries, I like what Katherine Bolger Hyde did with it. Her MC, Emily, inherits a large victorian home from her aunt, plus nearly unlimited funds....so she decides to turn Windy Corner into a writers retreat center. The house has six newly remodeled rooms all centered around a different classic author. Dickens. Christie. Montgomery. Forster. Austen. Bronte. Dostoevsky.

I wish Windy Corner was real! I would definitely go write there! And I would ask for the Christie room, of course!

I loved how the plot set up like a Christie novel. A group of people invited to a stately manor. Bad weather comes in to trap them there. An uninvited guest...or a surprise of some sort...reveals that one guest is hated by all the others. Hated guest dies horribly. Everyone is a suspect. Cool twisty ending nobody sees coming. Neat ending for everyone else involved. Loved it! Nice Christiesque feel with a modern edge.

I have the other two books in this series -- Arsenic With Austen and Bloodstains with Bronte -- on my TBR shelf. I'm definitely going to backtrack a bit and start with book one. I'm going to read this series through from the start. It isn't necessary to read the books in order....I jumped in at #3 and was able to figure things out...but I'd like to get all the character and background development from books one and two, then re-read this third book.

All in all, a well-written and enjoyable mystery! I'm definitely going to be reading more by this author. I like her writing style and her characters.

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Severn House via Netgalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful. My first Cozy Mystery book read. Using a theme used by our 'Agatha' - I thought was brilliant. Especially the setting in a refurbished Victorian mansion dedicated as a writer's retreat. Each room furnished to match with a specific author eg Bronte, Forster.
Incredibly well plotted.
Unputdownable

[Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

“First you get married, then you work it out.” Katherine Bolger Hyde’s Cyanide with Christie (Crime with the Classics #3), I believe this book ends this trilogy of Crime with the Classic Mysteries, but I hope that I am incorrect as I was an high school English teacher, and attempting to solve a crime with classic literature, I think, is a very clever idea. the author used Agatha Christie for this mystery. In the first book the author used Jane Austen and some of her works. The second book is entitled Bloodstains with Brontë, and the author had the protagonist reading Wuthering Heights, and Jane Eyre! Emily Cavanaugh inherited a Victorian mansion named Windy Corner in which she plans to remodel the house and use it as a writer’s retreat. Emily is about to have her first ‘writer retreat’ at Christmas. (My personal question is Emily ‘crackers’? Christmas and the first writer’s retreat?! No pun intended- English crackers, but Emily did have English crackers on the Christmas table!. As Emily waits for her guests to arrive (of which she knew only one - Marguerite -a fellow professor(French) and Emily’s best friend.) and the ‘retreat’ begins, a stranger appears at the front door. The weather has turned into a snow and ice storm. Emily invites the stranger into Windy Corner. First mistake! Then Emily introduces the stranger to her guests. Second mistake! Will all have a Happy Christmas? I guess that you will have to read this book to answer that question, 4.25 stars.

[JoAn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cyanide with Christie by Katherine Bolger Hyde reminded me of a gothic mystery though set in modern times.

Ms. Hyde has set this modern gothic mystery at Emily's newly remodeled Victorian home called Windy Corners. During the evening's Christmas activities one of the guests is poisoned. It soon becomes clear that the woman who was murdered may not have been the intended victim. The plot was smoothly paced with several twists, characters that you "love to hate" and a snow and ice storm that strands every one at Windy Corners. Luckily Emily's gentleman friend, Luke, is also present. Being the sheriff of their small Oregon town, he's immediately on the job but it may not be enough. An engaging read for a couple of afternoons.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book from Severn House Publishers via NetGalley. All of the above opinions are my own.

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh...another disappointment in this series, which got off to such a fun start!

Emily, our heroine, is extraordinarily judgmental. Weight, clothing (including colors), mannerisms--she judges people as soon as she sees them, before she even meets them, and never changes her opinions. To think her boyfriend admired her "respect for others!" Only if the others are like herself or of a very specific type of unlike herself. I abhor reading about judgmental people, because I feel like they'd judge me if I met them. This is a big part of why John Green's novels fail for me. I refuse to relate to people who bond over misanthropy.

Despite being a Christmastime novel, this doesn't have a Christmassy feel. The murder was dramatic but only took place about halfway through, so there was plenty of time to set up a good Christmas spirit beforehand, but that didn't happen. Mostly because Emily was fake-smiling at all the people in her house whom she's hated since the beginning. Maybe, if you're an extremely judgmental woman, don't open your home to the public. Just a hint.

I'll finish out the series, but I might just settle on the first book of the series and not ever return to these later volumes until I'm a judgmental old lady myself.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I'm done with Katherine Bolger Hyde. I've given her 3 chances now to do something remotely interesting or original in her books featuring Emily Cavanaugh and she whiffed it each time. I was willing to give this one a shot because I love Agatha Christie and was hoping for an enjoyable mystery, but instead found characters whose role as good guy or bad guy was easy to figure out based on how much they snarled, sneered and hissed at each other (I think Ms. Hyde spends too much time with her cats). Good old Emily continued her flaky behavior toward Luke Richards, who finds her attractive for reasons unknown. However, I did love her condescending remark to him that since she found an intellectual soulmate in a new character, Luke didn't have to worry about being an uneducated lunkhead because he still turned her on and she essentially didn't care if he had a brain. Another reviewer complained how judgemental Emily was about her guests, but I was just blown away by how ignorant she was to this guy who's always there for her no matter how stupidly she behaves and his reward is a kick in the face. If either the romance or the murder mystery had been more engaging or believable, I could overlook the silliness of the other, but unfortunately they were both a waste of time.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally the renovations have been completed on the Victorian mansion that is Windy Corner. Now literature professor Emily Cavanaugh can organise her first writers' retreat over the Christmas and New Year period.
But death is never far away, but who will be the victim and who the guilty party among all the suspects.
An enjoyable enough cozy mystery though I could not take to the main character. Also some of the guests' characters seemed to be a bit over the top, and therefore obvious.
A NetGalley Book

[Nora-adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series holds my attention from beginning to end. I can't wait till the next one comes out.

[Valerie Campbell Ackroyd · Rating 2 out of 5]

First, I have some admiration for people who are published writers. It's not easy both to write a book, especially a mystery, and then to be published. On top of that, someone who has a whole series of books published, well, kudos to them.
This was the second Bolger Hyde book I listened to. I had rather enjoyed the first one: the idea of an older main character appealed to me, I liked the setting--Oregon--and the mystery was interesting. In my last review I said I would read another in the series to see if she could strengthen the literary theme (each book mentions a different classical author.)
In a word, this audiobook just didn't do it for me. She leaned hard on the Agatha Christie trope of the "mansion murder at Christmas" but it felt very forced. As a Christie fan, when Emily said--in one of her many cringeworthy remarks--"Oh it feels like a Christie novel," well that finished me. Bolger Hyde did too much telling and not enough showing; as if we couldn't pick up references to Christie's style, her tropes, she had to point them out word by word. Ugh.
Whereas I had been interested in Emily in the first book, in this one I was totally turned off. I am not exactly sure how old Emily is supposed to be: 50s? 60s? but her attitude toward technology is elitist at best. To create an inn that doesn't have WiFi because she doesn't like WiFi? And then hold a writers' retreat and be surprised when some of the writers want to do research online? And also be rather "down the nose" about smartphones too. I get that some people don't like technology but even in my 70s I would say the majority of people my age that I know have at least an agreeable relationship with it. The romance between Emily and Sheriff Luke reminded me of the Harlequin Romances I read back in the early 1960s: jealousy and misunderstandings, big brave man, Emily who can't make up her mind whether she's a modern woman or not. (She's not.) What does it add to the book? For me, nothing. Christie's romances within her mysteries were appropriate for her era; I think the Emily/Luke romance in this one just is off kilter. But, then, I am not much of a cozy fan so maybe that's par for the course in cozies.
Finally, the audio part of this book didn't do it any favors for me either. The woman narrating read in a schoolmarmish kind of voice, trying to change voices in a puppet show, "now pay attention to THIS" way. And hearing the fulsome phrasing and weird similes and metaphors actually spoken . . . there were times I literally winced in the car. Reminded me of high school English class where we were trying to impress with our newly found vocabularies. No.
No more Bolger Hyde but I am sure there will be people--there already are people, judging from the reviews--that will find this cozy just their cup of tea.

[Daniele · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
CYANIDE WITH CHRISTIE is an enjoyable cozy mystery that pays homage to the great Agatha Christie. The author sets the stage for a locked room mystery with writer guests coming to town for protagonist Emily’s inaugural writers’ retreat over the Christmas holiday and encountering a debilitating winter storm that leaves everyone stranded amidst a killer. The victim is sufficiently wicked and unlikable, and the suspects, though a little over-the-top at times, are diverse and intriguing. I particularly enjoyed that, though everyone has a valid motive, Cruella Crime might or might not have even been the killer’s target.

Not having read the previous (two) books in the series, which I plan to remedy ASAP, I might be missing something in Emily and her love interest Luke’s back story, but Luke’s jealousy seems out of character for a more mature leading man. Also, I find it highly unbelievable that Emily, a professional woman in her fifties/early sixties, would eschew technology as she does here. These are small quibbles, though, and did not deter my enjoyment of the book.

I really liked CYANIDE WITH CHRISTIE and recommend it to any cozy mystery or Agatha Christie fan.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley and voluntarily shared my thoughts here.

[Hannah Sanborn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good 3 stars. It had a great Agatha Christie tone and did it well. I felt like some of the resolutions were a bit of a stretch

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good read with a clever plot.

[Camille Bowen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Writing, not so Good Characters and lots of holes

The author writes well enough to create the scene, describe the characters and the events well enough to keep you engaged to the end. I found myself truly wanting to know what would happen at the conclusion and I wasn't terribly disappointed.

As for the protagonist, she is not likeable. As many have said she is clearly judgemental but in that ignorant and arrogant way, for example she shreds a middle aged woman for having the audacity to wear heels and short skirts while she traipses around dressed like someone from 100 years earlier and somehow thinks that makes her better. She constantly refers to the traditionally "unattractive" features of people describing them as dumpy and soft bodied- most of the "bad" characters are given these types of descriptors. It's gross.

I am not certain if homophobia and sexism is at play here; she makes multiple references to manliness as if there is only on strict definition for it. There is a gay couple in the story and of course one of them has a history of losing a partner to HIV AIDS. While many gay men were initially disproportionately affected by this disease and many still face issues for a myriad of reasons, the author didn't highlight any of this, she simply used it as a stereotypical story line. Kind of disgusting..

There is also a bit of ableism or prejudice regarding alcoholism. One of the "bad" characters is written as dealing with alcoholism and is punished with less than stellar meals and condescension because he has a hang over. She also refers to her father as lacking manliness and having weakness due to him suffering alcoholism as well.

The relationship the protagonist has with her suitor Luke is red flag central. She is clearly not as into it as he. She isn't sure she wants to remarry and if so when and she doesn't want to give up her job and home just yet. Mr. Luke pesters her until she breaks down and accepts his proposal- this is clear coercion. He refers to her as his fiance before she does this- TERRIBLE sign, he becomes inexplicably jealous if he even thinks she might smile at another man and constantly tries to force himself into her bed- it has controlling and abusive written ALL OVER IT.

Lastly, the plot holes:
Why did Cruella Crime write about Hilary ( one half of the gay couple whose former partner died from HIV AIDS)- how did she, a US based author even come into contact with Hilary who was residing in the UK at the time?

Why did Oscar and Wanda keep their relationship ( mother and son) a secret? Oscar is painted as a total victim but why was he so jumpy, why did he agree to act as if he didn't know his own mother if he wasn't in on her scheme? It makes NO sense.

How could Oscar have been the nok for Emily in the event of her death? If the inheritance didn't name him as a benefactor, how would he have been entitled to anything? ( this may just be me not understanding law)

Overall, the story was reasonably paced with an okay plot, good description of scenes, good Christie homage but the characters were more caricatures and the protagonist was unlikable not to mention a multitude of judgementalism and plot holes.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Cyanide with Christie” earns 5/5 Karma Surprises…Clever and Engaging!

Marvelous! I love Katherine Bolger Hyde’s series: the writers’ retreat, a small town, renewed love, and fascinating connections to classic literature. It's Christmas, Windy Corners is festooned in all the holiday trim, and Emily is nervously anticipating her first guests arriving at the writers’ retreat. Luke Richards, renewed love and local police lieutenant, is still somewhat worried about strangers living in the house with Emily. Some unofficial background checks might be in order. The visiting authors range from well-known to new-to-the-scene, inspired to blocked, open book to quietly suspicious. One guest is flippant, critical, and well lubricated rubbing everyone the wrong way, but along with a winter storm, it's the uninvited guest, oddly penned Cruella Crime, that causes the most disruption. So, when she ends up dead…poisoned! Everyone is a suspect, including old-fashioned Karma!

Katherine uses a third-person narrative, not a favorite perspective for me, putting us on the outside looking in on the drama. However, with a clever mystery (the murder takes more time to occur than I prefer), well-developed characters (I literally cringed, though happily, at some), vivid descriptions (beautiful, stormy, and delicious), and entertaining banter (illustrates tone and personality well) she kept me totally engaged. I have become invested in Emily’s life as she enjoys a pseudo-motherly connection with her young employee Katie, navigates the renewed romance with Luke, struggles with what and who she wants in her future, and pines about the absence of blood relations including being childless. In Crime with the Classics, I am interested in all the literary references, ins and outs of running the writers’ retreat, and life in the Oregon area I, too, have spent vacations. Katherine has penned a well-paced, well-written, and engaging story that I highly recommend! The end? Agatha would be proud of the final “Oh, my!”

"Disclosure: I received an ARC. My review is voluntary with honest insights and comments."

[Cozybooklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cyanide with Christie by Katherine Bolger Hyde is an amazing addition to this series.

In this story, a quiet writer's retreat at the holidays is taking place. When a surprise visitor shows up, things become heated and the visitor, aptly named Cruella Crime, is murdered! Things take a nasty twist when it is revealed that Cruella may not have been the target.
Who is the target and will the murderer succeed?
Join Emily, Kayie, Jamie and Luke in this exciting addition to the cozy mystery family.

The author wove an excellent tale that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I was so excited with the ending, but sad that I had to say goodbye to my friends.

I volounteered to read and view an ARC of this book provided by the publisher and NetGalley.

[Carôle Ceres · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh!

I couldn’t write a Cozy Mystery, so I won’t be harsh, but this came across as quite trite, to be honest.

Both the victim and the perpetrator were heavily signposted and the only plot interest was the back stories.

I haven’t read the preceding titles so don’t know if this is standard, but it’s ‘good enough’ if you want something light to read in between more serious and weighty titles.

I listened to the audiobook version of this title, read very well by Caroline Shaffer. This is an advantage in having this included free with my subscription, so I may visit the others when I need a ‘brain break’.

[Teddi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I havent read the earlier books in series but this was free with Audible Plus (why does audible never start their free books with the 1st in series?).
Although the basic plot was interesting, the characters were this book's downfall. The main character is stuffy, uppity and judgmental. Her boyfriend is overly jealous and judgmental as well. The supporting characters are either bad or good with none in between. It also sounds like the author has a religious background due to the references to prayer and the main character's various comments.
Overall, one of those "sweet" goody goody cozies that isnt my thing at all.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ellie, who is maybe 50-something?, inherited a lot of money and a rambling mansion from her great aunt. She has turned it into a writers' retreat, with rooms themed for her favorite classic writers, and this Christmas she is welcoming the first batch of writers. The first few are wonderful people, but then another is a boorish drunk, and then an uninvited writer, who is even more poisonous and unpleasant, shows up and wreaks more havoc on the gathering since an icy storm prevents anyone leaving. Ellie is also dealing with someone renting a local cottage of hers, who is another unpleasant, rude guest who keeps showing up at the mansion with lame excuses. On top of everything, Luke, the local sheriff who is a long-lost love of Ellie's and her current steady, is insanely jealous every time Ellie even looks at another man, and is desperate to get her to commit to marry him. And then, Cruella Crime, the uninvited writer, is murdered.

On the surface, this seemed like a book I would really like, modeled on classic Christie house party murders. But I guessed the murderer pretty early on, and most of the motive, so that was anti-climactic. There was lots of great detail about food and setting and clothing, so that part was well done. Unfortunately, so many things didn't work for me. Ellie is massively judgmental about an older character dressing in a 20-something way, and while I might also think it's not quite appropriate, it's not really my business, and I was somewhat offended by the author using the way people dress as shorthand for whether their characters were "good" or "bad"--sloppy, garish, or overly-sexy dressers were the "bad" ones. Then there was an offensive devotion to the idea that a man who wasn't traditionally masculine wasn't "manly" and was therefore lesser than more typically masculine men. Which gets into my objections to the veiled homophobia, despite there being a gay couple in the village. There's an assumption that any man who does not display certain ways of speaking or acting can't possibly be gay, and then there's Luke's comment about a gay man being "one of the girls." Ugh! Top that off with how uncomfortable Luke and Ellie's relationship made me. Ellie should not string him along, yes, promising to marry him sometime in the future but rejecting his immediate proposal, but I see so many red flags in his possessiveness and jealousy and "punishing" her for showing kindness to another man, and declaring her his fiancee before she accepts his proposal, that I wouldn't accept him either. It also seems that marriage to him will mean giving up her intellectual life as a professor and writer, and giving up her mansion and the work she's set up there, so, really, is a "manly" man enough to make up for all that? I'm thinking no. So, not a win for me.

[Megan Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Retired English professor Emily Cavanaugh inherits a grand Victorian mansion from her aunt. She transforms Windy Corner into a writer’s retreat while reconnecting to members of the small Oregon community. Fellow professor and friend Marguerite has planned her first set of guests. Emily receives them just before the Christmas holiday, but things quickly go awry. Cruella Crime arrives unsolicited to replace someone she convinced not to come. The bad blood she shares with the other participants is quickly noticed but an ice storm traps them all on the property. Emily tries to entertain with carols and an old-fashioned charades game, but her boyfriend (and local sheriff) Luke discovers Cruella seizing during the party. The death is an obvious poisoning, and the ensuing investigations reveal much about the people present.
* * * * *----------* * * * *----------* * * * *
I believe this modern cozy mystery does what it sets out to do. Bad weather and a lack of Wi-Fi isolate the invited and uninvited guests at a remote manor. After someone becomes a corpse, all sorts of underlying animosities and secrets come out. The process is led by the deductions of an amateur sleuth. There are red herrings and twists along the way. The literary theming is there but lacks nuance and subtlety. The characters simply call out Agatha Christie style circumstances and tropes rather than trusting the audience to make those connections. It is also odd that there are not a lot of holiday trappings to go along with the time settings. However, eventually the bad guy is caught and the motives are revealed to both the characters and the readers. The expected formula is there. It’s fine but not really my genre. However, the more you think about the novel the worse everything seems. The romantic relationship, contrived circumstances, and murder do not make a lot of sense. Emily has had an unstable family life, thinks she has no surviving relatives, and has a large value of money and assets so she is likely to have a will. Her death will not award anyone outside of it with money despite their DNA. Emily essentially calls Luke dumb and strong but that is okay because she has other people to challenge her mentally. Meanwhile Luke doesn’t feel comfortable with her having men around despite months of renovations for the creation and opening of her bed and breakfast and demands that she agree to get married (and move from her estate) despite her own desires. The anti-technology stand is forced to help create a feeling of seclusion but is immediately abandoned when the plot calls for it. It is fine to have some characters you love to hate, I struggled to find some I cared about in this tale.

[Anam Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have several books by this author that I have been wanting to read, but just didn't have the chance. This is the third book in the series and it will be interesting to see how much that affects what I read in the first novel which is one I already own. I also own the fourth and will read that after number 2.

I was a little surprised that there wasn't more in these books regarding a religious life for any of the characters. I expected more from this author having read first The Vestibule of Heaven.

But the story was certainly engaging and the characters were interesting - I could feel like I knew them all. I did often get confused and forget the age of the protagonist. I kept thinking all the characters were younger than they are written to be. I always felt a bit of a shock when I realized their ages.

There is a writers retreat at the inherited home of Emily, a professor at a college in Portland, OR. She has taken a leave of absence from her position and is settling the affairs of her late aunt. This is a location she grew up in and so is reunited with her high school sweetheart (from 35 years before!). Luke wants to marry, but Emily keeps putting him off.

Her retreat has authors who she invited or were invited by a trusted friend. The retreat takes place over Christmas and New Years. However, one guest backs out at the last moment and asks someone else to take his place. One goest is there at the recommendation of a third person. So there are two people who simply do not fit in well with the group, nor do they play well with others.

Since this is a murder mystery, it is not a spoiler to say that someone dies. This happens while everyone is "trapped" at the house because of the weather. It is a classic Agatha Christie novel retold with twists.

A plus in this book are the references to other literature. the main con is that one friend often speaks in French and there is usually no translation. for those of us who are linguistically challenged, this means that we just skip over those passages and while we understand the story, we miss some of the nuances and details that we might have if we read French.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh...not my fav. I jumped into the middle of this series, unknowingly, so maybe that was part of the problem but mostly it suffered from the same predictability that most cozy series suffer from. I'm growing tired of the "repackaging" of Ms. Christies' novels, especially that of "And Then There Were None" where a group of people are stranded together and people start dying. The plot was basic, a group of writers at a retreat are snowed in, the rudest woman is murdered and almost everyone has a motive. Her ex-husband is there with his lover, the man she is blackmailing is there, the man whom she wrote a poison pen novel about is also there. But was the poison meant for her or for the woman who runs the retreat? Emily is rich, thanks to her aunt's death, so she could be a target for her money. It turns out that was the reason because her father had an affair with a woman and had an illegitimate son, both of whom are in attendance, and the mother tried to kill Emily so her son got the money but accidentally killed the nasty author instead. So many tropes and so many characters to keep track of I stopped caring who did it and why. I also had a hard time believing that Emily and her boyfriend were in their 50's when they got jealous and harped on their insecurities like school children.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read and enjoyed the previous book in this series, Bloodstains with Bronte and the same holds true for Cyanide with Christie. Emily is a 50+year old professor of literature at a college in Oregon and thanks to a very large inheritance from her aunt, she is embarking on a dream come true - renovating and opening her large Victorian home as a writer's retreat. Christmas is coming and she is looking forward to the festivities. Her boyfriend, Luke, the local sheriff, is in attendance but investigating a murder is not what Emily and he had planned for Christmas. During a game of charades that's exactly what they get. Add to that they are snowed in along with a group of people who, it seems, each disliked the victim. Honestly, I disliked her, as well. However, the question then becomes - was she the intended victim? In classic locked room fashion, the investigation of the remaining guests gets underway. Can Emily and Luke unmask the killer before there are more bodies?
The pace starts a bit slow but it picks up and the mystery is very satisfying, full of twists, turns and red herrings. Just what a proper cozy mystery should have.
My thanks to the publisher Severn House and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

[S Mille · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read, although if you look too hard, the plot starts to have pretty big holes in it.

When I finished this book, my first thoughts were positive - I loved the Christie references, the characters were interesting enough, and the setting (being iced in!) was novel. But when I started thinking of how to approach this review, I realized, much like the average blockbuster Superhero action film, the plot was enjoyable, but there were parts that didn't make a lot of sense. The motive was odd; the killer didn't have an apparent motive until they tried to claim the inheritance which would then give them a huge motive. There were a lot of coincidences which gave the killer access to their victim. The way the point of view kept switching between two characters almost felt like a romance novel rather than a mystery; likewise the boyfriend seemed overly jealous like in a romance novel. Even elements of the plot seemed to come from a Christie novel (including some of protagonist's thoughts).

So at this point, I figured I'd better stop analyzing - I was destroying a book I'd previously enjoyed reading. My recommendation: read it, enjoy it, but don't think too hard about the plot!

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a perfect cozy murder mystery reminiscent of an Agatha Christie. As the name suggests Katherine Hyde has been truly inspired by Agatha Christie and tries to do justice. The book is well paced, the mystery well preserved and as is usual in such locked room murder mysteries each character is doing suspicious things. It is refreshing to read a simple murder mystery without gory or graphic description of violence and mutilation.

While I liked the story and the writing what I did not like are the two main characters Luke and Emily. There is a forced attempt to create romance which lacks chemistry and is quite unnecessary to the plot. If Poirot’s character was acceptable even if he was a bachelor, I don’t understand why Emily must have a romantic saga in the background. Luke (whom Emily thinks of as Hastings ) appears to be an unnecessary appendage and is largely out of place. He appears to have been part of the house only so that he could pace around and show no other emotion except teenage jealousy . The character comes across as that of a petulant child or a jealous teen which I gather was certainly not the intent.

I would love to read another book by this author minus the romance. I wish Ms Hyde will stick to murder mystery story telling

[Julie Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did like this book but it was too drawn out and took for ever to get to the murder. I know the author has to set the scene of why everybody was there but it took too long and gave away to much of the plot, this ment the plot twist and killer came as no surprise, despite the number of suspects or even intended victim . You even knew the motive rather than guessing, which is often the case. You don't need to be a fan of the classic to listen, which had put me off in the first place, expecting lots of quotes or references that means nothing to me but there is nothing like that it. I did like the characters and the plot line, just wish it had moved at a faster pace.
When Emily opens up her home as a writers retreat, her first group of customers were recommend by a friend. Unfortunately an uninvited guest and a storm has her wishing she had held off until after the christmas holidays. Especially when like an Agatha Christie novel one of guests is murder. The guest was one of the more disagreeable ones but as Emily looks for the killer questions arise who was the intended victim and will the killer strike again.
I liked the narrator. I loved the french accent she used and to be honest she was the main reason I kept listening, although the story did pick up more by the end.

[S.J. Higbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Emily an interesting protagonist. At a time when kick ass, feisty heroines with lethal fighting skills are thick on the ground, this bookish, hesitant, and rather timid lady was a refreshing change. Although she did at times come across as a throwback from another age, particularly in her rather inexplicable attitude to her hunky and adorably devout suitor. That said, I enjoyed the clash of personalities of the would-be writers cooped up at Windy Corner when a snowstorm cuts off their retreat. Under such circumstances, the shocker would be if a body didn’t turn up – and we are not disappointed.

While there are a number of red herrings, I did work out exactly what was going on well before the denouement. That said, I was never tempted to stop reading as I was drawn into the story and frankly by the end was more held by the characters than the fallout from the murder mystery. Overall, this was a pleasant change from my normal reading and I would happily get hold of another book from this author.

While I obtained an arc of Cyanide with Christie from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10

[Susan Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Princess Fuzzypants here: Emily finally has her writer’s retreat ready for guests and chooses the unlikely time of Christmas to invite strangers into her home. Some of her guests are delightful while others are not so. In fact, a couple are the guests from Hell but being a good hostess, she will not deny them the tradition of hospitality over the holidays. Sadly, she continues another tradition: one of her despicable guests is murdered on Christmas Day. There is a never ending list of people who will not mourn her death but poison, no matter how unpleasant she might be, is an extreme resolution.
As in a Christie mystery, there is a lot going on behind the scenes and very little is what is seems at first. In fact, despite the victim being totally reprehensible as the name Cruella suggests, perhaps she was not the intended victim. There is a distinct possibility Emily herself was the mark. Now the question becomes who would harm Emily and why would they wish her dead. While I twigged very early to the killer, the reason behind both the attempt and the murder was a big surprise.
It was an entertaining read and well deserving of four purrs and two paws up.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m done with this series. The characters are so judgy but the author obviously has no qualms in promoting this as admiral character traits. Instead of the M.C. Beaton characters who are more human with quirks both positive and negative, these characters are so holier than though and so steeped in bygone ideas of how “real” men and “noble” women should look and act. I cringed continuously through this book, but finished it because I never let a book go unfinished. But it was a waste of time. Juvenile jealousy is something that shows how much your partner really cares about you, wardrobe needs to be within certain standards otherwise you get all kinds of horrid descriptors, being “manly” is the only thing necessary in a male partner, and if you aren’t an English professor you probably aren’t very smart or someone worth knowing. The grammar is good (obviously better than mine!), but there is nothing in Emily and Luke that makes me want to go back for more.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the Christmas holiday season, Emily is holding a writers’ retreat for a small group at the Victorian mansion she inherited from her aunt. Her friend from Reed College has invited the group, but when one cancels, an obnoxious young man shows up to take his place. Emily also rents a house to a woman who seems to dislike Emily from the start. Cruella Crime, a writer of true crime stories, turns out to be as horrible as her name suggests. When one guest dies during a game of charades, everyone becomes a suspect. But who was the actual intended victim? And why?
This is a lovely cozy series, filled with characters who love books. I read and enjoyed the first in this series (Arsenic with Austen) and am happy to say that this third book continues to be a very enjoyable read. Now I have added the second in the series to my TBR pile!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emily and her housekeeper and friend Katie are finally able to receive guests at the renovated mansion Emily has inherited on the Oregon coast, and the house will be full for Christmas. But Emily hasn't checked the guests very carefully, and almost half of them are people she immediately finds unpleasant. When there's a death on Christmas Day, it's lucky that her swain Luke, who's loved her since they were teens, is on hand--he's the local sheriff. But Emily is no slouch at sleuthing either. I didn't really find either of the pair too likeable, and I spotted several of the plot points early on, so three stars is a charitable rating, in the spirit of Christmas, you might say .