Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: Cozy

  • Murder at the Island Hotel

    Murder at the Island Hotel

    Miss Underhay #15

    It is the Spring of 1936 and Kitty Bryant and her friend Alice have gone over to the newly established Bird Hotel on the remote Bird Island, to do an assessment of the Hotel for admission to the Torbay Hoteliers Association.

    They are looking forward to an evening of simple enjoyment, good food, with pleasing company in beautiful surroundings, until Sir Norman is found dead, apparently taking his own life, which makes little sense as he was very excited to be able to finally open his Hotel to the wider public. As the hour’s tick away and the brewing storm increases in strength it becomes obvious something is far from right.

    Stormy weather sees the phone line down, help from the Torbay Police unable to be given, leaving everyone at the Hotel wondering what will happen next. Kitty steps in in her usual calm manner to ensure the scene of the ‘murder’ is left untouched.

    When help finally does arrive, it is far too late for one of the other guests who appears to have fallen to his death on a crumbling cliff walk.  Kitty and Alice find themselves, once again the midst of murder, both trying in as discrete manner as possible, to gather as much information from the others as possible.

    Who is telling mistruths and who is not is the real question and once the real state of Sir Norman Whittier’s financial affairs is known, it seems several of the guests, including his fiancé Marie Monbiere, could well have had good reason to murder the man. 

    Murder at the Island Hotel has a well thought out plot, populated with very interesting cast of characters, all of whom are thespians or connected to the world of theatre, which adds a further intriguing layer to this delightfully old- fashioned cozy murder mystery.

  • Murder on the Cornish Cliffs (A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery Book 16)

    Murder on the Cornish Cliffs (A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery Book 16)

    A completely unputdownable 1920s cozy murder mystery

    There has been a murder committed but who did it becomes a seriously tangled web of lies, deceit and a little madness, along with roast seagull and few other oddities before Lady Eleanor “Ellie” Swift, her indomitable Butler Clifford, aided by the duo of Master Gladstone and Tomkins, as well as the handsome Hugh, finally discover who really did commit murder.

    A missive delivered to Clifford at Henley Hall asks him to come to Gwel an Mor in Lostenev, Cornwall the home of Mr Cunliffe, a long-time friend of Ellie’s Uncle Byron Henley, to see if he can discover why he is being slowly poisoned.

    Cunliffe is a very traditional man, a bachelor and a man formerly of the Financial world before he retired. Intrigued, the pair decided to go to Cornwall to see if they can help, even though it is only days before Christmas and Ellie is looking forward to spending precious time with Hugh over the festive season.

    Upon arrival they are met by the local Police Inspector Trevilick, and are told murder has occurred, which stuns both Ellie and Clifford. Nothing changes this state of affairs as arriving at the door, they are greeted by a lady in black, unfriendly and muttering about local superstition under her breath.

    Unfortunately, things go from bad to worse over the next few days and after another murder occurs in a very chilling manner, Clifford and Ellie decide they need the help of Hugh to try and discover exactly what is happening and why.

    Are the local superstitions they keep having to confront clues to the very challenging situation that is beginning to evolve and why is it, that everyone that lives at Gwel an Mor seems slightly nutty or have secrets to hide.

    Verity Bright has created another intriguing cozy murder mystery in Murder on the Cornish Cliffs to be solved by the very clever Lady Eleanor Swift and her talented team of Clifford, Hugh and Master Gladstone and Tompkins, although no one is all too sure just what they managed to discover other than food!

    Murder on the Cornish Cliffs has an excellent section at the end of Historical Notes which offers insights into Cornish Pixies, frequently referred to, Devil Worship and Mr Crowley, mentioned a few times, Cornish Lighthouses, Lost Gardens from which the gardens of Gwel an Mor were created, Egg Collecting an Edwardian and Victorian pastime, Mrs Liddicoat’s Seagull Recipe and finally Cornish Music and Instruments.

    Settle in for an excellent read on a cool day and enjoy Murder on the Cornish Cliffs and see if you can work out who really did do it, before Ellie solves the mystery.

  • Murder by Invitation

    Murder by Invitation

    A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery Book 15

    Lady Eleanor (Ellie) Swift is reunited with the love of her life Hugh Sheldon, upon her return from America, but is in a dilemma as to the wisdom of having become engaged. Hugh has some time owing and is spending it is Little Buckford, enjoying Ellie’s company, which is a delight not just for Ellie, but also for the staff, as they adore the handsome Detective who is to become part of their household.

    Meanwhile the village of Little Buckford is getting very excited about the King’s birthday celebrations and its out to make a statement with the decorations and many planned events. Every household is involved in making Bunting, baking and growing impressive gardens to beatify the Village.

    Ellie, reluctantly attending yet another emergency committee meeting, notes the atmosphere is very fraught. The Chairman Mr Prestwick-Peterson (PP), less than popular for his almost obsessive attention to detail, becomes very upset when the blacksmith Mr Dawkins interrupts the meeting.

    Henley Hall is in a flurry of creativity and baking when the news PP has been found dead is delivered. Naturally Ellie, along with Hugh go to the scene, where they discover the many items created for the event scattered all over the halls, the body of PP, strangled with red and blue bunting.

    And so begins Murder by Invitation from Verity Bright with an excellent plot line where anyone of the many people PP has upset over the time he has spent in Little Buckford, could be the murderer. The question that troubles Ellie is who, in the little village could hate PP so much that they were prepared to commit murder.

    As Ellie and Hugh, assisted by the redoubtable Clifford begin to try find the murderer, they discover that Mr Prestwick-Peterson appears to have no recordable past; his lodging room is pristine and the only clue they can find is a faded picture of a beautiful woman.

    Time races on and the King’s Birthday celebrations rapidly approach. When an idea occurs to Ellie, she and Clifford set off investigate the old Mines long closed. Will the remarkable team find the answers they need in time or will this be their last investigation?

    Bunting, murder, love and mystery come together in this latest adventure, Murder by Invitation featuring Lady Eleanor Swift, her remarkable and unique Butler Clifford, Detective Hugh Sheldon, Gladstone and his new best friend Tompkins, in what is a page turning cozy murder of the most enjoyable style set, in the era of 1920.

  • A Dish to Die for

    A Dish to Die for

    Hayley Snow, well know writer and food critic for Key Zest is finally taking a break from the madness of life with her good friend Eric Altman and her husband Nathans small, but inquisitive dog Ziggy Stardust, when she realises Ziggy has gone missing.

    She decides to stroll further along the quiet beach and finds Ziggy digging madly in the sand, blue denim showing and what appears to be a hand showing amongst the sand. So begins another cozy murder A Dish To Die For with a plot that twists and turns throughout the culinary sector of Key West, to serve up a rather interesting conclusion.

    The dead man is GG Garcia, a man known for his ruthlessness in business and his blatant womanising, a man with powerful connections and dangerous fiends, but what is he doing somewhere he would not normal be and dead at that.

    Birdwatcher Davis Jager identifies the body, but says that he has no idea what happened as he was only there to observe the bird life; he also says he and GG had no love lost between them as GG would exploit anything he could to make money, including destroy rare bird habitat.

    Davis becomes a bit of a worry to Hayley as he seems to have adopted her, but when is brutally attacked outside of a local restaurant after talking with her, she begins to wonder what really is going on.

    Along with Miss Gloria, her mother Janet, who has been asked to cater for GG’s Memorial Service, to be held ironically at the Women’s Club, she reluctantly begins to investigate what is fast turning into a rather nasty, messy, mystery which has a long trail back into the early days of Key West and the Woman’s Club. Not at all what was expected.

    A Dish To Die For from Lucy Burdett is a slow but comfortable read, perfect for a lazy day at home or at the beach. A real bonus are the four fabulous recipes at the end of the book which feature in the story.