3.75 out of 5 stars
E-book. 1st edition. 204 pages. Published October 30th 2018 by Dreamspinner Press
Blurb:
Jonathon de Mountford’s visit to Merrychurch village to stay with his uncle Dominic gets off to a bad start when Dominic fails to appear at the railway station. But when Jonathon finds him dead in his study, apparently as the result of a fall, everything changes. For one thing, Jonathon is the next in line to inherit the manor house. For another, he’s not so sure it was an accident, and with the help of Mike Tattersall, the owner of the village pub, Jonathon sets out to prove his theory—if he can concentrate long enough without getting distracted by the handsome Mike.
They discover an increasingly long list of people who had reason to want Dominic dead. And when events take an unexpected turn, the amateur sleuths are left bewildered. It doesn’t help that the police inspector brought in to solve the case is the last person Mike wants to see, especially when they are told to keep their noses out of police business.
In Jonathon’s case, that’s like a red rag to a bull….
Likes:
- Solid mystery.
- Good start to the series.
- Cute romance.
- Satisfying ending.
- Cozy mystery with a gay couple.
- Mike was an amputee.
Dislikes:
- Didn’t really hook me.
- Mike didn’t give off police officer vibe.
- Wasn’t sure of the time period or country at first.
I think this was a solid cozy mystery. It hit all the usual benchmarks I expect from cozy mysteries, including a sweet romance with fade-to-black bedroom scenes. The mystery was well executed and there was a satisfying ending.
Unfortunately, I was never really hooked. Not in a way that made me feel like I just had to keep reading. I think, for all that this book hit all the right notes, it was a little basic. Mike and Jonathon were nice guys, and I’ll definitely read the rest of the series, but there isn’t anything super unique or interesting about them.
I did like that Mike was an amputee. It wasn’t brought up often, and didn’t really affect his life much. But it added a little bit of diversity into what was basically a placid middle-class English village of white people. I don’t mean that as a critique, but I am definitely aware that American cozies tend to have more diversity among the side characters.
Mike was introduced early and it was always obvious that he was going to be the romantic interest. He didn’t give off policeman vibes, despite having been a Detective Inspector before taking over the pub. He and Jonathon got along well, and their relationship developed in a very natural way. I don’t mind the lack of smut, because that’s in keeping with cozy mysteries.
I was a little confused about when and where this book was taking place at first. The village of Merrychurch does hint at England, but that was all the blurb mentioned. I was happy to see that my questions were answered within the first few paragraphs. It’s a modern setting and is indeed set in England.
I am always happy to see cozy mysteries with gay main characters, especially since there are relatively few of them. I’m excited for the next two books. Even though I wasn’t super invested in this book, it was a pleasant read.
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