December 09, 2022

DEATH AT BERESFORD HALL

MY THOUGHTS:

Francesca Eve is so happy the Christmas season has arrived.  She has been selected as a participant in a baking competition.  Shortly after her arrival, trouble is brewing.  Miranda Appleby, the famous presenter turned chef is receiving some peculiar and unusual threats. And when a contest unexpectedly quits the competition, Miranda jumps in to fill the empty spot.  Fran has problems of her own when her mince pies burn and not to mention her runny cranberry sauce.  Fran finds Miranda in the kitchen with a cake slice through her heart.  Who would do such a horrible thing and, at what is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year.  Who could the murderer possibly be?  Is it the contestants, the crew or the producers themselves? The police arrive and take over the investigation and everyone is a suspect, and no one is allowed to leave.  But Fran begins her own investigation of the suspects, knowing that she has to find the culprit before it’s too late.


This was such a fabulous addition to the Adam and Eve Mystery Series.  The setting of this story was brilliant.  I love the idea of a Christmas cooking competition and haveing to solve a murder.  I loved the twists and turns of the story and I was so captivated by the characters.  They were so quirky and I could not figure out who-dun-it.  I liked all the characters and I didn’t want any of them to be the culprit.  This rapid and festive read was so entertaining and a rapid page-turner that I thoroughly enjoyed.  I was completely surprised at the ending as it was totally unexpected.  What a wonderful escape this book was. This installment to the series can be enjoyed as part of the series or as a stand-alone novel.  I highly recommend this must read for every cozy mystery fan. It is a lovely series.


Thank you Emma Davies for a wonderful addition to the series.  This cozy mystery was an absolute delight.  I loved it and I highly recommend it.


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

DESCRIPTION:

Rating: 5 out of 
DEATH AT BERESFORD HALL

Author:  Emma Davies
Publisher: Bookouture 
Publication Date: December 7, 2022 
Pages: 333
Buy on Amazon 

Francesca Eve, chef, caterer, and baker extraordinaire, has never desired the limelight. But when she’s accepted onto the country’s favourite cooking competition, she can’t help but wonder – what would it be like to win? The one thing she’d never imagined, though, was sharing the kitchen with a killer… 

When 
Francesca Eve arrives for the Christmas special of the country’s most popular baking competition, she knows she’s out of her depth. For not only is she there undercover, reluctantly investigating strange threats to Miranda Appleby, the famous presenter-come-chef, but she swiftly gets roped into competing herself when another contestant can’t cut the mustard and quits.

Cooking may be bread and butter to Fran, but under the bright lights her cranberry sauce won’t set and her mince pies burn. When the real reason she’s there ends in total failure and Miranda is found with a cake slice through the heart - ‘lights, camera, cook’ becomes ‘lights, camera, murder…’

Miranda may have looked like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, but looks can be deceiving… From her harassed PA to the rakish producer and even the disappointed contestants, everyone on set seemingly had reason enough to want to bump her off. But who would be nuts enough to cook Miranda’s goose in such an obvious way?

As the police arrive to take over the investigation, Fran can’t help but continue her own lines of enquiry. She’s come to know the crew and contestants and can’t believe that any one of them would be guilty. But Fran must harden her heart to her new friends and focus her mind.

Someone may have thought Miranda was justifiably given her just desserts, but what Fran uncovers takes things to a whole new tier. Can Fran uncover the truth before another death occurs, and before the spirit of Christmas (cake) is ruined forever?

ABOUT EMMA DAVIES

After a varied career, Emma Davies once worked for a design studio where she was asked to provide a fun and humorous (and not necessarily true) anecdote for their website. She wrote the following: 'I am a bestselling novelist currently masquerading as a thirty something mother of three.' Well the job in the design studio didn't work out but she's now a forty something mother of three and is happy to report the rest of her dream came true.

After many years as a finance manager she now writes full time, and is far happier playing with words than numbers. She lives with her husband, three children, and two guinea pigs in rural Shropshire where she writes in all the gaps in between real life. It's a county she adores, her love of its beautiful people and landscapes providing endless inspiration for her books, and in fact the only thing that would make Shropshire more idyllic is if it were by the sea.


December 02, 2022

MURDER IN AN IRISH CASTLE

MY THOUGHTS:

Christmas time is finally here and Lady Eleanor Swift has received an invite to the village Christmas party.  Lady Eleanor happily accepts the invitation and is thrilled to trace her family history at her late uncle’s estate. Not to mention how excited she is to be celebrating Christmas in a castle in Ireland.  Lady Eleanor with Gladstone, her amazing bulldog, and Clifford, her butler, arrive late at night.  Imagine their surprise when they find a body laying in the snow just outside the estate.  When the constable arrives and sees Lady Eleanor and Clifford standing over the body, they are at the top of the list of suspects.  Lady Eleanor discovers the victim had an old key hidden in the heel of his boot, she immediately must find what it will unlock.  The villagers have their own speculations of who the murderer is.  And when there is a fire in the castle on Christmas Eve, Lady Eleanor wonders if she will make it out alive.  Her first Irish Christmas is turning out to be the opposite of what she expected.


This was such a fabulous addition to the Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery Series.  I loved the twists and turns of the story and I was literally on the edge of my seat trying to figure out who-dun-it.  This rapid, festive read was a wonderful escape to west Ireland.  The detailed description of the Castle and the quaint village made me feel like I was there in the midst.  Once again I loved Gladstone, the bulldog being right there front and center to all the happenings going on.  This installment to the series can be enjoyed as part of the series or as a stand-alone novel.  I highly recommend this must read for every cozy mystery fan. It is a lovely series.


Thank you Verity Bright for a wonderful addition to the series.  This cozy mystery set in Ireland is exactly the holiday escape I needed.  I loved it and I highly recommend it.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

DESCRIPTION:

MURDER IN AN IRISH CASTLE
Author:  Verity Bright
 
Publisher: Bookouture 
Publication Date: November 28, 2022 
Pages: 342 
Buy on Amazon 

Irish whiskey, rolling green hills, a traditional Christmas feast and… a murder? Lady Swift will need the luck of the Irish to survive this holiday season!

Christmas, 1923. Lady Eleanor Swift has received a rather unexpected invitation to the village Christmas party in the tiny, rural hamlet of Derrydee in the west of Ireland. Eleanor is thrilled about exploring her ancestral roots at her late uncle’s estate and spending the festive season in a castle. Packing Gladstone the bulldog’s coziest Christmas jumper, they set off to the Emerald Isle with her butler Clifford in tow.

Arriving late at night, Eleanor and Clifford are shocked when they find a body sprawled in the snow on the winding country lane outside the estate. The local constable is immediately suspicious and all but accuses the pair of murder. This isn’t the warm Irish welcome Eleanor imagined!

Clifford is certain he recognises the poor fellow from the funeral of Eleanor’s uncle – but what was their connection? Undeterred by the villagers’ lack of gossip on the matter, Eleanor is determined to get justice for the victim. The man’s pockets are suspiciously empty of personal effects, but closer inspection reveals an old key hidden in the heel of his boot. Could this unlock more than one mystery for Eleanor?

But when a fire breaks out at the castle on Christmas Eve, an even bigger question looms: 
is someone out to ensure the family line dies with Lady Swift? And will Eleanor’s first Irish Christmas be her last?

ABOUT VERITY BRIGHT

Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humour, before embarking on their first historical mystery. They are the authors of the fabulous Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series, set in the 1920s.

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