cozy mystery

Book reivew: Murder Most Cornish by Kate Johnson

| Rhoda Baxter 
Murder Most Cornish (A Molly Higgins mystery)Murder Most Cornish by Kate Johnson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ned is running a murder mystery weekend in his crumbling old mansion. Kitty, a well known actress, playing one of the roles in the cast. Everyone is expecting a fake murder, but they get a real one instead!

This is the second book in the series, but you could read it as a standalone. Molly and Connor, who are the main characters in book one are in this one too. Molly is the one who solves the mystery. Ned and Kitty are the romantic subplot for this book. Kitty is smart and outgoing and the perfect foil for Ned, who is rather shambolic. I love Ned. He’s such a delightful mess.

There’s a big house, glamrous guests and a murder. There’s also romance and jokes and quite a lot of Cornwall. I really enjoyed this book.

Usual disclaimer. I know the author in real life. We belong to the same writers organisations. I received a review copy of this book from Netgalley.

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Book Review: Death Comes to Cornwall by Kate Johnson

| Rhoda Baxter
Death Comes to Cornwall (A Molly Higgins mystery)

Death Comes to Cornwall by Kate Johnson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Molly Higgins lives in an idyllic village in Cornwall, where she works three, sometimes four jobs to make ends meet. Last year, she had a fling with the handsome actor Connor Blackstone, who is in town filming the popular murder mystery show Dr Wenn Investigates. Neither of them expected to come back to Port Trevan this summer and now they’re back together they have all these inconvenient feelings for each other, but their shared history makes getting back together quite awkward.
And then someone on set is murdered.
Molly is under suspicion because, frankly, her family are always under suspicion for something or other and she has to solve the mystery, if only to clear her own name.
Molly is busy, no-nonsense and sensible. Conor is adorable – a handsome and popular man in love. Port
I like Kate Johnson’s rom coms and I like cosy crime, so I was looking forward to this. I was not disappointed. The mystery has enough twists and turns to keep me guessing, there’s a dash of humour and it touches on social issues like poverty and alcoholism. I like that, whilst Port Trevan is portrayed as beautiful (as Cornwall is), there is a difference in how locals view the place compared to how the outsiders who don’t have to live with the poor bus service. The tone, cosy crime with a hint of snark, reminded me a bit of M C Beaton (and her Agatha Raisin books).

I read an ARC via Netgalley. I’m very much looking forward to seeing the next instalment of the series.

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Book Review: Murder at The Dolphin Hotel

| Rhoda Baxter
Murder at the Dolphin Hotel (A Miss Underhay Mystery #1)

Murder at the Dolphin Hotel by Helena Dixon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Set in 1930’s Devon, this is a good old fashioned murder mystery.
Kitty is running the Dolphin hotel while her formidable grandmother is off looking after a great aunt who has broken her leg. Grandmother doesn’t seem to believe that Kitty is capable of looking after the place and has hired a new security man, ex-army captain Matthew Bryant. But what Kitty doesn’t know (at the start, at least) is that her life is in danger.

There’s plenty of mystery and a few cold blooded murders, with enough twists and turns to keep you on your toes. There’s an ongoing mystery of Kitty’s mother’s disappearance, which will probably come up in later books as will the slow burning romance between Kitty and Matthew.

I really enjoyed this book.

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