BOOK REVIEW: Empty Nest: A Birds of a Feather Mystery (A Birds of a Feather Mystery #2) By Marty Wingate

Empty Nest: A Birds of a Feather Mystery (A Birds of a Feather Mystery #2)

by Marty Wingate (Goodreads Author)

Kindle Edition, 284 pages

Published December 1st 2015 by Alibi

Goodreads synopsis:

If you love M. C. Beaton or Susan Wittig Albert, don’t miss the charming Birds of a Feather series from bestselling author Marty Wingate! In Empty Nest, Julia Lanchester’s life is interrupted by a murder most foul—and a killer who’s watching her like a hawk.

    Manager of a tourist center in a quaint British village, Julia Lanchester finds herself with more ideas than time. Her boss is the Earl Fotheringill himself, but apart from him, she doesn’t mix well with the aristocracy. Unfortunately, toxic mold forces her from her cottage and into one of the earl’s countless spare rooms at the Hall. She tries to get a handle on her overload of work, while she finds herself arguing with dinner guests, chaffing at the sudden interest the earl’s son has in running the estate, and missing her new beau, Michael Sedgwick.

   Her life goes from bad to sinister when Julia discovers poisoned sparrowhawks on the expansive estate grounds. And soon after, she finds one of the Hall’s visitors murdered—felled by the same poison. While simultaneously both spooked and angry, she still can’t keep herself from snooping, and dragging Michael along into her investigation. But will she find the culprit before her own wings are clipped?

***

4 stars

This was an interesting concept for a cozy mystery. I don’t think I had seen other series where they were really interested in birds and had so much knowledge about them. That sets this mystery apart from others. Marty Wingate is famous for her Potting Shed Mystery series and now she is venturing into the area off birds and all things fowl (fowl as in mysterious and alluring).This is book two in a series and I just picked up book one on my Kindle. It is called The Rhyme of the Magpie.

Julia Lanchester is having her house cleaned out due to a mold infestation and the Earl of Fatheringill has asked her to stay at the estate. She soon discovers some dead sparrow hawks and then not long later, a friend of the Earl’s son is found dead after a fire on the estate. 

So, Julia, being the nosy sort (aren’t all cozy heroines just a bit on the extra curious side?) has to investigate and find out all she can. I don’t want to give too much away since following along with the story is the best part of a cozy mystery. Let’s just say that I enjoyed the data between Garrett, Julia and Michael as well as the addition of Linus (Earl of Fatheringill). All the characters were well-crafted and easy to relate to. I did not have a problem at all keeping straight in my mind who was who. 

Better put the tea kettle on. This little village mystery is sure going to satisfy.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) from NetGalley in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.