THE CASTLE MYSTERY
by Faith Martin
Kindle Edition, 183 pages
Published February 27th 2019 by Joffe Books mystery and crime
Goodreads synopsis:
Meet Jenny Starling: travelling cook and reluctant amateur detective.
Please note this book was first published as “AN INVISIBLE MURDER” under Faith Martin’s pen name JOYCE CATO.
Jenny Starling has her dream job cooking for Lord and Lady Avonsleigh in a genuine castle.
Then one of the castle’s treasures, a fabulously jewelled dagger, is used to murder a staff member. The victim is found stabbed through the heart in the conservatory.
Lady Avonsleigh insists that Jenny help the police find the murderer.
But how can Jenny solve this case when the murder was committed in front of several reliable witnesses, none of whom saw a thing?
This is the fourth of a series of enjoyable murder mysteries with a great cast of characters and baffling crimes which will keep you in suspense to the final page.
Perfect for fans of classic whodunits by authors like Agatha Christie, LJ Ross, TE Kinsey, and J.R. Ellis.
JENNY STARLING MYSTERIES
Book 1: THE BIRTHDAY MYSTERY
Book 2: THE WINTER MYSTERY
Book 3: THE RIVERBOAT MYSTERY
Book 4: THE CASTLE MYSTERY
***
3 Stars
I want to start this off by saying this was not a bad book. The plot was intricate and well thought out. The characters were well built and the voice of the text flowed well.
My main problem was that I couldn’t really get into this book until about halfway through. I felt like the first half was akin to walking through quicksand. But when all the action started happening, that was when the story started for me.
Most of this was excellent. There were a few scenes that got left out that I couldn’t understand. As a mystery lover, the part at the end where they discover the killer and show you how that happens, that is key for me to loving a book. Here it was skipped as the detective and his co-hort hid behind a screen to hear all the revelations, but those revelations didn’t come in a way I could see. The detective refers to it at the end and that was all. I was let down. I didn’t get to experience the climax of the story and that is what forced me to rate this book as a 3.
As I said, outstanding mystery construction and character development. But if we don’t get to follow along and experience the “whodunit” I fear others besides me would feel let down and not want to check out other works this author has to offer.
I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.
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Faith Martin has been writing for over 25 years and has had nearly 50 novels published. Born in Oxford, she has set most of her crime novels within sight of the 'dreaming spires'. And right now, Joffe Books are re-issuing all 17 of her DI Hillary Greene series in new updated editions!
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