1920s High Society Lady Detective Mystery Book 6
by Sara Rosett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Very nice Christmas cozy mystery set in the early 1920s!
The snow and the warm atmosphere of the rich country estate, just before Christmas, were the backdrop to a well-articulated double mystery, with some kisses and a romantic couple as a protagonist.
___THE PLOT___ December 1923, England .
While Olive secretly follows her boyfriend Jasper to find out what he is hiding from her about his private life, she is involved in a car accident.
Nothing serious, but the drivers of the other car, who are guests in a beautiful country villa (where Jasper is also a guest together with an actress friend of his), insist that she be examined by a doctor and take her right to Holly Hill Lodge , the aforementioned estate.
It turns out that the butler of the mansion is missing since the day before, a weird thing, that will be resolved with the discovery of the butler's body.
Olive already enjoys a certain reputation as a whodunit solver and intends to investigate together with Jasper while waiting for the police to arrive in the following days (in the meantime the roads were blocked by the massive snowfall).
Added to this is the complication of a spy organization plotting against the King and the country.
---> At the beginning it took me a while to get into the story (let's say the first 20% of the book), but I think that's because this is the installment #6 in the series and even if it's perfectly readable as a standalone, being already fond of the characters after having read the previous ones brings an advantage: one is already involved in their personal stories and is able to get excited from the first lines.
In my case, however, I spent the first chapters getting to know the two protagonists and only after a while did I feel involved in their feelings and attitudes. As a result, I finally felt comfortable in the story, with a pleasant atmosphere of a villa full of almost eccentric guests and of a hospitable landlady followed by her cute dogs.
___ OLIVE and JASPER , the 2 MAIN CHARACTERS __ I liked this modern couple from the 1920s. They have only been a couple for a short time, but they have known each other since they were children and the level of confidence between them is perceivable.
It's true that Jasper hides something from Olive, but it's only because he's forced for work by forces greater than his personal will. Olive, for her part, feels that something isn't entirely clear and it's obvious that as his friend and now his girlfriend, she wants to know more.
She manages to discover the truth and this is good for both of them and for their relationship which is strengthened, because as always truth and honesty are the things that give stability to relationships between people.
A renewed complicity is born between them, which gives the reader the good feeling that they complete each other.
__ MYSTERY and DETECTION PART___ From 25% of the book on wards the intrigue begins and then the investigation on two fronts: the solution to the murder and the discovery of the spy, an enemy of the country, who was carrying information abroad.
This obviously continually teased my mind so that I too could discover useful clues and formulate hypotheses.
SPOILER[ The two cases, of murder and espionage, are somehow connected, however they have 2 different culprits.
While at the beginning I couldn't understand who the murderer was, towards the end I identified one of the 2 culprits (I didn't know which of the 2 crimes he was guilty of though).
A somewhat predictable scene revealed it to me: the culprit poisons himself to shift suspicion onto an innocent person... a classic that we often see in films.
However, this is not what left me slightly dissatisfied in the end. ]SPOILER END
What made me feel like the book was missing something in the conclusion is the fact that:
SPOILER[ Jasper and Olive find out who the spy is, they don't reveal it to the police, but only to Jasper's friend who is actually his superior at work for the Government.
She leaves with the spy (who is unaware that she has been discovered) for Germany and tells Jasper that she will let him know something by letter.
---> I agree that the spy had to lead to someone more important in the enemy organization, but the author could have put in the epilogue, a letter from Miss Ravenna (Jasper's superior) saying that the organization had been foiled and that the spy and its leaders had been arrested. ] SPOILER END
Instead, none of this happens and the epilogue is totally useless.
But of course this is my personal dissatisfaction, probably other readers felt 100% satisfied with the ending.
Despite this little reproach of mine to the writer, I enjoyed reading it, the general atmosphere is festive and Christmassy enough to be able to recommend it as a December reading (oh there are many books that take place during the days of Christmas and Boxing Day, however they are not at all Christmassy and it might seem like they take place at any other time of the year.
----> It's readable as a standalone, but if you're not in a rush to read something festive, start with book 1 of the series, it'll definitely be more enjoyable.
NOTE : I'm from Italy and I'm writing my review in a language that is not my native tongue, So please forgive any errors in my text. Thanks for stopping here :-)
Join me on FB Tizi Cozy Corner page to be always updated on new posts
No comments:
Post a Comment