Part of my problem with starting a book at night is that I want to stay up and finish it. It has been hard to put it down. My day starts early, no matter what time I go to sleep.
This week, I pulled a book from my stash of books to sell and now I am Keeping it. It is my sort of book-- a Cozy.
Just by luck it was her first in the series, that now is at 20 books.
Mrs. Mallory is a 50 something widow with a son in college. She lives in a small seaside village in the West Country of England. She grew up in the village and knows most everyone. A long time male friend from High School is long distant dating Lee Montgomery a local real estate agent, who Mrs Mallory is not very fond of. She does her best to be nice for the sake of her friend, but there are inconsistencies in Lee's story and Mrs Mallory starts to wonder. Then Lee disappears and her friend, Charles asks Mrs Mallory to try to find Lee and see what is up. Well, Lee ends up murdered, with a knife in her back. Mrs Mallory now feels it is her duty to figure it all out. After all, she wants to help her friend and this is her home town. And now someone she knows is a murderer.
In the story you meet lots of the townspeople and the role they did and did not play in Lee Montgomery's life. The story is not just about the murder. It is about life in a small town with church gatherings and dinner parties. Mrs Mallory is not some frumpish old lady. She is smart, drives her own car, lives alone with her pets. Has girlfriends that she shares with. She is a mom who had a wonderful life with the husband that she misses. Mrs Mallory is someone I would like to meet... along the lines of Jane Marple and Mrs Pollifax and even Jessica Fletcher.
It was not until the end of the book that I realized who the murderer was. It was well put together.
I can't wait to read book #2- The Cruelest Month. I have already ordered it from my library.
And.... until it gets here... I have an older Elizabeth Peters that I have never read. An Amelia Peabody book.
