The Castleton Affair by Benedict Brown

Marius and Bella have a mysterious visitor one day. He's from the government and he needs their help to retrieve an agent who has been taken. They are eager to jump on (at least Bella is) and they follow a series of clues to rescue Earnest Castleton. But that's only the beginning of the story.

Suddenly, they are swept up into government secrets, spies and lies. In addition, Marius has to pretend to be Gilbert (Bella's fiance who he doesn't like) in order to attend a house party. That's where all sorts of things are going down, including murder. 

I would definitely have read the other two books in this series before this one. An enjoyable read but it didn't quite all fit together for me.  

Three and a half stars

This book comes out May 15, 2024

A Marius Quin Mystery #3

Follows The Hurtwood Village Murder

Followed by A Body at the Grand Hotel

ARC kindly provided by Storm Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Murder at the Piccadilly Playhouse C.J. Archer

A famous actress is dead. But was it by her own hand? Or was there something more sinister at play? 

Cleo made a little bit of a name for herself solving the murder of a man in her uncle's hotel. Because of that, the actress's lover asks her to look into the death. We get to see more of the people who work at the hotel, including Cleo's maid Harmony and the others who help her in her inquiries. We also see a bit of Mr. Armitage, although, he mostly refuses to join Cleo so there's not much of him. 

Cleo seems determined to get her name next to his on his detective business though. She sort of blunders her way around and there was at least one informant that there is some foreshadowing around, that he may not be innocuous and seems to have settled his focus on Cleo. 

Three stars

This book came out May 31, 2021

Cleo Fox #2

Follows Murder at the Mayfair Hotel

Followed by Murder in the Drawing Room

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

You May Now Kill the Bride by Kate Weston

Five friends have been tight since they were girls. Now, one of them is getting married. Technically, two of them are but this book focuses on the first wedding, Tansy's. Mainly because the hen party is about to go off the rails. 

It starts off bad enough that Tansy has a new influencer, ahem, "content creator" friend. Plus, she's gone all vegan in the last few years so her bachelorette is at a retreat that has no alcohol, no sugars, and nothing that makes a party fun. Plus, the five friends all have secrets including one big one. Tansy is particularly stressed because she is being blackmailed. She's not sure why. Or, to be more specific, she's not sure which one of her secrets is going to be exposed. Of course, it could be worse. She could be dead. And that's exactly what happens. But she's not the last to die...

There were so many arch comments that were dropped at the end of chapters. I felt like I was reading a serial radio show... but find out what happens in the next chapter! This was definitely fairly clued and the end was a bit over the top but a good story. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out May 14, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Old Girls Behaving Badly by Kate Galley

Told in alternating viewpoints by Gina and Dorothy, we get to see these two women becoming friends. Gina is seventy-one and has just been told by her husband that he no longer wants to be married. No real reason other than the fact that he's bored with his life and thinks she's boring as well. So, while she's trying to figure out what her next steps are (with little help from her daughter who seems to blame Gina though her son is somewhat more sympathetic,) she sees an ad for a companion. 

Dorothy's granddaughter is getting married and, though she is generally just fine on her own, her family want someone to keep an eye on her; she just had a fall and she is older. 

Dorothy does her best to run off all of the potential caregivers but she clicks with Gina. But she doesn't want Gina as just a companion, she wants help getting back a painting that was stolen from her husband. The person who she believes took the painting is the same person hosting the wedding at his estate, Leonard. So the opportunity has presented itself. 

But there may be more than just a stolen painting that Leonard has that includes shady dealings. And it's those dealings that may be leading to the many "accidents" happening to Leonard. Before the book is over, will there also be someone dead?

Three and a half stars

This book comes out May 23, 2024

ARC kindly provided by Boldwood Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Death Comes to the Rectory by Catherine Lloyd

Sir Robert Kurland is somewhat astonished to hear that his aunt is pregnant. She's not exactly old but she has a grown child, Henrietta. True, Henrietta isn't very pleasant and her husband, Basil, is even worse. And, since she's married to his wife Lucy's father, it's not as though he wanted to think of them like... that. It's just unfortunate that Basil and Henrietta have decided to visit right as that announcement is made. And it's while any number of other family members are visiting for the baptism of Lucy and Robert's younger child. 

It's the odious Basil who ends up dead in the rectory study. Henrietta is quick to blame Lucy's father. Is it because she believes her accusation or because she knows that her mother has signed a will making the reverend her new beneficiary. 

There are any number of suspects as Northam was not only a blackmailer, he put together a Ponzi scheme that ruined any number of people who are in the immediate area.

As is usual in this series, there is a very convoluted ending but overall an enjoyable listen.

Three and a half stars

This book came out 

Kurland St. Mary Mystery #8

Follows Death Comes to the Nursery

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla
Opinions are my own

Murder at the Mayfair Hotel by C.J. Archer

Cleopatra "Cleo" Fox has been told her whole life that her mother's family was wealthy but that they had cut her and Cleo's father off from any of their wealth. But now her father's family is completely gone and she's been invited to live with her aunt and uncle, the Bainbridges, in her uncle's ancestral home which has been transformed into a hotel. She finds that the past might not be interpreted in the same way by her uncle and that the family is more welcoming than she expected. But all is not right at the hotel and a guest is murdered. Cleo, wanting to be helpful, immediately leaps in and tries to help. She doesn't wish to marry, nor does she want to live off her family's largesse so she is trying to learn skills to be able to support herself. Unfortunately, not everything she does in the course of the investigation helps everyone involved.

A little slow in places, I'm willing to give the series another shot at some point because it was a good mystery.

Three stars

This book came out December 1, 2020

Cleopatra Fox #1

Followed by Murder at the Piccadilly Playhouse

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Death Comes to the Nursery by Catherine Lloyd

Finally, Lady Lucy and Sir Robert Kurland have their longed-for child. And he's about to have a sibling. Agnes is going to need some help in the nursery. She recommends her cousin, Polly. But, when she arrives, Polly is unexpectedly attractive. And there are soon fights over who will get to go walking with her. Unfortunately, that only leaves more suspects when Polly is found dead. And solving this murder becomes only more tangled when they discover that Polly... isn't actually Polly. So who was she? And how did she get into their house?
The ending on this one was a little convoluted but most of the story was very enjoyable and there are even some breadcrumbs set up for the next book in the series. 

Three and a half stars

Kurland St. Mary Mystery #7

This book came out January 28, 2020

Follows Death Comes to Bath

Followed by Death Comes to the Rectory

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own