The Hamptons are known for beautiful beaches, luxurious living, millionaire mansions, and now…murder! Antonia Bingham, a renowned chef and the new owner of East Hampton’s Windmill Inn, escaped to the Hamptons to get away from a harrowing past. Yet now she finds herself in more danger than ever when she discovers the inn’s previous owners may have been the victims of murder. Will her overly … inquisitive personality be her downfall as she digs up secrets in her attempt to solve the crime?
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There are lots of reasons why I choose a novel. For instance, I won a giveaway last year for the second book in the Hamptons Murder Mystery series written by Carrie Doyle and enjoyed reading it. Given the author doesn’t live too far from me in NYC and I’ve been to the Hamptons where the books take place, it felt like a good match… so I’m reading the series from the beginning starting with the first one, Death on Windmill Way. 4.5 stars to this wonderful gem that helped me jump out of a small reading slump last week where I tried three books and couldn’t get into any of them. This one left me excited to read again, and I’ll soon be picking up the next in series to keep moving forward.
Antonia moved to the Hamptons ~8 months earlier on a whim. She’d been in an awful relationship, lived in California, and needed a fresh start. She purchased an inn (sight unseen) based on a friend’s suggestion and immediately remodeled it. When the book kicks off, she’s just re-opened post-summer season to good reviews but is still struggling to make ends meet. Antonia slowly learns of a curse haunting past owners of the inn which steers her in the direction of researching the history she should’ve learned about before buying the place (she knows she messed up, too!). Unfortunately, she learns the curse is more than just a rumor – someone has been killing them, but why? Between former and new staff at the inn, some residents in the town, a few friends she makes, and the local reporter, Antonia uses her ingenuity to solve the case. The police aren’t even involved until a second murder takes place, but since it looks like an accident at first, they’re not inclined to do much.
My absolute favorite part of the book occurs when Antonia gathers all the suspects together at a dinner party and one by one picks them off… um, I mean… reveals their secrets or explains why they could be the killer. She leaves someone for last, and it’s a doozy! I had two possible culprits in mind, and I was right with one of them. That said, it’s not obvious, and the weaving in and out of everyone’s alibis and motives is truly a great story. Antonia is a strong lead character, very well developed, but with a few personality traits that might irk some. She’s a tad judgmental (equally against all people in an understandable way) but overly honest and dedicated. I really look forward to see how she develops over the series and getting to meet the rest of the regulars in the town.
Death on Windmill Way was a fun cozy with a delightful setting in the Hamptons. I could picture every nook and cranny of the elegant Windmill Inn, not to mention the mouth-watering culinary offerings. The protagonist, Antonia, had a charming personality, and I loved the way she dealt with the most annoying of characters. The mystery itself was diabolically clever, with lots of twists and turns. A great start to a promising new series! I’m anxious for my next visit to the Windmill Inn.
DEATH ON WINDMILL WAY by Carrie Doyle is the first book in the Hamptons Murder Mysteries series and the first book by this author that I have read. The novel is set in the Hamptons in New York. Antonia Bingham moved there about six months ago to buy the run-down Windmill Inn. She has now renovated it and is open for business in both the inn and restaurant. However, life here is not all beaches and luxurious living. Besides the hard work of running her business, including functioning as a chef, previous owners of the inn have died. Some believe there is a curse, others think it is natural. Of course, Antonia decides to investigate.
Antonia is someone you can root for, but I did not really connect with her. She did not seem to have done her research on the inn before she purchased it. However, she did have a distinct voice with flaws and virtues. Additionally, her goals were clear and her motivations seemed believable. The author does a great job of painting a picture of the inn, the people, the beach, and the food. The story line was interesting and had plenty of red herrings. However, the mystery was too easy for me to solve.
Overall, this book was enjoyable and entertaining. If you enjoy cozy mysteries and beautiful settings, then this may be the series for you.
Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and Carrie Doyle for a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.
Clever plot likeable characters and a fun setting of the Hamptons.
A good mystery with an Agatha Christie’ type ending. A little slow at time with lots of food and clothing descriptions.
Meh. It killed some time; had a nice setting; main character was pretty annoying as far as I was concerned. She definitely classifies as “nosy” as far as I’m concerned, and not in a good way.
Well written and well defined characters. Really enjoyed it.
There was no real action to the story. It just went about it’s merry old way and all of a sudden she had the solution to who was the murderer. I will admit that I suspected this person, but wasn’t sure because a few others looked like they could be the murderer as well.
By the time I was 1/3rd into the book, I knew the murderer…less suspenseful than I had hoped
cozy-mystery, family-dynamics, friendship, greed, mystery, murder-investigation
Antonia needs a real break to get away from her abusive ex-husband so she follows a friend’s advice and moves from California to The Hamptons on Long Island New York and buys a historic inn that has recently gone up for sale. She has absolutely no experience in hospitality, but she is a good chef and has former employees to help and guide. Then she overhears a conversation indicating that the previous owners all had an early suspicious death and she questions herself. Not so much when malicious happenstances begin happening to her. Let the sleuthing begin! For the very detail oriented, this is exactly the right book. I liked it but the detailed descriptions left me lukewarm.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley.
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