‘An incredibly tightly written closed door mystery.’ Rachel’s Random Reads (Top 500 Amazon Reviewer) ‘Is yet another fantastic tale.’ Karen Quick With high tide comes murder… When her beloved London theatre closes for renovations, costume maker Guinevere is excited to start a job at Cornisea castle, a centuries-old keep on a small tidal island off the coast of Cornwall. Imagine a whole summer … Cornwall. Imagine a whole summer full of stories of hidden treasures, fab food and long walks with her perky dachshund Dolly.
But when a reenactment of a medieval trial in the castle dungeons ends in real-life murder, and accusations threaten the castle’s future, Guinevere and Dolly dig deep into the island community’s best-kept secrets to unmask the killer and save their Cornish summer.
The first book in the Cornish Castle Mystery series with the second instalment RUBIES IN THE ROSES coming August 2017!
Praise for Vivian Conroy
‘The first in a new series and it’s off with a bang!’ Rosemary Smith
‘Highly recommended.’ Well Read Pirate Queen
Plot tightly woven, unique setting’ Avonna Loves Genres
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Guinevere has the summer off while the London theater where she works is being renovated, so she takes a job cataloguing books at a castle in Cornwall. Her first day at the castle, she is helping local performers practice a re-enactment when Arthur Haydok is murdered (in a locked room mystery). Lord Bolingbroke is accused of the murder, so Guinevere and Bolingbroke’s son Oliver set out to find the real killer. It took a while for me to sort out all the relationships in the small island community, but the author helped by focusing on and eliminating one suspect at a time. This cozy mystery was a pretty good story with pretty good characters.
DEATH PLAYS A PART (Cornish Castle Mystery Book 1) by Vivian Conroy is the first of a new cozy mystery series featuring Guinevere Evans and her adorable dachshund, Dolly. It is a clever locked room cozy set in an old castle on a tidal island off the coast of Cornwall.
Guinevere is a costume designer for a London theater that has to close for renovations over the summer. She receives an offer to work and live at Cornisea castle cataloguing their library. She is excited to have a summer of island adventures with Dolly to tell all of her theater family about in the fall.
When she arrives on Cornisea, she is immediately thrown into the mix of players that are producing a reenactment of the medieval trial of Branok the Cold-hearted. Arthur Haydock is playing Branok and is locked in a cell in the dungeon for the rehearsal and found stabbed to death by the cast. Only Lord Bolingbrooke has a key to the cell, but he swears he is innocent even though he and Haydock were at odds. Guinevere and Dolly, with the help of Oliver, Lord Bolingbrooke’s son who has returned after traveling the world, work to uncover all of the players’ secrets and motives for wanting Haydock dead.
I enjoyed every aspect of this story. The plot was tightly woven and had me guessing until the end, even though I suspected who was responsible, I could not figure out the “How”. The pacing is steady and as you read the story, you are always given some new piece of the puzzle that makes you want to continue on. The setting of the castle and village on the tidal island was vividly described and a unique setting.
Guinevere is a main character that I am looking forward to reading more about. We gets peeks into her past, but some things are still unclear. She is mature and steady even though she is only 24 years old, which could come from being raised by her grandmother and/or being on her own. One thing is certain, she and Dolly are a great pair. Oliver, Lord Bolingbrooke’s son, makes an interesting co-sleuth and possibly more in future books? Ms. Conroy portrays the islanders vs. the main landers mentality realistically and shows how it effects the characters’ moods and actions.
I am looking forward to more Cornisea adventures with Guinevere and Dolly.