The first in a brand-new series from New York Times bestselling author Sheila Connolly! Katherine Hamilton’s goal in high school was to escape from her dead-end hometown of Asheboro, Maryland. Fifteen years later she’s got a degree in hospitality management and a great job at a high-end boutique hotel in Baltimore. Until, that is, the hotel is acquired by a chain, and she’s laid off. When Kate’s … she’s laid off. When Kate’s high school best friend calls with a mysterious invitation to come talk with the town leaders of Asheboro, she agrees to make the trip, curious about where this new opportunity might lead.
Once Kate arrives, the town council members reveal that their town is on the verge of going bankrupt, and they’ve decided that Kate’s skills and knowledge make her the perfect person to cure all their ills. The town has used its last available funds to buy the huge Victorian mansion just outside of town, hoping to use it to attract some of the tourists who travel to visit the nearby Civil War battle sites. Kate has less-than-fond memories of the mansion, for personal reasons, but to make matters worse, the only person who has presented a possible alternate plan is Cordelia Walker–Kate’s high school nemesis.
But a few days later, while touring the mansion, Kate stumbles over a body–and it’s none other than Cordelia. Kate finds herself juggling the murder investigation and her growing fascination with the old house, which itself is full of long-hidden mysteries. Kate must clear her name and save her town–before she ends up in hot water.
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Murder At The Mansion is the first book in the Victorian Village Mystery series.
I’ve read all of Connolly’s mystery series and was so excited to hear that she had a new series in print. I’m familiar with the general area of this series, having lived there for 20 years and this made it even more enjoyable for me.
Kate has been contacted by Lisbeth, a high school friend, asking her to help save the city of Asheboro. Cordelia Walker was able to convince her fellow town council members to buy the Henry Barton mansion on the outside of town and she had plans to convert it into a B&B. The town council didn’t particularly like her plan and then her financing went away and with a dwindling tax base Asheboro they are looking for some way to save the town and the mansion. Kate has been asked to visit Asheboro and come up with a plan to save the town.
Barton was childless when he died and had created a trust for the city to use for upkeep on the property until a buyer could be found, but finding a buyer proved fruitless. When Kate arrives to access the property she finds that finds that the mansion is still furnished with the same furniture that had been there when Barton passed.
On her first visit to the Barton House, Kate meets the current caretaker, Joshua Wainwright. Wainwright is on a sabbatical to write a book on post-war Civil War. She feels that Wainwright may be a great source of information about the time period to help her come up with a plan for Asheboro. On another visit, Kate finds the lifeless body of Cordelia on the front porch. Although, initially on the list of suspects, Kate gets cleared and will help the police with the investigation.
Kate soon learns from Wainwright that Cordelia has been made numerous visits, many after her plan for the mansion was dismissed, to the mansion. Then when a letter is found that shows Barton might be related to Clara Barton. Something like this could be cause for somebody wanting Cordelia out of the picture. In addition, Kate envisions the downtown being turned into a Victorian village and the mansion being turned into a B&B, thereby drawing more visitors to the community. But Kate needs to find something that will show historical significance to be able to get financing for her plan for Asheboro.
Another well-plotted and told story from Connolly. She skillfully weaves together the historical part with the current to provide an exciting read.
I am looking forward to the next book in the series to see how her plan is coming and to learn more about the residents of the community.
What a wonderful new series by Sheila Connolly. Kate works in the hospitality industry and has been at her current job for the past five years. When her best friend from high school, whom she hasn’t spoken to in a while, calls her up and asks her to meet Kate wonders what she might want. The town Kate grew up in and left so many years ago is need of some help. You see they made an investment in a local house but after purchasing said house the town doesn’t have the money to do much else. If they don’t figure out something to bring back life to their dying town no one knows exactly what will happen. Kate agrees to come and see if she can come up with some ideas and learns that her nemesis from high school offered up a plan but it got shot down quickly because it would only be beneficial to her and not the town. While looking at the house that the town bought and trying to come up with some ideas Kate stumbles over the body of Cordelia, her high school nemesis. Follow along as Kate tries to come up with a valid plan to help the town and also looks for the killer. You see she never got any closure from what Cordelia did to her in high school and hopes finding her killer will help in some way. This was a fantastic new read that was filled with wonderful characters, a charming town, and wonderful bits of history. I can’t wait to see what becomes of the town and Kate’s ideas and hope that her budding romance turns into more.
Great beginning for a new series. I read Connolly’s County Cork series (set in Ireland) and thoroughly every one of those, so when a new book for a new series popped up, I wanted to read it as well. This one is set in the financially troubled town of Asheford, Maryland. This small town is headed in the same direction as many other small towns today. All of the younger folks are moving to the cities because of the jobs and amenities offered by big cities. Asheford is struggling because the tax base is shrinking and jobs are leaving.
Katherine (Katie/Kate) Hamilton manages a small, very upscale, boutique hotel, the Oriole, in Baltimore. Although it only takes about an hour to get to her hometown of Asheford, she hasn’t been back there in years. She left after high school and has never looked back – especially after her parents moved to Florida. So, Kate was really surprised when her very best friend, Lisbeth, from high school, called and asked to see her.
Lisbeth explains to Kate that Asheford is in serious financial straits and that the town council would appreciate it if Kate would come to Asheford and give any recommendations she might have for using the grand old Victorian mansion that the town now owns. They would love to make it a centerpiece of the town but don’t know if it is feasible or how they could make it work. Kate agrees to take a look. When she sees the old mansion she is enthralled – then, as she looks around the town an idea begins to form. When she learns that her high school nemesis, Cordelia (Cordy), is living in town, Kate is a bit disconcerted, but she’s really ready to deal with her and put those past run-ins to rest. But, then, Cordy is found, by Kate, murdered on the stops of the lovely old Victorian – Barton Mansion.
We are introduced to Joshua (Josh) Wainwright, who is a divorced history professor at nearby Johns Hopkins University. Josh is on sabbatical from the university and is acting as caretaker for the Barton Mansion in return for free rooms while he does some historical research. We are also introduced to Lisbeth who was Kate’s best friend in high school. Lisbeth is now happily married to a successful man and is a stay-at-home mom to two children. I am assuming that these two characters will be fleshed out a little more as the series goes on and that we’ll learn more about them.
Josh and Kate work hard to solve the mysteries – yes, there are two mysteries. Are they related or are they totally separate with two separate perpetrators? As Josh and Kate work to solve the murder, they draw closer and closer. Will they end up in a relationship in future books in the series? I can surely see it because they both seem to have an insatiable curiosity, respect, and reverence for historical research. So, I think the two of them will work together to uncover all of the missing information on Henry Barton, his plant, his house and his wife as well as the rest of the history of the town and how it all relates to the civil war.
Another character we are introduced to is Kate’s high school boyfriend – and Cordy’s ex-husband, Ryan. I assume we’ll see him in future books because he still owns the building that housed Cordy’s B&B. I liked him okay and was glad to see that he apologized to Kate for what happened in high school.
I haven’t said much about Kate because I’m not sure how I feel about her. At this point, I don’t love her. She seems very condescending much of the time – like she is better than those around her. I hope that changes. For instance – here are a few of Kate’s thoughts/quotes:
• “Was I too smart for the men I met? Too successful?”
• “. . her crises and mine were so very different. She worried about misplaced baseball gloves, while at the hotel I had to track down international shipments of high-priority documents and make sure they reached the right people.” [This was thought about her best friend]
• “She really has nowhere else to be. Sad, isn’t it?”
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and look forward to the next one in the series. It will be fun to see what direction the series and the romance moves in. It will also be fun to see what shops they end up bringing into the Victorian Village because some of the ones that Kate mentioned just wouldn’t work – given the population of the town and the fact that the town will depend on tourists. Kate has already moved most of those out, but it will still be interesting to see where they go with that AND what all of the research turns up.
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“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”
Murder at the Mansion by Sheila Connolly is the debut novel for her Victorian Village series. It was an intriguing beginning and the setting, although in a small town, was unique.
I liked Katherine and her down-to-earth attitude. She doesn’t hesitate to be truthful with both the town board members and the police. I also liked that Ms. Connolly did not just the “romance triangle” trope as I find that to be an unnecessary addition to most cozy mystery stories. The plot is smoothly paced with plenty of suspects regarding the murder of the town “mean girl”. I also enjoyed the history that was introduced into this book by Ms. Connolly regarding the Civil War veteran, Henry Barton. I’m intrigued to know about this mystery man who lived in the beautiful mansion on the edge of town.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book from Minotaur Books via NetGalley. All of the above opinions are my own.
I have been reading her other series and just happen to find this one at the library. It is an interesting story about Kate who is called back to help out her friend and the small city where she grew up. Her nemesis is actually killed and she finds out later that her old boyfriend had actually married her. This is interesting because it contains information about a old large homes and what was used back in 1900w to present day and how one goes about working with a small city.
Have read many other books by this author. Really loved this new series, good mystery, a little history and well developed characters.
I have read oodles of Sheila Connelley’s books and this one doesn’t it the mark. It was boring, ordinary, nothing to grab you, ordinary characters. I know it took place in an “ordinary” town but this book was forgettable
An entertaining story about a woman who hopes to help her tired home town become a Victorian tourist destination. Add to that the mystique of a century-old mansion, some fascinating historic documents, a murder mystery, and the plot deepens. What frustrated me was the redundant talk about the plans for the town. I would like to have seen a resolution, at the very least, in an epilogue.
This is the next book and one hard to put down. This time we meet another character and find out ore about Mick.
I buy everything that Sheila Connelly writes and I love most of it, but this one, not as much. What saved it for me was the historic preservation and redevelopment angle. It was also an interesting twist that there is a cameo appearance by a character from one of her other mystery series. Even though I didn’t like this one as well as the others, I will probably read all the other books in the series to see what happens.
Murder at the Mansion by Sheila Connolly is the beginning of A Victorian Village Mystery series. Katherine “Kate” Hamilton left her home of Asheboro, Maryland after high school. Katie currently works at Oriole Suites Hotel in Baltimore and is surprised when she gets a call from Lisbeth Scott, her best friend in high school. A storm went through Asheboro a few weeks ago causing severe damage and many of the residents do not have insurance to cover repairs. The town is on the verge of going under and they want Kate’s assistance. The town council had been convinced to buy the Old Barton home (a beautiful Victorian mansion) by Cordelia Walker. It turns out she had personal motivations for the venture and her plan would not benefit Asheboro. They are hoping Kate can use her skills to come up with a viable and inexpensive plan for to resurrect the town. Kate tours the Barton mansion and meets the caretaker, Josh Wainwright. She is surprised to see it in such beautiful condition. It is like stepping back in time to the Victorian era, and Kate begins to formulate a plan. As Kate exits the mansion with Josh, she finds her high school nemesis, Cordelia Walker dead on the front steps. Detective Reynolds of the Maryland State Police Criminal Division is in charge of the case, but he could use someone local to be his eyes and ears. Since the Oriole was bought out, Kate has the time to aid the town and Detective Reynolds. While in Asheboro working on her plan for the town and researching the Barton family, Kate delves into Cordelia’s life looking for clues. What had Cordelia uncovered that got her killed? Join Kate on her inaugural mystery in Murder at the Mansion.
Murder at the Mansion contains good writing and with varying pacing. The story starts out strong as we are introduced to Kate. I like the main character as she is smart, likeable, hardworking, and willing to help her hometown. Kate does need to work on her self-confidence (don’t we all). I like the books concept of a struggling small town with a beautiful Victorian home. If something is not done to draw in tourists, Asheboro will die quickly. The Barton mansion sounds gorgeous. I just loved the descriptions of the Victorian masterpiece (I would love to own this home). I like the vision Kate came up with for the town and I am looking forward to seeing it come to fruition in future books in this series. The mystery has layers to it which are revealed as Kate searches for clues and I like that the mystery ties into the Barton mansion. I wish, though, that it had been harder to pinpoint the guilty party. I found the pace to vary throughout the story and it was especially slow in the middle. There was too much repetition and speculation. I feel that the book needed further editing. If Murder at the Mansion had been tightened up, it would have been a much better cozy mystery. I was curious as to why Kate did not look up information online. She kept wanting details on the original owner of the Barton home, but she did not do the obvious. There is mild foul language in the book (and it is not needed). Overall, I thought Murder at the Mansion was an intriguing first novel in A Victorian Village Mystery series. I am giving Murder at the Mansion 3 out of 5 stars. I am curious to see what happens next as Kate works to save Asheboro.
MURDER AT THE MANSION, the first book in the Victorian Village Mystery series, is just an okay read for me, but the series has a lot of potential. After leaving town fifteen years ago, Kate returns to her hometown at the behest of her high school best friend. There she finds the small town on the verge of bankruptcy, and the city council hopes that Kate has ideas to revitalize the town. Unfortunately, Kate’s nemesis Cordy is murdered, and Kate finds herself both investigating the history of the Barton House and looking for Cordy’s murderer.
The murder mystery within these pages is secondary to revitalizing the town, almost like it was thrown in to make the book a cozy mystery. No one cares that Cordy was murdered, and I identified the killer very early on. The historical aspect of the book is what saved it for me. I found it interesting. Fully acknowledging that this is the first book in the series, the characters are lacking in depth. I would like to get to know Josh better, and I think it is great that one of the characters from one of Connolly’s other series has a cameo. Unfortunately, Kate is hard to warm up to. She is a bit of a snob, and I just hate the condescension and sarcasm of her inner opinions of her “best” friend Lisbeth.
I am willing to give the next book in the Victorian Village Series a chance, hoping that there will be vast improvements to the characters and the murder mystery is the focus.
I received and ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley and voluntarily shared my thoughts here.
A bit slow moving but a lively read to keep u entertained
I though I had figured out who did it, didn’t see that one coming until too many clues were given. So glad I came across this author and will buy more of her books. Good job
This is the first in a new series from this author, and my first of her books to read. Maybe I’m simply not the audience for cozy mysteries, but the MC was a bit irritating to me (seemed a bit immature at times and also a little bit of a busybody), the murder a bit lame/underwhelming (I felt a bit bad for the victim as NO ONE seemed to care much that she was murdered) and the murderer fairly obvious to me. There was a bit of interesting history included (which was left as a cliffhanger at the end as enticement for the second book), but overall this did not capture my attention well enough to continue with the series.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC. The opinions are all my own.