A delightful English cozy series begins in August 1924. Lady Adelaide Compton has recently (and satisfactorily) interred her husband, Major Rupert Charles Cressleigh Compton, hero of the Somme, in the family vault in the village churchyard.Rupert died by smashing his Hispano-Suiza on a Cotswold country road while carrying a French mademoiselle in the passenger seat. With the house now Addie’s, … now Addie’s, needed improvements in hand, and a weekend house party underway, how inconvenient of Rupert to turn up! Not in the flesh, but in – actually, as a – spirit. Rupert has to perform a few good deeds before becoming welcomed to heaven – or, more likely, thinks Addie, to hell.
Before Addie can convince herself she’s not completely lost her mind, a murder disrupts her careful seating arrangement. Which of her twelve houseguests is a killer? Her mother, the formidable Dowager Marchioness of Broughton? Her sister Cecilia, the born-again vegetarian? Her childhood friend and potential lover, Lord Lucas Waring? Rupert has a solid alibi as a ghost and an urge to detect.
Enter Inspector Devenand Hunter from the Yard, an Anglo-Indian who is not going to let some barmy society beauty witnessed talking to herself derail his investigation. Something very peculiar is afoot at Compton Court and he’s going to get to the bottom of it – or go as mad as its mistress trying.
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I don’t normally read ghost stories, but this book drew me in with its cover and humor.
Nobody’s Sweetheart Now by Maggie Robinson was an enjoyable beginning to a new historical mystery series.
Ms. Robinson’s writing allowed the reader to see clearly the surrounding English countryside where the houseparty was given. The characters were well established but there is more to them I am sure as the series continues. I liked Addie and found her to be extremely naive regarding her friends. However, this didn’t distract from her inherent kindness towards them. The mystery was smoothly paced with several suspects, and the clues, twists and turns kept me completely baffled until the reveal. The touch of paranormal with the ghost of Addie’s husband provided many humorous moments throughout the story with their banter. Poor Addie was quite sure that she was becoming totally unhinged. I look forward to more adventures with Addie.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley. All of the above opinions are my own.
A classic British country manor house mystery with a fun twist:
A dead husband who comes back to visit and “help” his wife.
A police detective who is by far the most stable and moral of all the men around the primary character. He is also half Asian Indian and, as a result, considered lower class than the manor house people.
What is Lady Adelaide to do?
The characters were the strength of this first novel in the Lady Adelaide mysteries – generally speaking. They are unique enough to be remarkable (Addie, the lady who’s sensitive to the everyday struggles of common people, and Dev, the Scotland Yard inspector with Indian ancestors, just to mention the main characters), but they are also realistic and plausible. Their unique characteristics never stretch their credibility, and this is something I appreciate very much.
There’s only one exception to this, at least for me: the ghost. Honestly, I don’t see what the ghost of Addie’s husband is adding to the story. His conversations with Addie were the most improbable thing in the book. They were meant to be funny, but to me, this somehow just made them even more unlikely and frankly jerking. The story would have worked perfectly fine even without the ghost.
But in general, the relationship between the different characters is very realistic, which lends credibility to the mystery. There’s never an over the top kind of investigations. Sometimes it happens, especially in cosy mysteries, that the needs of the story make the actual events quite unlikely compared to what normally happens in real life. Except for the ghost, this doesn’t happen here.
Still, the mystery was a problem for me. Plausible as it is, it’s also quite unimpressive. I had the definite sensation that, rather than cohesively create the story, the author created the circumstances, as well as many red herrings, then just chose the most improbable culprit and made them the murder.
I didn’t see a carefully thought-out mystery here, which is such a shame, considering how lovely and well crafted the setting and the characters were.
The ending significantly suffered for this carelessness. It came out of nothing and didn’t feel like the fitting conclusion to the story. When the culprit can be anyone, there’s something not quite working in the mystery.
Another thing that disappointed me was all the ghost thing.
But I still enjoy it for the good characterization, and the setting.
A light read good for relaxing.
This book was great fun from start to finish. I will definitely be looking for the next in the series.