A week-long stay in a creepy Connecticut mansion is replete with hidden passageways, disappearing corpses, and quirky inheritance recipients. And if that’s not enough to make for hair-raising moments on the secluded, storm-bound estate, how about a ghost named Fred?The stipulation in the will of Jill-Jocasta Fonne’s aunt reads: if a guest leaves early, his or her share will be divided among those … among those remaining. The first one to leave – permanently – dies just hours after arriving.
Soon, people start dropping like flies. Donning amateur sleuth caps, Jill and her associates, Rey and Linda, attempt to solve the mystifying murders. Others jump in, and the bumbling and stumbling – and mayhem – begin.
Praise:
★★★★★ – “Will keep you amused – and guessing – from beginning to end.”
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I’m always excited when I get back to reading a cozy mystery, especially when it’s part of a series where I can truly invest in the characters and setting. I chose The Connecticut Corpse Caper, the first book in the Triple Threat mystery series published in 2016, written by Tyler Colins, after reading the description. I’m a fan of the macabre and horror movie genres and am always interested in stories where the main character is invited to a mysterious house in order to collect an inheritance. Though I knew this book wouldn’t be dark, and it wouldn’t contain anything gory, the plot and setting were enough to buy it from Amazon last month. I’d been following the author’s blog for several months and was very curious to see what a full length novel might be like. I was definitely glad I chose to read it and found a new series with some fun and quirky characters who like to push the envelope just a little bit!
In this caper, Jill, has been offered an opportunity to collect $200K if she stays at her late aunt’s house for one week, along with several other guests who are each competing for the full inheritance. If someone leaves (for ANY reason), their share is entered back into the pool thus upping what the others have the opportunity to collect! Some of the guests are friends and neighbors of her dead aunt, others are family members and boyfriends. By the end of the tally, there are ~12 people subjected to the silly / dastardly plans of an older woman who liked to play tricks, even in her death. Between a ghost who haunts the place by singing and a slew of fake and real dead bodies popping up in the strangest of places, this caper has you guessing all the way thru. It felt a bit like Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, as one by one, visitors keep dying. But many secrets are also unraveling to a backdrop that felt something like the movie Clue.
I enjoyed the book a lot. I liked all the characters and the setting was very clear — almost too descriptive at times as it builds the entire picture for you without much room to invent your own backdrop. Jill re-builds a friendship with her cousin, and by the end of the book, they are in a very different place from whence they started. Perhaps one’s a killer. Perhaps they find out family secrets. Or maybe only one survives. I won’t spoil anything, but this book is a clear kick off for a new mystery series where a trio of ladies investigates crimes.
Colins has a strong grasp of building a world for her characters to play in. She delivers quirky, funny dialog that makes you want to slap them sometimes purely for the comical laughs that take take away from the villainous murders happening around everyone. Picture a head chopped off… a vampire-like death, and a sea of meals made only from mushrooms. Now that’d be the death of me! Perhaps the most vivid of the slew is the cute names Jill and her boyfriend have for one another given his career as a pastry chef. I’m glad to see how it all ends between those two! Ha… curious? You’ll have to read the book to find out.
I look forward to picking up more from this author and encourage anyone who’s a fan of humor, murder mystery, Clue or large casts to pick up this entry novel into the Triple Threat mystery series. It has lots of potential and I am excited to see what happens in the next one.
The Connecticut Corpse Caper: Tyler Colins
An Agatha Christie type murder mystery – but more humorous: A big house, an expected inheritance, snowstorms that prevent people leaving the estate, and various deaths which put everyone else in the house under suspicion.
The characters are wacky and over the top. When they turn into amateur sleuths to try and discover just exactly what is going on in the big old house, it made for interesting reading.
The heirs are gathered at the spooky mansion of an eccentric deceased old widow. They are all promised a quarter million dollars if they stay for the week. The creepy house proves to be full of frightening gags and eerie if not interesting food. Everyone is actually settled in for the duration until one of them is found dead. Then the search for clues begins as they all become amateur sleuths.
This is a creepy good mystery set in a suitably eerie place. The characters are well crafted and eclectic and a bit quirky, each with a great personality. The narrative is from the niece’s point of view and is helpful in finding out clues, theories and interesting facts about the various characters. The setting is well described and helping to set the mood. The mystery is full of surprises, numerous clues, a multitude of suspects, and twists and turns that build up the suspense and keep you on the edge of your seat until the final moments.it is a well written and preformed mystery.
I received this book for free from audible and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and all opinions expressed herein are my own.
I wanted to love this book, unfortunately I did not. There is plenty to like about it – there is some good humor/cultural references; interesting characters and a good premise for a mystery. I was expecting something along the lines of Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None.” As I listened to this book [and this is absolutely no fault of the narrator] – I found there were too many characters to keep track of; too many scenes with an overwhelming amount of description; and I found myself getting lost – a lot. Perhaps this would have been a better experience if I had read the book. I will not be continuing with this series.
The narrator, Cindy Piller, did a great job. I would certainly listen to another of her narrations.
inheritance, spoof, situational-humor, verbal-humor, murder, pranks
All of the characters certainly are, including the deceased! Is it a game of clue or the movie Scavenger Hunt? In any case, it’s nowhere near as serious as And Then There Were None. It’s a spoof or maybe a farce, but in any case it kept me laughing throughout the whole book! It also kept me guessing as to who was behind the murders. Loved it!
Narrator Cindy Piller did a fantastic job of maximizing the fun and the mystery.
I won this audiobook in a giveaway!