Murder at the Mansion: A Victorian Village Mystery

I loved the writing style. I also loved how much dialogue there was and how the story rapidly progressed. But I’ve got a few issues. Number one, the main character is painfully dull. She’s not overly smart, she’s not funny, she doesn’t have any particular talents... she’s just sort of there. I wished I got do see an actual personality within her. The second issue was at the end. Of course with any murder mystery, there’s a murderer who’s caught by the end. The author really let me down. The person who killed the victim was easy for me to guess once the character was introduced and the confrontation at the end fizzled out before it even started. It was just like, “did you kill her?”, “yeah, I’ll tell you why and then peacefully wait for the police because I’m actually super nice.” And third, all it seemed like the main character did was make plans. She never actually did anything. She literally took three entire visits to the mansion before she got to the attic. And then she’d be like, “what was made in that factory? It’s important for me to know”, and then never actually look into it. It’s good enough that I’d be interested in reading another one of the authors books but I don’t see this book being something I would remember to recommend to someone.

I really enjoyed this cozy mystery. This is a new author to me but I love the way she details the people and places within. I will definitely be reading more of her books. The main character, Kate, has a lot on her plate and I look forward to seeing how her relationships progress within the community. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a good mystery. There are also several cliff hangers that I am dying to find out about!