Jane is one of those characters that you are always excited to read about. She has gone through a nightmarish marriage and has recovered most of her self-worth, but she has flaws and fears just like any real-life person. She is outgoing, adventurous, and mostly happy with her newfound freedom, and the man she has come to realize is very important in her life. While spending time at a manor house in England with her aunt, life becomes exciting as Jane learns more about her strict, old-fashioned aunt’s past and how to fly. Other characters in this series are equally interesting and add to the action, especially Redvers. This might be my favourite new cozy mystery series. I mean, I am predisposed to enjoy a cosy mystery series set in the 1920s. I admit that. But here's the thing, this one has: Well-developed side characters. I really warmed to Jane's golf-fanatic of a cousin Lilian, who was blunt, and driven, but also kind-hearted and astute in this one. I also really like Lillian's somewhat difficult friend Marie. Also, Lilian's flighty cousin Poppy was interestingly done as that type of character, in that she wasn't *only* flightly. Actually, that's why I like most of the characters, they tend to be at least a little bit nuanced.

Guests start to turn up dead one after the other in a matter of hours. The cause of deaths appeared to be accidents. Police were in and out of Mistletoe Manor. Never had they been so busy as Windy Pines has always been heralded as a safe, crime-free place. Will Klarinda and her staff be persons of interest? What was the significance of what happened ten years past? Will they be able to solve the mystery why her guests were dropping off like flies? What exactly was the connection her guests shared? Mistletoe Manor got trashed and Klarinda despaired that no one would ever like to stay in a place where people got killed off. Will they ever get to the bottom of this? Who will be the next victim? Is this the end of Klarinda’s dream? Will she die a slow, agonizing, financial death?I thought this was a wonderful addition to the series and my favorite of the two books. This installment has all the fixings of a great country house mystery. The characters are well-rounded, the English countryside setting perfect, and the murder mystery puzzling and filled with family secrets. Jane is a fun, likable, and intelligent protagonist. She's starting to feel like an old friend, and I look forward to solving more mysteries with her. I'm going to miss the English setting but I'm excited for the third book that will most likely be set in America. Redvers has hinted that he is going there as well, so I'm excited to see more development in his and Jane's relationship. Klarinda is our innkeeper and sleuth. Well, an unknowing sleuth. She is an unknowing sleuth since she didn't mean to start sleuthing around, but it just happened. Klarinda is a lovely character in the way that she came to own the inn and with how she has been running it. I like this character as she wants the mystery to be solved and for the bodies of her guests to stop dropping like flies. The early ones show the relative roughness of the form as mystery writers were beginning to assemble their tropes. Somewhere along the line the English mystery shifted from its pulpy origins to an acceptable literary game for the respected auteur, though the funniest story in the entire group, penned by E.V. Knox (brother of Ronald Knox, and editor of Punch) pokes fun at the subgenre with a hilarious deftness. The prose and characterizations show a steady advancement in polish and sophistication over the course of the anthology, though those early ones are not without charm and vigor. I really enjoyed this book for the most part, even when I realized I knew who the killer was and then I knew the why, as the story is entertaining and keeps you on your toes as it moves towards the conclusion. And the reveal, while a familiar sad tale, was very well done and I think that one will be satisfied with it. A really good read and I will absolutely be looking forward to book 3!! These books are why I like mystery series with romantic subplots. The mysteries drive the action of the individual books, so while the romantic elements often progress, and contain dramatic elements, they often don't get too melodramatic (unless it's more of a gothic mystery - which can be fun too).

As with so many (most) (the vast majority of) story collections, this has high highs and low lows and quite a lot in between; I can't remember the last time I read a collection in which I loved every story. So often the way with story collections. The best thing about this one is that it provided a list of authors to be pursued later. (And a few to remember to ignore.) Murders at Karlov Manor is accompanied by the release of Ravnica: Clue Edition, a crossover with the property owned and published by Hasbro. [3] I've been learning new words in my reading choices lately, which I'm finding delightful. The Secret of Dreadwillow Carse taught me that carse is a Scottish word for 'fertile lowland alongside a river', bulldozing my way through K.J. Charles's Society of Gentlemen series has taught me a measure of delightful period terms for sex acts, and G.K. Chesterson's The White Pillars Murder has added 'polymath' to my education, which is 'a person knowledgeable in a variety of subjects'. Sadly the new word is about all I enjoyed out of it. Two amateur detectives in training are sent out to stumble their way through their first solo investigation. It's a little silly and the characters aren't terribly likeable. Ernest Bramah's “The Secret of Dunstan’s Tower”: The blind detective Max Carrados works on a problem about a seemingly haunted manor. Blood appears at night on the stairs, every night one step higher, and when it reaches the top floor there will be a death, according to tradition. A very intriguing premise, although as sometimes happens you have to wonder how no one else was able to find out what was going on. A thrilling but not really practical way to commit a crime. They explain they were invited by their boss at ITV before being greeted by a range of stars, from Davina McCall and Dermot O'Leary to Joel Dommett. Davina explains that the 'bigwigs invited all the great and good from ITV' to the celebrations.It is always hard to review an entire collection of stories, so rather than trying to talk about each story – I will endeavour to give just a flavour of this superb collection, which I just loved. Each story is prefaced with a short bio of the author, setting the story which follows in the context of the author’s body of work. Several of the authors were new to me, some old friends. The Mystery of Horne's Corpse" by Anthony Berkeley: A man keeps finding the corpse of his cousin (and the man who would be his heir). But when he brings the authorities to examine the body, it disappears. Is he going crazy? Or is someone trying to drive him there?

I’d read The Same to Us by Margery Allingham somewhere before and it was just as funny this second time. A theft occurs during a high-society party. With me here and him there, that means a hundred percent of his common sense isn’t even in the same state as his penis. I should have known better than to come here. There are some reasonable attempts at inclusion and diversity. And I continue to enjoy how character stereotypes are often subtly subverted. The Perfect Plan" by James Hilton: As the title suggests, a man devises the perfect plan to murder his hated employer. He follows through on it and, to all appearances, gets clean away with it. But his own conscience puts a spoke in his wheels. Murder at the manor is described as a cosy mystery and I couldn’t agree more. I fell in love with Evelyn’s character quite fast and at the end even liked Tommy a whole lot too. All the characters have a clear presence throughout the book and Catherine revealed their true intentions and characters very smooth. What really makes this cozy is the intertwining and family bond in this book tho, but on the other hand, as I personally have some trouble with loads of people in a book, it might get confusing too. What I deffintely loved most were the reveals and plot twists. Catherine knows when to add what to spice up the story and how to end the story in a wholesome and complete way. The way the story ends and everything gets figured out gave me the typical ‘cheap detective turned to amazingly smart ideas’ vibe wich I loved, but isn’t that new either. Wich makes me land on a 3 star review. I enjoyed the book very much, finished it in 2 days because it read very smooth and the story wasn’t over complicated, but I wouldn’t read it again as it didn’t stand out to me that much either. This is a very enjoyable book to get you out of a reading slump as it keeps you wondering until the end, and I love that in a book!

See also

I'm giving it 5 stars. I guess objectively 4 would be appropriate, after all many of the stories are not perfect, but when I enjoy every single story in a collection by different writers I have to reward that. Overall, quite solid, atmospheric and well-written, even if the mysteries were not always the greatest. The Murder at the Towers" by E.V. Knox: A marvelous send-up of the country house plot. Great fun from the first line: "Mr. Ponderby-Wilkins was a man so rich, so ugly, so cross, and so old, that even the stupidest reader could not expect him to survive any longer than Chapter I."

Lord Hughes makes it a point to hire wounded veterans from WWI and one of them shows an interest in Lillian. He also has an anger problem, alluded to as being a result of the war and, when he gets upset one evening he takes a car from Lord Hughes’ garage, tears out of the driveway, and ultimately crashes and dies. The initial investigation reveals the possibility of murder, and the investigation begins. Anthony Berkeley's “The Mystery of Horne’s Copse”: A really good story about someone who keeps finding a murdered corpse, only to have the body disappear as he tries to alert the police. The longest story in the book and enjoyable throughout. Once you know the solution, though, you have to wonder at how many things could go wrong with the criminals' plan. An excellent way to spend a role-playing evening with friends. Each party takes 2-3 hours to play. They are filled with intrigue, suspense, humour and the fun of playing both detective and suspect. This game is designed to be played by up to 7 male and 7 female players, in any combination (minimum of 6). The Mystery of Horne's Copse" by Anthony Berkeley features his amateur detective, Roger Sheringham, and Chief Inspector Moresby. It's a complex story with a lot of twists and turns. It was originally published as a magazine serial, which explains a lot. Personally, I think it ran on a little long, but it was still a good story.After the events at Mena House, Egypt, in the first novel of this 1920s-set historical mystery series, our heroine, the widowed American Jane Wunderly, and her (obnoxious) Aunt Millie decide to take up residence at Wedgefield Manor, an estate in the English countryside owned by Lord Hughes, a former and possibly future paramour of Aunt Millie's. But they aren't just there for the sake of Aunt Millie's romantic prospects. Lord Hughes' adopted daughter, Lillian, is actually Millie's child, and Millie wants to get to know her now-grown daughter a little better.