This was a really fun continuation. I absolutely enjoyed the cosy mystery aspect and would highly recommend.

All your favorite characters are back with their shenanigans, and their quirkiness. Yet again, not a traditional mystery, but the story will reel you in. Gemma is back investigating, and there are still plenty staff secrets pending that need to be discovered. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and can’t wait for the upcoming books.

If you love boarding school mysteries, this one is right down your alley. A perfect well-paced cozy mystery.

Aaah, this was a cosy mystery that I really enjoyed. I usually find books of this genre to have a protagonist that is too interfering and the overall plot to be too twee. In this case, I settled into the narrative very quickly, finding the story and setting a bit reminiscent of my dearly beloved 'Malory Towers' series.

Although this is the second book of a new series, I found I could pick up the story relatively easy. There are some references to the previous story but I felt this didn’t have a massive impact on my overall enjoyment. I even think this novel could be read by young adults because of its light-hearted tone but engaging plot.

So, this book takes place during the winter term at St Bride’s. Hint: this finishes at Christmas time. Personally, it didn’t bother me in the slightest because there weren’t too many festive references and I was enjoying the cosy mystery so much, that this just added to the spirit of the story. Ultimately, I think this time of year just makes it a cosier read.

Following English teacher, Gemma, (a girl after my own heart), suspicions are raised when the apparent heir of St Bride’s arrives at the school. When he claims ownership of the school, the staff recognise that this could be the end of their beloved institution. As Gemma begins to ask questions, it soon becomes apparent that this stranger has odd behaviours that just aren’t consistent, and has even managed to rub the locals up the wrong way. Whilst it is glaringly obvious how the story was going to develop, I relished in the light-heartedness of the plot, keen to see how this annoying character was going to receive his well-deserved comeuppance.

In this way, I really got into the swing of this story and loved the quaintness of the traditions of St Bride’s that are being threatened. I felt as protective of the school as the staff and loved how several characters have an instinct for something not being quite right. Even some of the students are suspicious of Earl and I was very much entertained by some of their escapades and confessions.

The only element that I didn’t truly connect with was the relationship Gemma has with Joe, the PE teacher. Furthermore, I could not really grasp his backstory and I think this was where it was really evident that I had not read the first book of the series. Thankfully, I don’t believe this previous plot was going to add anything dramatically new to this instalment, but I think the writer could have done something better with Joe’s character, if my interpretations are correct.

This is a fun, light-hearted cosy mystery that could be enjoyed by young adults and beyond. It was a great reminder of a childhood favourite and I thought the setting was perfectly described. I really hope more of this series are to come and I definitely will try and get to the first story in the meantime.

With thanks to Boldwood books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was very happy to be back at St Bride’s with Gemma Lamb and the rest of the teaching staff.
At the start of the new term, there is a surprise visitor who claims to be the descendent of the school’s founder. Earl Bunting, as his name is, does not make himself very popular with the girls or the staff with his demands. Gemma does not trust him and decides to investigate a bit. With the help of her friends, she uncovers some unexplainable things…

I like that Sophie and Hector from Debbie Young’s other series make a guest appearance again in this book. To be honest, I think I prefer the Sophie Sayers’s series, but St Bride’s offers a couple of hours of relaxing and sleuthing.

Thank you very much for this review copy, Netgalley and the publisher!

When an American stranger turns up and declares that he is the rightful owner of the school's estate things take a turn for the staff and students. However, the normally bold headmistress is going along with the strangers demands. Can Gemma figure out why and save the school?

This is a funny continuation of this cozy mystery series.

Debbie Young’s cozy mysteries are a complete and utter joy and she continues the Gemma Lamb series with the second highly entertaining instalment, Sinister Stranger at St Bride’s.

An American stranger turns up at St Bride’s claiming to be the rightful owner of the school’s majestically beautiful estate. Naturally, staff and pupils are worried about this shocking turn of events and are wondering just what the future holds for them. However, even more shocking is the school headmistress Hairnet who seems immediately willing to acquiesce to the American’s demands! Just what is going on here? Can the group of eccentric and dedicated staff save the school – Gemma Lamb certainly seems to thinks so!

Why is fickle maths teacher Oriana Bliss not remotely suspicious of the stranger’s arrival? What is she not telling her fellow teachers at St Bride’s? Oriana could secure the future of the school forever by merely marrying the unwanted American, however, strange things are happening that might just end up preventing any hope of wedding bells being sounded anywhere near St. Bride’s!

Can Gemma keep the school open? Is the American really the rightful owner of the grounds the school stands on? And who is behind all these pranks?

Sinister Stranger at St. Bride’s is a fun cozy mystery readers will want to read in one go. Full of irrepressibly eccentric characters who will make readers hoot with laughter, this fabulously witty and hugely enjoyable cozy delivers mischief, hi-jinks and suspense in spades. Hard to put down, laugh out loud funny and a delight from start to finish, Sinister Stranger’s at St Bride’s is a fabulous cozy by Debbie Young.

A simply riveting and compulsive page-turner of a read from cover to cover. A deftly scripted mystery with more twists and turns than a roller coaster.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ -- I am so in love with the cover on this one!

This is the second book in the Gemma Lamb Cozy Mystery series, and I am such a fan of this series. The writing is excellent. It's well paced. The setting is fun. The plot is engaging. The characters are quirky and very likable. I am bummed that I apparently missed book three when it was up for offer on NetGalley, but I look forward to diving into Wicked Whispers at St Bride's sometime in the future!

**ARC Via NetGalley**

When a strange American turns up at the school announcing that they are the rightful heir and now own the building, the entire school is thrown into disarray.
I just love this series, a cosy mystery but filled with quirky characters that you just grow to love. An absolute joy to read.

This is the second in the Gemma Lamb cosy mystery series – St Trinian’s crossed with Enid Blyton, crossed with a very gentle, non-murder mystery story.

In this instalment, we get less violence with the mystery, as it revolves around a matter of inheritance, and whether the new arrival is a genuine descendant or a brazen con man.

All the familiar staff of St Bride’s are back, being their usual eccentric and mysterious selves and unwittingly muddying the waters of anything Gemma attempts to investigate.

We get a lot more of the British school atmosphere this time around too, as the timeline of the story spans St Bride’s Halloween, Bonfire Night and Christmas rituals and we see them celebrated in traditional, cosy style – a perfect dose of festive cheer for this current holiday season!

Yet again, while not the more traditional kind of mystery here, this is another quick, easy and highly enjoyable read, with quirky memorable characters and a very gentle, very British plot.

I’m really looking forward to the next one, as there are still some staff secrets left unexposed, despite Gemma’s best efforts. Plus, I want to see if her slow-burn flirtation with romance might spark to a regular flame…!

Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

Sinister Stranger at St Bride's by Debbie Young

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

When an American stranger turns up claiming to be the rightful owner of the school’s magnificent country estate it could spell trouble for everyone at St Bride’s . . .

No one can believe it when the headmistress, Hairnet, instantly accepts the stranger’s claim, not:

the put-upon Bursar, ousted from his cosy estate cottage by the stranger
the enigmatic Max Security, raring to engage in a spot of espionage
the sensible Judith Gosling, who knows more about Lord Bunting than she’s letting on
the irrepressible Gemma Lamb, determined to keep the school open

Only fickle maths teacher Oriana Bliss isn’t suspicious of the stranger, after all she can just marry him and secure St Bride’s future forever. That's if inventive pranks by the girls - and the school cat - don't drive him away first.

Who will nab the stranger first? Oriana with the parson’s noose? Gemma with sinister secrets? Or could this be the end of St Bride’s?

My Opinion

This has previously been released as Stranger at St Bride's.

This is a nice, quick cosy mystery surrounding the potential claim to the St Bride's estate. I enjoyed the first book in this series, but with this book you can see that Debbie Young has grown as a writer - the mystery is so much stronger. This is a lovely sequel and a very enjoyable read.

Rating 4/5

It’s a very welcome return to St Bride’s Boarding School for Girls as book two gets underway. The eccentric and rather splendid cast of teachers are all present and correct, including Oriana Bliss, head of maths and little-known daughter of Headmistress the Hairnet, Max Security the meerkat-like protection officer, PE teacher Joe (or Joscelyn in term time), expert history mistress Judith Gosling and Felicity Button, teacher of life skills which covers everything from cookery to car mechanics and filling out a betting slip correctly. And of course Gemma Lamb, the narrator and newly installed head of English. After a hectic first half term and all the shenanigans with her ex-boyfriend, the run up to Christmas and all the events traditionally held at this rather wonderful and very individual school should be a joyful one, but of course no one was banking on a long-lost descendant of the founder Lord Bunting showing up from America and claiming the estate for himself. Despite convincing the governors of his identity, soon the staff are highly suspicious of this awful man who has taken over all the best bits for himself and are determined to prove whether Earl Bunting is indeed the genuine article or a fraudulent cuckoo in their nest. Even the girls and the school cat have taken an active dislike to the man and the mystery is gradually unfurled, together with some more secrets about the school’s inhabitants themselves, culminating in a cracking and eminently satisfying ending all round.
This is another great feel-good cosy crime story with some smashing and incredibly likeable characters, and the perfect way to spend a few hours lost in the slightly quirky and heart-warming world of St Bride’s. I am looking forward to book three already! 5*

Sinister Stranger At St Brides by Debbie Young is the second book in the Gemma Lamb Cosy Mystery series which is highly entertaining.
Once more St Brides is at the heart of another mystery to solve after a stranger arrives on the doorstep. If manners maketh the man, then this is certainly no gentleman with his arrogance and his rudeness.
The school functions as a family of all girls. Though they are from rich backgrounds, the girls are kind and down to earth.
Debbie Young has created some highly amusing verbal volleys between the characters. I love the English novel and film references. Also highly amusing was the fact that a character can never remember the correct names of others.
The inclusion of McPhee the cat, was very much a character in his own right.
Tradition, legacy and inheritance are important. We need to celebrate our forebears and acknowledge them as we move into the future.
I love these St Brides books as we glimpse life in a boarding school. It isn’t just jolly hockey-sticks, these are highly crafted, amusing stories that I love.
I received a free copy from Rachel’s Random Resources for a blog tour. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

This is the second in the St Brides trilogy to appear in my reviews this month, and it’s just as good as the first one. A mysterious stranger appears at St Brides one Monday claiming to be the heir of the schools founder, Lord Bunting. Everyone is suspicious of him, and Gemma sets about proving his lies, whilst he sets about getting as much out of the school money wise as he can!

There’s plenty of laughs and good old fashioned detective work in this one, we learn more about each member of staff too that we met in the first book. The headmistress doesn’t feature as much which is a shame as she is one of my favourites. More of the schools history and previous members of staff feature as well, I feel we’ll learn a lot more in the last one also.

A good well written cosy read with just the right amount of romance, fun and seriousness.

Another brilliant book about St Brides a school for girls. I absolutely love the characters and how they all interact with each other. In this book an Earl Bunting turns up declaring that he is the ancestor and rightful owner of St Brides, but is he?? It is up to the school staff to find out the truth. This kept me totally hooked from the first page and was easy to follow. We also find out more about some of the other characters and their descriptions and personalities are so well described I could imagine them as real people. If you like Mallory Towers or St Trinian’s these are definitely books for you! Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Diving straight into book two sees staff and students returning to St Brides after the half-term break. Gemma Lamb feels much more confident in her ability to teach now, and is looking forward to Catching up with her Year 7 girls as well as her colleagues – some more than others. So when a stranger with a rather familiar face turns up, no one expects his arrival to cause such a fuss. However, the stranger introduces himself – in an American accent – as Earl Bunting, the only surviving heir of their benefactor Lord Bunting, and he’s come to claim his inheritance.
While his resemblance to Lord Bunting cannot be denied, there’s something about him that neither Gemma nor her co-workers, and particularly the girls do not like. He may seem to be the soul of generosity by insisting the school continue as it is, but bit by bit he usurps the headmistress’s authority until his true intentions can no longer be ignored. The governors seem happy with his credentials yet Earl – which is actually his given name and not a title – may have thrown his weight around a little too much in the village. That he imagines stories of his weird behaviour won’t get back to the teachers is his first mistake: dropping his accent for one thing, taking out books on inheritance law from the bookshop, dying his hair, and building up a large unpaid tab at the pub only give Gemma cause to suspect he’s not all he says he is.

When it looks like the school’s very existence may be at stake, everyone joins forces to invalidate his claim. However, it’s not so straightforward since he possesses a journal that does link him to the Lord. So how can they get dispute his claim on St Brides ?
It’s time to look closer at the man and in particular at his snazzy vehicle. To do this, Gemma relies heavy on Max who looks after the security of the school and its inhabitants. Max has a habit of popping up at the most unexpected times by virtue of the tunnel network created by Lord Bunting, this gives him the perfect opportunity to watch the comings and goings of everyone at St Brides. Put this way, if there’s something dodgy going on, Max will be on the case, and he and Gemma make the perfect double act in uncovering the true identity of the pretender to the estate. But will their evidence be enough?

My only criticism of this story is Earl Bunting's constant, irritating habit of getting everyone's name wrong. Calling Miss Lamb everything from Kidd to Lamp (and it wasn't just her name he got wrong) made me dislike him even more. If he did this to rile people, well... he succeeded!!

Rant over, the mystery in this book is much stronger, the story is fast-paced, and combined with great touches of humour - courtesy of she pranks played on the interloper by the students and the cat! - this is a most enjoyable read.

Thank you to the author, Boldwood Books and Netgalley for my ecopy which I have reviewed of my own volition.

A Threat…
A boarding school mystery for grown ups and the second outing in the series. An American stranger turns up at the English boarding school for girls and poses a threat to the institution when they claim to be the rightful heir to the country estate. All hands, including Gemma’s, are on deck. It seems, however, that some intentions are far more worrying than others. Witty, engaging, quirky and entertaining with a nicely crafted cast of characters and a great setting.

Sinister Stranger at St Bride's
by Debbie Young
Earc:NetGalley
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Publication Date: 11th October 2022
Genre: General Fiction, Women's Fiction
Nothing beats slipping into your cozy, comfy, relaxed zone than a cozy, comfy, fun, easy-to-read crime thriller. And Debbie Young's St. Bride from the Adult School series is a perfect match! Part 2 of
Ms. Young's new series, quirky staff, lovely schoolgirls (who have just the right amount of mischief to pet them), and pure fun all at the core of 'Mystery' It was added to the plot to become and it was a lot of fun. items. As an added bonus, you'll also meet characters from Ms Young's Sophie Sayers mystery series. Put me first on your list for the next story in the
series! What does this mean for the future of the school, its students and its eccentric staff? A reversal plot that made me want to return, well complemented by secrets. Agatha Christie Meets St. Trinian! I'm giving this her 4.5 stars because it would have been nice if the last few chapters were a little tighter. But maybe it was just my impatience to find out! If you're looking for a light British crime thriller set in the English countryside, this is it!

#NetGalley #bookstagram #bookreview #goodreads #generalfiction #womensfiction #SinisterStrangeratStBrides @booksandtonic

A really good quick read and based back at the lovely St Brides school. This is the second in this charming series and the characters are really coming to life, becoming like friends to the reader, which is a delight.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

A quick and easy read that has everything that I look for in a cozy mystery. It is well written with well developed characters, an engaging storyline and a great setting. I really enjoyed it.