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Member Reviews
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This is the first book I have read by this author but it will not be my last! It is also the first book in Kay's 'A Jemima Flowerday Mystery'.
Well done and thank you Kay on, and for, an absolutely brilliant cosy mystery and a fantastic introduction to this series!!! This book is very smoothly written with vivid descriptions which really help you see what's going on around you as well as the storyline. The blurb and the cover compliment the novel perfectly.
I absolutely loved this absolutely fantastic introduction to what is promising to be an absolutely addictive and compelling new series!! Kay's amazing and evocative writing skills really brought everything to life all throughout the story ensuring I could see the characters, the surroundings and feel everything the characters were feeling. In this cracking book Kay take you time travelling back to the year 1922 and transport you to Merry Beggars Hall in Somerset where we meet Jemima Flowerday. Jemima is an accomplished dressmaker and has been asked to create 3 new gowns ready for the Christmas season for Lady Hamlash. Lady Hamlash cannot come to London for the fittings so Jemima heads to her in Somerset. The dresses are not the only reason Jemima decides to pay a visit to Merry Beggars Hall though. The real reason she agrees to go is because in April Lady Hamlash discovered a man's severed head and the crime was never solved!! Jemima loves mysteries and is determined to get to the bottom of the murder while she is there. As soon as Jemima arrives she starts her investigations but while she is investigating a past murder another victim is murdered in front of her!! The Hall's cook is killed which makes Jemima even more determined to find the killer. Are the murders linked or are they completely separate? Will Jemima uncover the killer or killers before they strike again? Grab your copy of this addictive page turner to find out for yourselves and I can guarantee you will not regret it!! With a storyline ram packed with beautiful settings, larger than life characters, murder, mystery, crime, twists and much more what are you waiting for? Kay's evocative writing skills ensures the readers are absolutely sucked into the stunning storyline with the atmosphere and characters coming to life all around them. I absolutely fell in love with the storyline and characters and Kay's vivid descriptions are absolutely perfect and evocative. I became so invested in this book that it actually felt like going on a murder mystery break and I absolutely dreaded coming to the end where I had to unpack my suitcase and get back to reality. The book is fast paced with one thing happening after another and I absolutely devoured it in one sitting. Every time I told myself just one more chapter it ended in a way that I just had to read one more and before I knew it I had devoured the whole book around in one sitting. I was walking around with my kindle glued to my hand as I just could not put it down!! Kay's fantastic evocative writing skills really bring the surroundings and characters to life and it makes you feel that you are standing right next to them throughout. I really enjoyed this book and really am looking forward to reading the next book in this series which I am hoping Kay is writing while I am writing this!! All of the characters are realistic, have their own unique personalities, strengths and weaknesses and are all very well developed. I was completely invested in Jemima and I loved seeing how her mind ticked while she found clues and linked them to certain things. I found myself trying to solve the mystery along with her feeling like I was next to her throughout. Grab your copy of this fantastic book and discover for yourself how great this book is and trust me, you will not regret it and if your anything like me you will find a new author whose work you will fall in love with!! The storyline was realistic which I always prefer as it makes it more enjoyable to read when you can see that it is something that could happen. It is well constructed and traditional and what starts off as one mystery becomes quite multi layered with all the characters backgrounds coming out. It was a very compelling read and I would never have guessed who did and was hiding what and I was completely shocked by the mega twists. An absolutely fantastic read filled with suspense, mystery, twists and much more (I can't say much more as I don't want to spoil it for future readers) Congratulations Kay, it is getting harder and harder to surprise me and you did just that!!! I loved the addictive storyline and the fantastic characters and I really am looking forward to getting stuck into the rest of your books!! With a fantastic storyline, unforgettable characters and twists and turns this book is perfect to devour in front of a fire on a winters day or relaxing on the beach under the sun! Regardless of where or when you read this book Kay transports you to Merry Beggars Hall and back to the 1920's at the turn of a page!
Congratulations Kay on an absolutely fantastic and successful cosy mystery and I cannot wait to get stuck into more books in this promising series!!!
Overall a quirky, fun, page turning, intriguing murder mystery that will keep you hooked!
#MurderAtMerryBeggarsHall #AJemimaFlowerdayMystery #KayBlythe #NoExitPress #RandomThingsTours #RandomTTours
@KayBlythe @NoExitPress @RandomThingsTours @RandomTTours
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I enjoyed this book. as it's well plotted, fascinating world building, solid mystery and entertaining. . I liked the good storytelling
Due to health issues cannot write a proper review now even if I enjoyed this book. A proper review will follow
Recommended.Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
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This definitely falls under the cosy crime category. It was easy to read and enjoyable but I felt it did drag on too long.
However, I would try more from the same author. Thanks to Netgalley.
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Cosy historical mystery set in a hall where amateur sleuth and dress designer Jemima Flowerday tries to solve the murder of the butler’s brother. Before long another death occurs leading to even more mystery and sleuthing. But there is more to come…
It’s the kind of genre I like, and yet I can’t quite put my finger on why this one didn’t grab me as much as I was expecting. It’s decent enough though, and I’m sure other fans of cosy historical mysteries will enjoy this a great deal.
I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.
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Jemima Flowerday arrives at Merry Beggars (no apostrophe) Hall to design and make dresses for the elderly lady of the house. She's attracted not only to the money but to the fact that an unsolved murder occurred there the previous year and she's an enthusiastic reader of 'true detective stories'. She is not especially welcomed by the house staff especially when she starts digging into the murder. The French cook, Marie, dies unpleasantly in the first few hours, Will (gardener and chauffeur) is suspected, the butler (brother of the first murder victim), Jack tell-tale footman lusting after Dinah, housemaid, who is enamoured of Will all have something to hide. The family has it's own history with the loss of the eldest son in WW1, father dying just before and second son, pompous Sir Finchley and wife Lady Olivia Hamlash now in charge although Lady Hamlash Sn, mother, still runs the old house. Family secrets, cook who is not who she seems, revenge and blackmail all play their parts. More bodies. Good sense of time and place - 1922 London and 'county' and well described characters. Jemima does do a lot of detailed investigating and rather little dress making related matters which would not have gone down well with Lady Hamlash Sn I think. The police are sensible characters and do listen to Jemima, at times, even if she does rather a lot of snooping and entering well, illegally. The threads were all pulled together in a long but coherent fashion at the end but there was quite a lot of repetition of Jemima's earlier investigations. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.