A Murder at the Mansion

Novel Detectives Mystery

By Ellie Alexander     

ISBN: 9781837003143 

Website: www.elliealexander.co

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra                   

Summary:

 In the charming town of Redwood Grove, even the grandest estates have something to hide…

When reclusive heiress Bernadette Garst vanishes from her sprawling mansion, bookshop owner and investigator Annie Murray is summoned to the scene.

Arriving at the legendary Garst property, Annie and her partner Fletcher discover a household riddled with secrets, bitter family rivalries, and suspicious staff members. When Bernadette’s lawyer also goes missing, it’s clear the case is escalating into something far more dangerous.

With her keen eye for detail and a little help from her friends, Annie must piece together the clues hidden within the opulent estate grounds. Can she solve the puzzle before it’s too late? (Goodreads)

Review:

The third book in the, A Murder at the Mansion, by Ellie Alexander is another cozy mystery that has my highest praise. Novel Detectives Mystery series Now the reason for this is that the storytelling was very good and the mystery in and of itself was very good. Pause here on the praise… I did figure out ‘whodunit’ quite early on 🙁 but since the writing was so good – I did have to wait until the end of the story to have my theory 100% affirmed. Luckily for me the storytelling, many characters in the story and the animals provided more than ample impetus for me to finish the book in record time. The read is like coming home as you know what expect – a cozy mystery with a number of suspects along with the cast of recurring characters involved in solving the mystery – with Annie and Fletcher taking the lead in that department.

What starts out as a missing persons case for the matriarch of the Garst family, Bernadette Garst quickly turned into a murder case as the body of Ms. Garst’s lawyer, Gabe Bowers is discovered in the boat house. So who murdered Gabe? And where is Bernadette? Annie has a number of potential suspects (mostly family members of the Garst clan) to sift through with respect to the murder. But with such an expansive acreage – it seems like a daunting task to locate Bernadette – and time is of the essence given her age!

I noted that this installment of the series is very skimpy on progressing the storyline of Hal’s origins and his possible connection to Agatha Christie. I do hope this picks up a wee bit in the next book of the series. In fact, not really much character development nor relationship development in this book either. Here is hoping that the next book will add more depth to the various characters of Redwood Grove.

Never fear – the mystery of ‘whodunit’ is all is wrapped up in a neat little package in the end (which is one reason I did not give this read 5 stars – too neat!). Though there a couple of twists and turns that did keep me guessing and there is a surprise or two at the end 🙂 .

I shall patiently await the next installment (book #4) of Novel Detectives Mystery series, A Murder at Midnight, to see where Hal’s storyline goes. I shall even wait with baited breath for book #5 –
A Fatal Frost!

If you enjoy feel good cozy mysteries with interesting characters, then I suggest reading this installment of the Novel Detective Mystery series! In fact – read the whole series.