Wednesday, September 16, 2020

BLOG TOUR - A Witness to Murder


DESCRIPTION:

A medieval house, a dead body and some rather suspicious chocolate fudge? Call for Lady Swift!

Autumn, 1920. Lady Eleanor Swift, accidental amateur detective and retired explorer, is determined to take a break from investigating murders. So when a local politician dies suddenly at an elegant dinner party at Farrington Manor, she tries her hardest not to listen to the raft of rumours around the village that he might have been poisoned by the fudge. It’s the anniversary of the disappearance of her beloved parents and she’s promised herself not to get mixed up with any more mysteries. She isn’t sure they’d have approved.

But when she arrives home to discover that Mrs Pitkin, the kindly cook from Farrington Manor, has been dismissed without wage or reference because the police consider her a suspect, Eleanor knows she needs to act. If there was a murder, then she needs to track down the culprit and clear Mrs Pitkin’s name.

Accompanied by her faithful partner in crime, Gladstone the bulldog, who has the best nose for sniffing out bones in the country, Eleanor sets out to find the killer. And when another body turns up and she finds poisoned fudge in the victim’s house, Eleanor knows she’s on the right track. But can she sort the truth from the lies before she becomes a witness to another murder – this time rather closer to home?

An utterly charming cozy mystery! Warm and witty, fans of Agatha Christie, TE Kinsey and LB Hathaway will be totally hooked.  

BUY LINK:
https://bit.ly/32ZHGxy


MY THOUGHTS:

Title
:   A Witness to Murder
Author:  Verity Bright
Series:  A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery #3
Publisher:  Bookouture
Genre:   Cozy Mystery
Format:  Kindle ARC
No. of Pages:   289
Date of Publication:   September 14, 2020
My Rating:   5 Stars

Lady Eleanor (Elle Swift has proved herself quite adept when playing the role of an amateur detective. She gets that opportunity yet again when a local politician dies. Elle is an interesting character, to say the least. She is a former explorer, and now the lady of a manor. She eschews that role whenever possible. For example, it was proper to have a card when paying a call. She found that rather pretentious. Or, when it came to certain household duties, or dealing with some of the staff, she went against convention. The fact that she is now prone to find herself solving murders just makes her all that more intriguing.

When she is at a dinner party and the man dies due to an apparent allergic reaction, Elle has a strong sense that his death was no accident. Meanwhile, she cannot stop thinking about her parents, who one day simply disappeared. No, Elle wants to settle into her new life with as little fanfare as possible, but that certainly will not happens. Things become very worrisome for her when a cook is dismissed after being considered a suspect. Elle wants to clear her name, and if it indeed was murder, catch the individual responsible.

At the same time, the issue of politics comes up, and before you know it, Elle is defying convention yet again. At that time, women barely had the vote, never mind running for office, which is exactly what she decides to do. As in the first two books of the series, A Very English Murder and Death at the Danceshe is often accompanied by her dog Gladstone and her butler, Clifford. I love both of them in this series. 

Of course, trying to discover the killer places Elle in precarious situations more than once, and this makes this cozy mystery all that more enjoyable. One other thing I liked about this book is that Elle has a bit of a romantic interest, and I would like to see where that goes in this series. 

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humour, before embarking on their first historical mystery. They are the authors of the fabulous Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series, set in the 1920s. 

Twitter: @brightverity



13 comments:

  1. Hi Robin

    Thanks so much fir this wonderful review - glad you're enjoyed A Witness to Murder - and yes, in the next book Ellie's love life hots up :)

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  2. Amazing review Robin this book series looks and sounds like a fantastic cozy mystery book series. I am really glad you fully enjoyed reading this book series so far in. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome post.

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  3. Glad to see your excellent review, this one is on my TBR

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    1. Hi DJ - if you do read it, please let me know what you think @BrightVerity - I love to hear from readers :)

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  4. This one is new to me. I love the cover. Great review I’ll be adding this to my tbr.

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    1. Hi Veronica - would love to know what you think @BrightVerity - reader feedback is so valuable :)

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  5. I'm not a lovely of cozy mysteries. Glad you enjoyed it though.

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  6. love that cover!! and a 5 star review intrigues me

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