One of the Family by Mark Edwards

August 22, 2026

One of the Family by Mark Edwards

When a man is invited to spend New Year's Eve (Hogmanay if you're Scottish) with his wealthy girlfriend's family at their resort home in a remote part of the Scottish Highlands, he gets a lot more than a winter vacation among the rich and fabulous.'

I finished this late one evening when there was nothing worth watching on television (like most nights) and the next morning, I had to sit down and think through the ending. At first, I wasn't sure whether I liked it or not. The plot is clever and convoluted, with several deaths and a number of twists that connect actions from almost two decades earlier to what is going on in the present. Horrible family, not even morally ambiguous, just reprehensible - the only likable family member is the dog Watson, and he isn't in it enough. I have been told that the plot is similar to the HBO show Succession which I haven't seen, so can't confirm or deny - maybe I will subscribe to HBO over the winter and watch it.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review. 

The Murder at World's End by Ross Montgomery

July 15, 2026

The Murder at World's End by Ross Montgomery

On the eve of the return of Halley's Comet in 1910, Stephen Pike arrives to take up a position as a footman at a country house called Tithe House, located on a peninsula known as World's End. World's End off the coast of Cornwall is a tidal island, which means that when the tide comes in, the peninsula is cut off from the mainland and becomes an island for up to 18 hours until the tide goes out again. Stephen also learns that his new employer is an eccentric who believes that the comet's tail is bringing poisonous cyanide gases that will kill off all life forms. He has all the doors and windows boarded up, and issues orders that all guests, residents and staff are to sequester themselves in their quarters until morning when the noxious vapors will have passed. But after what was otherwise a quiet night in the sealed up house, the staff and the family wake up to discover that one of them has been murdered in the night. And not by the comet. Because of his criminal background, Stephen is quickly singled out as the likely culprit. He realizes he has to discover the murderer and solve the crime unless he wants to find himself back in prison or worse.

I love a mystery set in an English country house. The characters are always guilty of something, not to mention eccentric, and the family here is no exception. Ex-con Stephen is young and naive and good-hearted, just grateful to have a job and wanting people to like him. His unexpected sleuthing partner is Aunt Decima, a foul-mouthed octogenarian who is easily the smartest person in the house and a fabulous character. She does not suffer fools gladly and has no qualms about dropping the f-bomb frequently. A cross between an Agatha Christie locked-room mystery and Downtown Abbey or Upstairs/Downstairs. Very enjoyable.

A tidal island with the causeway connecting it to the mainland underwater at high tide

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

October 22, 2025

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Ernest Cunningham is reluctantly traveling to a remote mountain resort for a family reunion. He hasn't seen his family for three years, since he testified against his brother in court, sending him to prison for murder. So now they will be reunited for the first time and he's not looking forward to it. But then even before everyone arrives, a body is found in the snow, and Ernest realizes that the killer must be someone in his family.

It's the family reunion from hell. A dysfunctional family trapped at a snowed-in resort, each with their own backstory, a raging blizzard, the body of an unknown person in the snow. The mystery is complicated, and it makes the reader feel dumb that they can't figure any of it out until Ernest explains it all for you, which does spoil some of the enjoyment - after all, half the fun of reading a mystery is trying to figure out what happened and who is the villain. The narrator claims that he is not unreliable, but he is at times, although he defends himself by saying that what he says is what he believed at the time. This worked well as an audiobook. If you enjoyed the Knives Out miniseries, you will most likely enjoy this offbeat mystery.

A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Searles

October 20, 2025

A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Searles

Beatrice Steele, oldest daughter of the impoverished Steele family, and her sisters are invited to the autumn ball, where their parents hope that at least one of the daughters will form an attachment (marriage engagement) with a wealthy man. If not, their greedy cousin Mr. Grub plans to have their father declared incompetent and take over their family home. Beatrice herself has little interest in marriage, being obsessed with true crime. But when the most eligible bachelor dies in the middle of the ball, Beatrice joins forces with a disgraced detective to solve the murder.

A somewhat over the top comedy of manners and murder. There are a lot of characters and locations in the manor house, like a game of Clue. The detective here is rather incompetent/inexperienced. Some of the humor is goofy, more slapstick that sarcasm or witty repartee. At the end of the book, we still don't know what's up with Mary, Beatrice's younger sister, so the author left herself open for a sequel. Jane Austen-ites won't care for this one as it pokes a certain amount of fun at Jane's books and characters.

A Regency era ball

Voyage of the Damned by Frances White

August 28, 2025

Voyage of the Damned by Frances White

Ganymedes is the Fish province heir in the kingdom of Concordia, but unlike the heirs of the other eleven provinces, he is a fraud: he doesn't have any magical powers. So when he is stuck on a twelve day cruise with the other heirs, he does his bests to hide his lack of magic and distract them with a wild stunt. Then the heir to the kingdom is found dead, and Dee realizes he is trapped on a ship with ten other people, one of whom is a murderer.

A locked-room mystery set on a fantasy cruise ship, like Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None in a magical setting. Has a strong YA feeling. I enjoyed the main character's snarky tone, but I can see where some readers were put off by it. The characters were mostly unlikeable, but that didn't bother me either - when the characters are unlikeable, you don't care when they get killed off. Overall, it was an enjoyable read.

All of Us Murderers by KJ Charles

August 18, 2025

All of Us Murderers by KJ Charles

Zeb Wyckham is surprised when his cousin invites him to his country house for a visit, but he arrives to find himself at the family reunion from hell. Worse yet, his ex-boyfriend who hates him for ruining his life is now working for his cousin. Could it possibly get worse? Actually, yes.

A locked-room mystery combined with an LGBTQ romance seasoned with an element of horror. There is plenty of suspense and sexual tension, plus a few steamy scenes. I love mysteries set at English country houses. The cover reminds me of the covers on old Victoria Holt romantic suspense novels (consumed those like candy when I was a teen).

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

See what I mean about the Victoria Holt covers?

Everyone is Watching by Heather Gudenkauf

May 2, 2025

Everyone is Watching by Heather Gudenkauf

Five contestants are invited to participate in a reality TV show with the chance to win $10 million. None of them know how or why they were chosen. All of the contestants as well as the program host have secrets, and when faced with strategic challenges and isolation, facades start to crack apart. They soon realize that someone brought them together for revenge and the stakes are life or death.

Revenge by way of reality TV show. A twisty suspense novel that is also a locked-room mystery centered around the current popularity of reality "must-see" TV shows, like a combination of Survivor and Squid Game, with notes of Agatha Christie. It's a fast fun read, with a cast of unlikeable characters, unreliable narrators, and a gorgeous but creepy gothic setting. It also offers a commentary on the voyeuristic aspects of social media and how far some people are willing to go for wealth, fame, and influence. A good choice for vacation or beach reading.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

A creepy gothic mansion, not exactly a place where I'd like to spend two weeks

The Belvedere Murders by Karen Baugh Menuhin

July 22, 2024

The Belvedere Murders by Karen Baugh Menuhin

Major Heathcliff Lennox and retired Scotland Yard detective Jonathan Swift are asked by Lord Belvedere to attend a ball at his fabulous country estate to keep an eye on his daughter's suitor, a man named Jack Dutton who he believes is a a gold digger after his daughter's money. Despite their best efforts, during the ball, someone manages to shove Dutton from the roof of the mansion. 

Another adventure for Lennox and Swift, #11 in the series. The mystery here reminds me of books like Murder on the Orient Express, where all the characters have some connection to the murder victim. Furthermore, he is a shady character who needs to get murdered (no one likes a blackmailer or a drug dealer). I love a country house mystery, and this one ticks all the boxes: a beautiful house, a ball, aristocrats, jewels and ball gowns, snooty rich people who think they're above the law, a locked-room mystery. While you don't need to read the series in order, do it because the books are so much fun. Recommended for readers who enjoy British historical mysteries and dry humor.

Iron Age barrow in the the Cotswolds

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Bennett

December 9, 2022

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Bennett

On the first Christmas following her death, Liliana Armitage-Feathers has arranged for her surviving family to assemble at Endgame House, the family's country house. Every Christmas, they play a game, following clues that lead them to their Christmas presents. This year will be no different, except the clues will lead them to the ultimate holiday gift: the deed to Endgame House.

The Westing Game meets Clue (or Cluedo, it you're a Brit). I love mysteries set in country houses but this one was disappointing. The author was so focused on showing the reader how clever she is, that she neglected to use that same focus on the mystery. I had a good idea pretty early on about who was the murderer and who was working behind the scenes. I always read a few seasonal books, and this is my last Christmas mystery for 2022.

Disappointing.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Christmas at an English Country House - always wanted a place like this

City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita

December 7, 2022

City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita

A group of teens living in an isolated Alaskan town find a boot with a dismembered foot on the shoreline. This is a frequent occurrence and the gruesome find is chalked up to a suicide or someone who fell off a cruise ship. But when an Anchorage detective hears about the discovery, she wonders if it is related to the disappearance of her husband and son a year earlier. She travels to the town, only to be stranded by a snowstorm and avalanche. With nothing else to do, she begins digging into the town and its residents.

This starts out as a nice "locked room" mystery with a limited number of characters who live in the same building in the same tiny town. Everyone is stranded by the snowstorm, unable to leave. There is even a moose named Denny. But about 2/3 of the way in, the author introduces a group of characters from a nearby Native American village (the "Rez Men," who she takes great pains to emphasize are NOT Native American) who are able to move about and come and go as they please. They all sound like their dialog is from a 1950s B-movie. I'm sure the author liked all of her characters and didn't want to make one of them the bad guy so she decided to pin it on someone from outside the town, but I hate it when authors do this. It's a cop-out.

Also, the two detectives are conducting a thorough investigation up until this point, but at the 2/3 mark, they suddenly get stupid. Instead of thoroughly searching the town and surrounding area for two children who go missing, including the nearby abandoned military compound (hint, hint), they decide to hop on snowmobiles and go search the Native American village that is two hours away.

The ending is just two unbelievable. The reader is supposed to believe that the murder victim in a tiny isolated town was somehow involved with the deaths of the detective's husband and son. How unbelievable is that?? Talk about a stretch.

And why does Cara, the female detective, start seeing and talking to ghosts, including her dead husband? I know she is supposed to have PTSD, but ghosts have nothing to do with the story and an editor should have cut out those parts. It pisses me off when authors portray women as weak-minded. The male detective doesn't hear or see anything supernatural.

Yamashita tried to deal with too many big issues: domestic abuse, drugs, poverty, suicide, illegal immigration, PTSD, the plight of many Native Americans. These are all important topics, but pick one (or two, at the most) and work with it.

Disappointing.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Talkeetna, Alaska, where this novel does NOT take place

Envious Casca by Georgette Heyer

December 19, 2019

Envious Casca by Georgette Heyer

My last holiday book of the season.

Nathaniel Herriard owns a country manor in rural England.  His brother Joseph and Joseph’s wife Maud, both former actors, live off of Nathaniel’s generosity.  Nathaniel tolerates having them live with him until Joseph gets it into his head to organize a Christmas house party consisting of a variety of people who, general speaking, detest each other.  When Nathaniel is found murdered in a locked room, the guests realize that there is a killer in the house.

Envious Casca was written in 1941 and also published under the title A Christmas Party.  This is a perfectly acceptable holiday mystery that ticked a lot of boxes for me:  English country house, locked room murder, Christmas, a clever crime.  It has the usual suspects:  the old rich curmudgeon who hates Christmas and house parties, the meddling uncle, poor relations, the pushy niece, the heir apparent and his airhead fiancée, the put-upon detective.  If you are interested in a little light reading over the holidays, this is a good choice.