Ali Carter

Didn't really like this book, though it wasn't the stuff of DNF. I think a number of factors were involved, including what might be a cultural divide in terms of narrative style.

Susie Mahl is a fine artist who supplements her income by doing high-end pet portraits, something that also allows her to move amongst those that occupy the rarefied air of wealth. While working on a commission that came about through a recommendation by Lady Greengrass to a neighbor, Lord Greengrass is murdered. Susie is close enough to the family that Lady Greengrass calls on her to stay until the funeral, a request Susie uses as an opportunity to solve the mystery.

I'll start with the plotting; it was lacking. There was never any question for me as to who the murderer was. In fact:
the reader enters the scene seconds after the murder has occurred, as the murderer has just finished and so is still right there (sitting atop the victim if I remember correctly).
The whole thing was truly transparent and the author never came close to convincing me that there were any other viable suspects.

Susie Mahl, as a character, was problematic for me. She is strong, independent and opinionated. Things I generally like in my MCs. But she also had an ego that often ventured into "I'm better than everyone else" territory, and I didn't care for that. This arrogance spanned across several subjects, but the most distasteful, to me, were the multiple times she expressed her belief that she alone could solve the mystery, and the inspectors would never figure it out. How I'd have loved to see one of those inspectors tell her they could do portraits better than she could.

Finally, the overall writing style just didn't do it for me; it felt choppy and the dialog simplistic and unnatural. Some of this might be a cultural style, as I mentioned above, and some of it could be first-book-learning-curve, but added to my other issues, the result is a lack of desire to continue the series.… (mehr)

I received this book as an Early Reviewer. I enjoy cozy mysteries and this did not disappoint. Artist Susie Mahl is invited to join a weekend house party at Archie Wellingham’s country estate, Fontaburn Hall, along with an interesting mix of Archie’s friends. One of the party, American fun loving party girl Hailey Dune, is murdered during the weekend. Amateur sleuth Susie, who herself says that ‘once something is amiss I can become rather obsessed with working it out,’ sets out to solve the case. I enjoyed this book, which is the second in the series. The setting reminded me of a place I might find Miss Marple, and I was still guessing as to who the guilty party was at the end. I will most likely read the first book after reading this one.… (mehr)

I won this book as an Early Reviewer. I enjoy cozy mysteries. I did read this but it was very slow moving. At first I thought the story took place in the 1930’s England. The setting was a country estate with LOTS of alcohol consumption. It reminded me more of an Agatha Christie or Dashiel Hammett novel. The time period was so vague that the only hint to the actual setting were references to Silicon Valley and a private jet. No one had their cell phones out to text or check messages or take photos. If I were spending the weekend at a country estate in Britain, I would be taking many photos. The main character, Susie, was annoying. Her relationship with her male friend was pretty vague. None of the characters were very well developed. The ending was not very believable. I have no interest in reading any more novels in this series.… (mehr)