I have deeply enjoyed this collection of short stories.
Showstoppers is my favourite, mostly because theatre is something that I love, but in the three stories you'll find characters who are interesting and the plots intriguing. A really good read ( )

This collection includes the stories "Three Sisters," "Showstoppers," and "Real Elves." Each of them presents Emily Castles with a puzzle to solve.

Each is centered around her neighbors and coworkers.

Two of them involve murders.

They all feature Emily Castles, a young woman living in London

These stories all seem intended to be funny. Unfortunately, most of Emily's neighbors and coworkers are portrayed as shallow idiots. Emily herself comes off slightly better in both character and intelligence, but mainly in comparison to the friends and neighbors. Dr. Muriel, a professor of, I believe, ethics, who lives across the street from Emily, seems to be the only one with both sense and intelligence, but she is, alas, not the viewpoint character. These are about Emily, not Dr. Muriel.

The third story, "Real Elves," is the only one that doesn't include a death, and where the tone is, to me, not jarringly inconsistent with the subject matter. This one involves a store setting up a "Santa's village" type event for Christmas, and wanting to test it out on a real child to be sure they haven't overlooked some problem that will only present itself when real children start going through it. "Real Elves" shows some real promise, and is the main reason I'd look at more stories in this series.

Not recommended.

I received a free electronic galley of this book, and I am reviewing it voluntarily. ( )

STORY-LINE THE LONDON STORIES BY HELEN SMITH:

The London Stories, An Emily Castles Mystery Collection, by author Helen Smith has 3 novella's filled with mystery and intrigue. In book one, Three Sisters, we find Emily at a community bonfire. Filled with strange characters and events, Emily must find a murderer. Book two, Showstopper, finds Emily working at Showstopper where she must find a blackmailer and solve a murder. In Book 3, Emily has a puzzle on her hands which she must solve within 15 minutes, save the stores Christmas display, and bring a child happiness. My review of The London Stories follows.

CHARACTERS, PLOTTING, DEVELOPMENT:

I found each story complete unto itself, yet, each flowed into the next story with characters we knew. Emily, something of an amateur detective, uses her powers of observation to solve the three mysteries we find in The London Stories. The plots were intriguing and held my attention. I must say my least favorite story, Three Sisters, still held my attention and interest.

With a range of locations, Smith takes the reader from a bonfire party in residential London, to a children's dance studio, and finally a department store at Christmas. I found the writing clear and easy to follow with smooth and steady pacing. Due to the shorter length of novellas, the author could not expand on development or plotting as could be done with a longer novel. However, Smith skillfully, included everything need in each novella to produce a solid intriguing story-line.

The antagonists were not revealed until the last possible moment and will surprise the reader when revealed. Story three has a twist the reader will love. In concluding my review of The London Stories, I found three solid mysteries with well-developed characters and intriguing story-lines. I would not hesitate to buy this book for my self or a friend.

THE LONDON STORIES RECOMMENDATION: STARS 4

In addition, The London Stories is a clean read suitable for anyone who loves a good mystery. This is a clean book.

FINALLY, PLEASE NOTE:

In addition I borrowed this book from kindle unlimited as well as, receiving this book from the author and chose to voluntarily review the book/novel with honest reviews for mystery novel, The London Stories. Furthermore, book reviews of any novel are dependent on the book/novel review author’s opinion. Consequently, all book/novel reviews on-line and on my blog, are my opinions. No one influenced my voluntary reviews for mystery novel, The London Stories. ( )