Wednesday, September 2, 2015

COZY MYSTERY: Murder at the Mikado by Julianna Deering


ABOUT THE BOOK

Just as Drew Farthering thinks his life has found smooth waters, Fleur Landis, an old flame, reappears in his life. She's married now, no longer an actress, and he expects she'll soon disappear--until she comes to him in dire need. The lead actor in her old troupe's production of The Mikado has been murdered, and Fleur is the police's number one suspect.

Drew would love nothing more than to just focus on his fiance, Madeline, and their upcoming wedding, but he can't leave Fleur in the lurch--even if she did break his heart once. As Drew, Nick, and Madeline dive into the murder, they discover more going on behind the scenes of the theater troupe than could ever have been imagined. Nearly everyone had a motive, and alibis are few and far between. It's Drew's most complicated case yet.

REVIEW

I've fallen in love with Deering's Drew Farthering, a gentleman in every sense of the word.  But Drew also has a penchant for solving mysteries and this one seemingly falls into his lap when a former girlfriend asks for his help.  But the charming and beautiful Fleur wreaks havoc wherever she goes and Drew's fiance is reluctant to have Drew help her.  But Fleur's husband works for Drew and Drew likes him so he sets out to find out who killed Fleur's former lover.  But as Drew's relationship with Madeline grows tense so does the mystery as additional bodies turn up confusing things mightily.  Will faith and love be enough to help Drew solve the mystery and hang on to his fiance? Or will Drew lose that which has the most meaning in his life.

Once again I thoroughly enjoyed both the mystery and the relationships portrayed between Drew and his allies, Madeline and Nick.  The addition of an adorable little boy didn't hurt any.  The author manages to beautifully intertwine the mystery with Drew's real and complicated life making for a surprisingly quick read.  The setting also helps set the mood (1930's English countryside) giving the book a bit of a noir feel to it.  The book is presented as Christian fiction but the religious aspects don't it any way overwhelm the story or feel preachy.  Definitely going on my favorites shelf.

No comments:

Post a Comment