One of the things I would end up using a time machine for (if I had access to it in my current life), would be to go and pepper those days that I did not feel like posting or ended up posting a bland generic review with fake cheer, with posts that I write on other days. My holidays are coming up, the countdown has officially started and I have to see to my complete packing by tomorrow to give myself one free day. This meant that my mind was otherwise occupied and even though I read two books in the meantime, I did not push myself to post. This, of course, means a silent blog, and lesser people stopping by! In the past couple of months, I have been having actual conversations with people who drop by with comments (thank you!) and I miss having that interaction when I do not. The next two months will have me checking in whenever I get the odd hour, here and there so I should get used to this pattern for the time being.
Moving on to the review:
This book is available for request until the 28th of June 2019 and I highly recommend you give it a shotCozy mysteries are a hit or miss for the most part with me because sometimes the narration does not suit my mood for reading a book and/or I do not get the humour used in the context of the tale. Basically, many of them are not meant for me but I soldier on and keep trying new authors because once in a while I strike gold. This was one such book, the characterization of relationships in this book were really well done. This is historical fiction with an enterprising countess in the midst of it all.
This is the second book in the series, but since there are painstaking efforts to ensure we are up to date with the balance of power amongst the people we are to be introduced to, it is not hard to read it without prior knowledge of the first. Frances is a widow, with a daughter and a few relatives, some from her own side and others from her late husband’s who are part of their daily life. She happens to stumble upon the death of an acquaintance that she was fond of and a person she introduced to her is considered a suspect. Now with the connections and natural intelligence, she sets off to aid the officials in their quest to find the actual culprit while maneuvering around the social niceties of the time. They treat her with the respect given to her class but when she does not listen to appropriate cautions, they explain to her logically about what trouble her actions can cause!
There is a mild romance in the background (more than a few) which add to the ambience of the tale.
The story does not provide enough clues to actually guess the result until the story moves towards the final reveal while being believable at the same time.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is completely based on my own reading experience
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Superfluous Reading 