Murderous Mystery Fete
Over the last few years, I’ve been enjoying Colleen Cambridge’s books. I was late in starting her Phyllida Bright series, but I was happy to get to the second, A Trace of Poison.
Phyllida is a woman with a mysterious past. She served in the Great War, which is when she met Agatha Christie. The two women have maintained their friendship, even though Phyllida now serves as the famed author’s housekeeper. Phyllida is also finding a talent for solving mysteries much like the ones her friend and employer writes.
The nearby village of Listleigh is hosting a Murder Fete, drawing in some of Agatha’s friends to help raise money for the orphanage, which desperately needs its roof repaired. The village boasts several residents who are trying their hands at writing mysteries, and they are looking forward to some time learning from the masters of the genre. The authors will be signing books for anyone who shows up. And then there’s the writing contest that the unpublished authors are hoping to win. The prize? A chance to be published on both sides of the pond.
However, the local writers aren’t all friends, and there is one that is annoying, to put it mildly. The opening night cocktail party ends when someone dies. At first, everyone assumes it is a game for them to solve, but when they realize someone has really been poisoned, they are horrified. Will Phyllida be able to solve a second real life murder?
This book does a good job of updating us on the lives and relationships of the characters we met in the first book. Most of the story is told from Phyllida’s third person point of view, but we do get a few scenes from other characters, which was always used to great effect. I enjoyed seeing some of those relationships grow, sometimes in some fun ways. I’m looking forward to seeing how they play out as the series progresses.
Unfortunately, the suspects don’t get as much page time as they really need. That makes the focus of the story a little too obvious.
The mystery did have a couple of good twists that surprised me. I was stopped short when I, like Phyllida, thought I had something figured out only to be surprised. And the ending made sense when I got there. But it could have used a bit more to keep me guessing along the way.
Like the first book, we get a feel for life in the 1930’s, but not real references to the rest of the world. The real-life mystery writers who have cameos on the page add to the fun, but they are just cameos.
As a mystery, A Trace of Poison could be stronger. But it is still an entertaining read and mystery fans, especially fans of Agatha Christie, will be glad they picked up.
Here are the rest of the Phyllida Bright Mysteries.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for stopping by. In order to combat spam, I moderate most comments. I'll get to your comment as soon as I can.