Uncovering Fossils and Murder
At some point, it makes sense to bring Lyndy and Stella to America to explore what that shows up about these two characters. And that's just what author Clara McKenna did with Murder at Cottonwood Creek, the seventh in the series.
For those unfamiliar with the series, it is normally set in England, where Lyndy is a Viscount. Stella is his new American wife. While their marriage was originally an arrange marriage, the two have come to truly care for each other.
This book finds the couple in Montana in the summer of 1906. They are visiting Stella’s mother, whom she has recently reconciled with, as well as the archeological dig that Stella’s inheritance is funding. Lyndy’s father is fascinated with fossils, and so he has been there for some time already getting his hands dirty – literally.
But soon after Stella and Lyndy arrive, the night guard dies. The local coroner is quick to rule his death a horrible accident, but Stella isn’t quite as sure. Can she and Lyndy figure out what really happened?
The book being in America gave us a chance to see Lyndy and his father out of their natural element. I enjoyed seeing them, well mainly Lyndy, feeling a little uncomfortable. It shows a different side of his character. We also got to see the continued growth of Lyndy and Stella we’ve enjoyed since the series started.
I did miss so many of the series regulars, however. I enjoy those supporting characters. We saw some of them in the previous book, which also found the characters traveling. The new characters are good, but they were mostly suspects, so they didn’t feel the same.
The plotting of this book was uneven. Part of that is because there is a lot going on. I’m not quite sure everything got juggled properly. But I did get caught up in the story and was mostly satisfied when we reached the end. There was one thing I felt like we could have gotten a definite answer on, but maybe that’s just me.
While the focus of the book is the fictional murder, there are plenty of mentions of real people and events that would impact the world of Montana in 1906. I always enjoy that kind of detail.
Fans of Stella and Lyndy will enjoy their latest adventure. If you haven’t started the series yet, you’ll enjoy Murder at Cottonwood Creek more if you’ve read earlier books in the series. This is a series I definitely recommend.
Here are the rest of the Stella and Lyndy Mysteries.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.
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.