Truth: This is Another Good Mystery
I’ve set a rather heavy schedule of catching up on certain series earlier this year. One of those was Colleen Cambridge’s Phyllida Bright series. Now that I’ve read Two Truths and a Murder, I’m happy to say that I am up to date on the series…until the next book comes out in two months.
For those who haven’t discovered the series yet, Phyllida Bright is the housekeeper to Agatha Christie. While the series is set in the undefined between the war period, Agatha is happily married to her second husband, and, based on the book she is writing, I’d say it’s the early part of the 1930’s. Not that the exact year matters.
While the last book was set in London, Phyllida is back in the village of Listleigh, and happy to be home. She is surprised when one of their neighbors comes to see her, insisting that Phyllida join a dinner party she is throwing as a guest. She is hoping that Phyllida can help her solve a little mystery.
But this good dead finds Phyllida involved in a much larger mystery. After dinner, Genevra, one of the other guests, insists the group plays the parlor game two truths and a lie. And Genevra says that her “I’ve witnessed a murder” is true. But it’s Genevra’s sister, Ethel, who doesn’t make it home from the party. Was she the intended victim? Or is Genevra is danger since the killer got the wrong sister?
The books in this series borrow set ups from Agatha’s books, and I was excited when I realized that this one was one of the few of her books I’ve read. Of course, anyone familiar with Hallowe’en Party will spot differences in the set up and recognize that the plot goes off in a completely different direction pretty quickly.
I will say that I felt the book started out a little slowly. But I did get hooked and was completely pulled into the story the further I got into the book. We had some nice twists along the way, and the ending was completely logical when I got there.
The last book included a surprise in Phyllida’s life, and this book builds on what happened there well. I’m liking where this series is taking Phyllida. It’s not a major part of the book, but it is still nice to see things moving forward. Of course, not everything has moved forward. There’s one storyline I hope we see the end of next book.
But back to this story. It’s filled with good characters, both returning and suspects. They did a great job of keeping me guessing, and I enjoyed seeing all the returning characters again. I really enjoy spending time with this group of characters.
As I hinted at earlier, those looking for a historical mystery with touches of real history in them will be disappointed. But the details of the time period come to life for me, and I enjoyed my trip back almost 100 years.
Fans of Agatha Christie will especially enjoy this series. But any fan of good mysteries will be glad they picked up Two Truths and a Murder. And that’s no lie.
Enjoy 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.