Murder in the Mystery Suite by Ellery Adams fulfilled the category “Book with a Subject I Am Passionate About” for the PopSugar 2021 Reading Challenge. This cozy mystery centers on a reader’s retreat full of literary references and books and books and books and then a secret library. I was in heaven!
I originally read Twisted Threads by Lea Walt for this prompt. My friend, Rose, gifted me the book because she knows I am obsessed with cross-stitch. The book highlights an embroidery business with members handcrafting the items they sell. I loved the book until the end when one detail screwed up the entire premise of the book. I was still planning to use it until I read Murder in the Mystery Suite.
I’m a huge cozy mystery fan. MC Beaton is one of my favorite authors, and I’m entrenched in a complete reread of her Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin books (audio, of course, thank you, Libby). I’m always ready for a series to sweep me away to a quiet, fun small town with too much murder. I’ve completed all the Cat Who books and Diane Mott Davidson’s culinary mysteries. Few others have kept my attention beyond two or three books.
The Book Retreat series (Mystery Suite is the first book) hopefully will keep me hooked. But man, oh man, this first title had me at a Murder and Mayhem weekend. In the novel, Jane Steward runs a family-owned resort. The place is in a hidden valley with sprawling land and a tiny village nearby. Did I mention all the shops in the village have the perfect cozy mystery names? I want a book about each one! (We won’t even get into the names—Butterworth, Pimpernel, Hemingway, etc.)
Jane decides to have a special theme weekend to drum up business and funding for the upkeep of the retreat. There are scavenger hunts, pickleball games, and mostly wondrous, a costumed ball where everyone must come as a detective. Ms. Adams includes some of my favorite detectives, including Sherlock, Ms. Marple, and Hamish Macbeth. One of the suspects dressed as Agatha Raisin. I was done.
The mystery was complex enough to keep my interest, but not overdone or bloody to scare off a cozy reader. It was over the top and fanciful for any bibliophile. It was like finding the Thursday Next series all over again. (I can only hope as I download book two from Hoopla.)
This book checked all my literary lists—cute cozy, adorable well-written children, lots of books, references to my favorite characters, and a twist in the plot about the real purpose of the retreat. More, please!
I’m so glad I grabbed this book at random.
I give Murder in the Mystery Suite by Ellery Adams Five Rare Books in a Secret Library.
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