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Book Review of British Manor Murder (Lucy Stone, Bk 23)

British Manor Murder (Lucy Stone, Bk 23)
jodymcgrath avatar reviewed on + 110 more book reviews


* I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review *
This is my first foray into the Lucy Stone series. The book begins with Lucy being very depressed because her grandson who had been staying with her returned to his parents and they moved to Alaska. She cannot seem to get over him being gone. Lucy's friend Sue Invites Lucy to tag along with her to England. Sue has been invited to Moreton Manor by her friend Perry, who happens to be the Earl of Wickham. Perry is putting on an exposition of hats entitled "Heads Up!" and has invited Sue to come and help him. Hoping to relieve her depression, Lucy readily agrees and off to England they go.

Perry and his sister, Poppy, are not at all the stuffy aristocrats Lucy thought they would be. Instead they are living in the renovated servants quarters, while the manor is being used as a tourist attraction. Even with this income, they are having a lot of financial problems. The upkeep of the castle is enormous and things just seem to be piling up. When a dead man is found in the manor's maze and then another in a secret nook, Lucy fears that her time in England will be a little more exciting than she had planned!

I found there were pros and cons to this book. The pros first. The author has a great flow with her writing and the book was a quick, easy read. Her descriptions of the manor and surrounding areas were beautiful, but not to overloaded with information. I also found the problem the Earl and his family were having to be very interesting. The were titled, and acted superior occasionally, but at the same time they were working hard to maintain the manor.

The cons were a little more prevalent. Lucy was a bit of a whiner through the beginning of the book. It seemed stupid that she had raised her own children and apparently coped when the left home, but her grandson, who she only had for a few months, broke her down so much by leaving. The mystery portion of the book was such an afterthought. It wasn't a very good mystery at all. I had almost all of it figured out.

Although I will read more of the Lucy Stone mysteries, this one fell pretty flat. I probably would not recommend this to anyone who really enjoys mysteries.