Murder Most Persuasive

I like trying new authors and I love mysteries so this book should have been a good fit. Murder Most Persuasive by Tracy Kiely is an updated cozy mystery. Mostly cozies take place somewhere in the English countryside, usually a small village with eccentric characters and an older woman who has a knack for solving murders. Kiely's book takes place in current time, is located in the US and has a young woman with a knack for solving murders.

Elizabeth Parker, is a young woman who works at a newspaper and is really unhappy in her job. The paper manager is something of a fool and thankfully he doesn't appear too often. The story line starts just after the death of her uncle, Martin Reynolds. He leaves behind his second wife, Bonnie, and three daughters all with secrets of their own. Bonnie believes Martin has been murdered, but he died after a long bout of illness. The Reynolds house in the small town of St. Michaels', Maryland has been sold. As the new owners are removing the pool, the body of a man is discovered. It turns out he is the former fiance of Reynolds' daughter Reggie. The police detective investigating the murder is the ex fiance of another daughter, Ann. After the funeral Bonnie jets off for a spa week and returns with a boy toy named Julian. Who is supposedly a whiz at investments. Bodies begin to pile up once Bonnie returns.

The plot and the premise of the story are entertaining, what bothered me was that Elizabeth quotes Jane Austen and Bonnie quotes Scarlett O'Hara. Amusing at first but annoying after awhile. Once you get past that though, the story is entertaining, the mystery has a nice twist and I will read the next in the series to see what happens to Elizabeth and her boyfriend and Ann and her detective.

Check our catalog