The Body in the Garden by Katharine Schellman

From the publisher: London 1815. Though newly-widowed Lily Adler is returning to a society that frowns on independent women, she is determined to create a meaningful life for herself even without a husband. She's no stranger to the glittering world of London's upper crust. At a ball thrown by her oldest friend, Lady Walter, she expects the scandal, gossip, and secrets. What she doesn't expect is the dead body in Lady Walter's garden.

Katharine Schellman’s The Body in the Garden is a fun, well-researched cozy mystery set during the Regency era. Main character Lily loved her husband, who left her a young widow. His family convinces her to return to London, hoping she’ll remarry. She is grieving and unsure how to live the rest of her life, reluctant to rejoin the ton. Her husband’s oldest friend, a naval captain, is in London while his ship is repaired, and he naturally becomes her escort and ally.

The author’s note makes the connection between the story and historical facts. She believably adds two people of color to the story – an heiress from the West Indies and the naval captain, who has an Indian mother. The story isn’t original – the helpful street urchins, the gruff but sincere policeman, the members of the upper crust solving a mystery – but the author brings freshness to her telling. There are hints of romance to come in a sequel. The Body in the Garden would make a terrific movie – someone should snap it up in this day of Bridgerton on TV.

The Galesburg Public Library owns The Body in the Garden as a book, an ebook, and a downloadable audiobook.

Death Comes to the Fair by Catherine Lloyd

Do you love a good mix of mystery and Regency romance? Then Catherine Lloyd’s Kurland St. Mary mystery series could be for you. 

Major Robert Kurland was seriously injured at Waterloo. Miss Lucy Harrington, a childhood friend, is the daughter of the widowed rector. They live in the charming village of Kurland St. Mary, solve mysteries together, and enjoy a spirited relationship. The fourth book in the series, Death Comes to the Fair, comes out in a few weeks, but the Galesburg Public Library already owns the other books in print and electronic format. The first book in the series is Death Comes to the Village.

I thought book three slipped a bit in quality, but book four was as good as the first two. Major Kurland and Lucy spend a lot of time alone in this one, and there is much worried concern from the rector about her reputation and need for a chaperone. But they always find a way to investigate together.

I read an advance reader copy of Death Comes to the Fair; it will be available at the library in late November.

The Haunted Season by G.M.Malliet

The Haunted Season is the fifth book in G.M. Malliet’s Max Tudor series. Max is a former MI5 agent who left after his partner was killed in front of him. Now an Anglican priest in the quaint village of Nether Monkslip, he is married to his soulmate Awena, a pagan and owner of the local New Age shop. They have come to terms with their different beliefs and have a new baby, Owen.

Much to the chagrin of his bishop, Max keeps getting involved in murders. This is a textbook cozy mystery series, full of quirky side characters, coincidences, and the occasional dead body to cause gossip and give the vicar an excuse to show off his deduction skills and intelligence.

None of the books have lived up to the first, but this one was pretty enjoyable. Life seems a little too perfect for Max, and Owen is the most ridiculously well behaved and intelligent baby. There is a nice nod about halfway (p. 183 in the digital advance reader copy) to Agatha Christie, the master of the cozy mystery:

“I was just thinking that the genius of Agatha Christie was not that she saw the universal traits of mankind, like Shakespeare, but that she saw we are all quite different people, with differing motivations.”

The book has some flaws. The murder itself – decapitation by a trip wire while the victim was riding a horse – seems unlikely to come off so seamlessly or to take off a head entirely.The author relies a little too heavily on coincidence (the new curate overhears two of the main players in the crime discussing it miles from Nether Monkslip, for example), and there is a long, long (too long) section in which details of the crime are explained by Max and Cotton to Awena. A scene in which Max runs towards danger while carrying his baby is ridiculous. I can’t believe Max wouldn’t have thought first of the baby’s safety. But I have these kinds of minor complaints about many cozy mysteries.

The book ended strongly, with the last line catching me off guard and piquing my interest about the next book in the series.

I read an advance reader copy of The Haunted Season. It will be published on October 6. The Galesburg Public Library owns many of G.M. Malliet’s books, in regular print, large print, and digital form. Wicked Autumn is the first book in the Max Tudor series.

Dishing the Dirt by M.C. Beaton (Agatha Raisin #26)

M.C. Beaton has been publishing books about Agatha Raisin since 1992. I am a loyal Agatha Raisin fan and have read all 26 books in this cozy mystery series. There hasn’t been much new in recent titles, but a new entry is still a fun read. I enjoyed Dishing the Dirt more than the last three books. It seemed a little more light-hearted.

Having said that, the thing that intrigued me the most as I read Dishing the Dirt was the body count. Three dead bodies by page 34. Four dead bodies by page 57. Five dead bodies by page 70. Six dead bodies by page 96. Seven dead bodies by page 124. This is not a plot that takes itself too seriously! And weaving in and out amid the carnage is Agatha and her normal crew – James, Charles, Bill, Toni, Phil, Mrs. Bloxby. Mrs. Bloxby even gets a fun plot development of her own! (About time.)

This is a great read for a plane ride, an afternoon at the beach, or other circumstances where total concentration is not necessary or possible. It’s verra silly, as Beaton’s other series character, Hamish Macbeth, might say. And as has happened before, there is practically a whole other book in the Epilogue, with a teaser for the next book in the series. 

Dishing the Dirt is a definite recommend for die-hard Agatha fans. Settle in for a visit with our aggravating but lovable old friend in the charming Cotswolds village of  Carsely. 

The Galesburg Public Library has various books from the Agatha Raisin series available in the adult Fiction, Large Print, and audiobook sections and as digital ebook and audio downloads. The first book in the series is Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death.  Dishing the Dirt is scheduled to come out on September 15. I read a digital ebook from netgalley.com.

The Case of the Dotty Dowager by Cathy Ace

The Case of the Dotty Dowager is a pleasant little cozy mystery, quick and easy to read. It concerns the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency (named because its four members are Welsh, Irish, Scottish, and English) and their latest case. The book starts off in a very cozy-ish way – with a dead body in a country manor house (or, at least, in its Dower House).

The book is slow starting, which is a bit of a drag for such a short book, but it gets much better once the relating of all the character introductions and background information is out of the way. The Case of the Dotty Dowager is the first in a series, and I think later entries will be better since they can skip all the back story. I had a hard time picturing the four women and keeping them straight at first. The author tried hard to differentiate them – sometimes a little too hard, as we are told, for example, that Christine has “Mensa brilliance,” “a Mensa-sharp mind,” and a “Mensan brain.” OK, got it, Christine is the extra-smart one!

The Wales setting is fun and will appeal to the armchair traveler or lover of the United Kingdom. The women are of different ages and life situations in addition to different nationalities, and that adds some flavor to the group and their relationships. The dowager (who is not, in fact, at all dotty) and her little dog bring some comic relief.

A mysterious man who gets pulled into the agency’s present inquiry takes an action towards the end that I found pretty inexplicable, and the ending is abrupt and somewhat lame. (I actually wondered if the advance copy was incomplete, but I don’t think that’s the case based on the announced published page count.)

There is much room for growth in future entries. The Case of the Dotty Dowager will appeal to fans of M.C. Beaton’s Hamish Macbeth and Agatha Raisin series. I read a digital advance reader copy from netgalley.com. The Case of the Dotty Dowager will be published on July 1. It will be available at the library in the new fiction area under the author’s last name, ACE.