Ellery Adams

During her resort's "Mayhem and Mystery Week," Jane finds herself investigating a real murder when the winner of the scavenger hunt is found dead.

Murder in the Mystery Suite

Sarah Sammis

Melissa Palmer

Book #67 Read in 2014
Murder in the Mystery Suite by Ellery Adams

This is the first book in a new cozy mystery and I loved it. The book is set in a quaint village called Storyton with the primary setting being a wonderful literary retreat called Storyton Hall, a reader's dream. Rooms are named after authors and characters and this book is during a murder mystery themed retreat, which was the brain child of Jane Steward. Jane is a single mother of twin boys (her husband died when she was pregnant) and the manager of Storyton Hall, owned by her aunt and uncle. Jane is intelligent, brave and an avid reader. When a guest dies in his room, things get a bit more complicated and Jane is forced to take on a more adventurous role than she ever anticipated.

I loved this book. The setting was ideal for a reader. The characters were interesting and engaging. Personally, I loved Muffin Cat. This book had a good mystery with twists and turns to keep readers guessing. I look forward to book 2 next year.

I received an ARC of this book from the author in return for a honest review....thank you, Ellery!

http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com

Amit Gawande

A mystery of murders during a "Murder and Mayhem week", amid "some role-playing and fantasy crime solving". Now that's one juicy premise. Alas, that is never enough after all to make a compelling read.

I was so close to give up on this books at one moment - actually that was right at the moment it stopped being a murder mystery and veered into at attempted thriller around a treasure trove. Plot is thin. Writing is barely passable. Mystery is poorly narrated. There isn't enough suspense and urgency to hold the reader's attention. A straight forward story, narrated in an extremely amateurish manner.

A word on the writing, I think the way the book started was pretty promising. Author Ellery Adams did have a nice plot at her hands. However, the way she chose to present it is so unlike a murder mystery. I wasn't involved at all to care for anyone who was dead because the characters just weren't built enough. Add to that, a reader was informed, told, that a person was murdered -- never shown. For that mattered, every thing that happens is told to the reader, not shown. And that's where lies the biggest fault of the novel. An inclination from the author to kick start a series by making this much bigger than a simple, cozy murder mystery further didn't help. All it does is introduce a string of unnecessary subplots and a meandering ending that attempts to set ground for books to come. 

A murder mystery needs a meaty plot, strong characters and succinct narration. Unfortunately, this books fails on all count for me. Jane Stewart, the protagonist, doubts at multiple points in the book if she is worthy to be the guardian of a family secret; wishes if she had just been a Resort Manager. I, as a reader, wished the same.

Murder in the Mystery Suite

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