I bought Murder at the Brightwell, by Ashley Weaver, quite a long time ago, mostly because I really like historical murder mysteries. At the time, it seemed as if it might be the same sort of thing as Rhys Bowen’s Lady Georgie series, which I very much enjoy. But somehow it slipped toward the bottom of my “to be read” list, and I only just now noticed it again when I was cleaning up some titles in my e-reader and the cover caught my attention again. I’m glad I noticed it again, and actually read it this time!
I found this to be a fun, cozy period mystery. It starts with the protagonist, Amory Ames, in a bit of a funk with her often-wandering husband, Milo Ames. Said funk prompts her to head off to the seaside Brightwell Hotel with her ex-fiancé, where, of course, a murder occurs. Also of course (!), her husband shows up and things get complicated, both on the investigation front and the relationship front. Still, although all of this is rather predictable, it’s done with a big dose of humour (note the British spelling), a touch of tongue-in-cheek, a couple of plotlines that kept me reading, and a satisfying ending.
My only issue with Murder at the Brightwell is that I’m not sure I would be quite as tolerant/forgiving of a wandering husband as Amory. But, there is some background provided to make this a little more believable, and in the end, it didn’t spoil the book. I’ll be interested to see how this goes in future books in the series, which I now intend to read. Oh yeah, and it is very much the same sort of thing as Bowen’s Lady Georgie series, so if you like that series, you’ll probably like this series too…
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