Opera diva Serena Levanté is found murdered at her English county estate. Her daughter, Floria, is beside herself even though Serena was barely a mother to her, she cared more about the music than her child. Daisy Thorne, Floria’s best friend, is willing and able to do whatever it takes to help. Even if that means inserting herself into the investigation. Eventually the DI looks to her for help with the inside scoop on the locals as Serena had four husbands, several lovers, staff, and a multitude of secrets. A missing painting throws a monkey wrench into the investigation. Was it a robbery gone wrong? Daisy is dogged until the end and solves the mystery of Serena’s death. This was a great cozy mystery set in a small town in Surrey.

The first in a new series of cosy mysteries featuring amateur Daisy Thorne.

An enjoyable read. Can't wait to continue the series

In Death at a Country Mansion, author Louise R. Innes packs a lot into a little book. Hairdresser and forensic psychology student Daisy Thorne's best friend's mother, famous opera diva Dame Serena Levanté, is found murdered. While DI Paul McGuinness seems capable of investigating on his own, Daisy's interest in crime and commitment to her best friend lead her to start a little sleuthing of her own. There's no shortage of suspects, ranging from a current divorce-seeking husband and a cadre of flings to just about anyone else in their social circle. There's a mountain of beauty shop gossip, secrets around every corner, and enough twists and turns to send a salon chair spinning. Following so far? Oh also, there's a missing painting worth a fortune.

At 240 pages, the book feels thin, and yet Innes has packed it full of story. In the hands of another author, things might feel rushed. However, Innes strikes exactly the right balance, keeping things moving at a clip without ever glossing over details. If anything, there's some relief she didn't overload the story with unnecessary padding.

At the same time, the book has a bit of an edge. It opens with a snippet of the murder from the point of view of the victim, which is mildly violent. Daisy herself peddles in gossip and has no problem barging through the investigation based on whatever nugget she's picked up while occasionally showing insensitivity to what she's investigating. But she must be doing something right because DI McGuinness, at times, comes to her for help, going against typical convention for the genre. For sure, it's still a cozy mystery, but one with a few rumples. Or perhaps more fittingly, with a new haircut and attitude—it's got bangs!

With pacing tighter than pin curls, Death at a Country Mansion is a solid start to a series.

Death at a Country Mansion was very good. A cozy for readers like me who enjoy the genre but sometimes want to read one with more mature subject matter. It also had a nice twist in it as well. I definitely recommend it.

This is a page-turner.
From the start, this book held my interest and I never really guessed who the murderer was.
The characters are interesting and I love that Paul let’s Daisy help out so much. I love the chemistry between them. I loved getting to know the long lost sisters and the bad personality of the victim.
From start to finish, the plot staid interesting and there were plot twists that I never knew to expect.
All in all, this a great murder mystery and I can’t wait to continue with this series.

not bad for a cozy mystery, a bit morbid but seems quite alright. I also like that the main character is a student of forensic psychology.

Death at a Country Mansion is a wonderful start to a new cozy mystery series. I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy this book since the protagonist owns a hair salon, but I was pleasantly surprised. The main character, Daisy, is very likeable and very intelligent. It was nice to see that she didn't really butt heads with the detective investigating the murder. He actually welcomed her insights instead of only being hateful and telling her to stay out of the investigation. I did guess who the killer was around the middle of the book, but I couldn't think of the why. The conclusion was very satisfying since I'd only had half of it solved. I'm definitely going to read the next book in this series.

A fun cozy mystery that will keep you guessing until the end. I really enjoyed the classic who dunnit feel of this book. While I enjoyed a lot of the characters in the book, Serena seemed absolutely awful and I wasn't that invested in solving her murder and bringing the murderer to justice. Overall an interesting read and seems like a good start to a cozy mystery series.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. This is a good mystery with fairy interesting characters.

Dame Serena Levante is an aging opera star, overcome with drinking, and her latest husband, Collin Harrison, is determined to leave her. Shortly after he leaves the house, Dame Serena is murdered. When her daughter Floria tells Daisy Thorne, her best friend, the news, Daisy rushes to Floria to comfort her. Also rushing to her side is her father, Sir Ranulf. But things are not what they seem. Dame Serena did not fall, she was murdered. And before the will is read, Floria discovers secrets that Serena has kept hidden all her life.

Floria knows her mother wasn't the best, pawning her off on nannies and au pairs -- but who hated her enough to kill her? And why keep secrets from her daughter? Now, Daisy, who is studying to become a forensic psychologist when she's not working at her salon -- at first becomes irritating to Detective Inspector Paul McGuinness, until he realizes he needs her help in figuring out which person had the most to gain. But when another tragedy occurs just after the memorial service, the stakes are raised and the killer needs to be pinned down -- and fast...

This is the first book in a new series, and while I am tardy in reading it (recovering from an operation gone wrong) I have to say that I am glad I was finally able to get to it. (My TBR file is large and constantly growing!).

Daisy is an admirable character: she's full of inquiry, more than curiosity, I think; she's intelligent, attractive, and knows what she's doing. Floria is very sweet, giving and generous; the DI is just as what you would expect - gruff and blunt, but fair and willing to listen. This is a perfect combination for a new series that I hope will go far.

The mystery itself is done extremely well; with writing that is both very good and very descriptive, giving us an insight into the characters and their lives without going overboard; and the death of Dame Serena at the beginning lures us into the story, as we learn more about her throughout. Saying that, we now have a plethora of suspects who many might have had a motive for her killing, but leaving room for us to decipher the clues on our own.

When we finally do come to the end and it gets to the point that the killer is revealed, we are both surprised and saddened by the reasons for the death. I do like the fact that I had to search for the clues, and discovered the murderer much as the same time as Daisy. It left me with a feeling of satisfaction and a want to read the next in the series to see where it takes her. I truly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next. Highly recommended.

Death at a Country Mansion is a great start to a new series by Louise Innes. The death in the title is that of opera diva Serena Levante who is found dead at the bottom of the stairs in her country home. It is also discovered that a valuable Modigliani painting is missing, thereby causing everyone to assume Serena was murdered during a robbery. Daisy Thorne, hairstylist and owner of Ooh La La hair salon, is best friends with Serena's daughter Floria and must, of course, get involved in solving the crime. Daisy is also a student of forensic psychology and adds an interesting perspective to the solving of the crime. Along with DI Paul McGuinness, Daisy is successful in solving the murder, supposed theft and second murder that occurs very late in the book.

This book has all the elements of a good cozy - country manor, not-very-nice or much-liked murder victim, and an intelligent and very likable amateur sleuth who partners with the professional to solve the crime. The murder victim has a past unknown to even her daughter, that throws an interesting twist into the story. There are numerous suspects, all of whom Daisy and DI Paul methodically work through dismissing. The book was engaging from the start and has many surprises. The author does a great job keeping you guessing until the end identity of the culprit.

Death at a Country Mansion pulls you in from the start and you want to read it in one setting. The country manor and town were described well enough to provide the reader a good visual image while reading. The characters, of which there were many, were well described, descriptions of which either made you instantly like them or dislike them. I would recommend this book to any cozy lover and look forward to the second book in the series.

I love the setting of this new series and the main character is well thought out and developed. I look forward to reading more books in this series as it progresses. I’m interested to see how the series progresses and how 5he characters develop. The English village is a great setting. Very enjoyable light reading. Recommended. Thanks to the author, I received a copy of this book. I leave this review voluntarily.

Serena Levante is dead! Having lived a life of fame as a celebrated opera diva, she was no stranger to infamy as her personal exploits were constant tabloid fodder. What is first assumed to be an unfortunate run of the mill accident, turns out to be murder. Daisy soon becomes enmeshed in the confounding mystery of what really happened to her best friends mother. With no shortage of scandal, secrets and revelations, the suspect list grows. The police may be on the case, but Daisy with her determination and intelligence is destined to crack the case. An entertaining read with a cadre of colourful characters.

Death at a Country Mansion is filled with interesting and quirky characters, and an opera diva to die for. Daisy is a bit hard to take at times, she is somewhat insensitive but she is also determined and loyal. The first chapter was very well written and hooked the reader right away. The setting was nice, but I could have done with a bit more info about the background characters and the hair salon.

The victim was not at all likable, which is good in many ways and we never find out how good of an opera singer she was. Although the reader doesn’t care all that much about the victim, they are vested in seeing justice done and the right person arrested for the crime. I would love to have had the murder take place at the hair salon in this first book, but that aside I felt the description of the victim’s house and murder were well done.

There are plenty of suspects, but not one that stands out more than the others. The victim’s daughter, Floria, who is also Daisy’s best friend, is likable, and readers will sympathize with her. Other suspects are not sympathetic, and you find yourself hoping they all did it just to get rid of them permanently. I felt a few of the opera singers' competitors' involvement would have made for some interesting scenes but those were not present. Having some of the suspects show up at Daisy’s hair salon would have been intriguing, but unfortunately, the author didn’t bring that into play. Maybe next time.

In the end, the killer is caught, and even though the killer’s identity or the motive may not be a big surprise to readers, it makes for an emotional scene that is worth the read. There isn’t a lot of action in Death at a Country Mansion, not enough of the hair salon, opera, or the people who work there; this story is a good start to a new series that readers will enjoy.

A fantastic murder mystery that pulls you in to the story and you can't stop reading. It's well written, flows smoothly from page to page and holds your interest from start to finish. The characters are well developed making it easy to get to know them. They're interesting, intriguing and enjoyable to get to know. Highly recommend if you're a fan of great mystery reads,

Death at a Country Mansion by Louise R. Innes
Book #1: Daisy Thorne Mystery Series
Source: NetGalley and Purchase
Rating: 4/5 stars

**MINI REVIEW**

The Bottom Line: Oh, yes indeed, this book was right up my cozy mystery alley. This is a rather complicated book in terms of the number of people and potential suspects, but Innes handles it all beautifully and pulls it all together in such a clever way. Dame Levanté isn’t a character to weep over, but the various suspects sure were fun to follow and try to determine which one disliked her more than the others. Daisy Thorne certainly isn’t Dame Levanté highbrow, but she is best friends with the Dame’s daughter and that brings her right into the thick of things. Thanks to Daisy’s discerning mind, ability to piece together a huge puzzle of personalities, and the gossip of the local ladies at Daisy’s salon, she’s able to help her friend solve the mystery of her mother’s death. I liked the intricacy of this read, the variety of wonderfully weird personalities, the large amount of backstory (YAY!), and how the whole thing played out in the end. This was a top notch read for me and I am looking forward to the future of this series.

Death At a Country Mansion, is a thrilling adventure mystery crime story with historical times. Follow Daisy and the Inspector in England as they try to find the killer of a opera singer but not only that who stole the famous painting? Where they after the painting the opera singer of both? The Inspector doesn't want my help but Daisy has a kind of her.own. The characters in this murder crime story are so believable and you can't read fast enough to find out what will not only happen next to the two of them but to follow the clues to solve this mystery killing. Will the Inspector and Daisy finally work together or become their own worse enemies as both have stubbornness in both!! Received from Net Gallery,Louise Innes really knows her stuff and how to write this kind of crime mystery where even you are guessing!

The blurb was massively misleading for this book - fans of Agatha Christie will enjoy this... this isnt anyway shape or form similar to an Agatha Christie book.

I really wanted to like this book but it was as if someone who had never been to England or London were trying to prove they did know facts about the place. I was genuinely shocked to find out that the author was herself from there from the about the author section.

There was little substance, I couldn't get on with the plot and only finished because it was an arc.

2 stars sadly

This is the excellent debut of a new series and I thoroughly enjoyed.
It's entertaining, engrossing and I had a lot of fun.
Good character and plot development, a solid mystery that kept me guessing.
Can't wait to read the next installment.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Princess Fuzzypants here: Daisy receives a frantic call from her unlikely best friend, Floria. It is an unlikely friendship as Daisy owns a beauty salon and is studying to become a forensic psychologist and Floria is the jet-set daughter of a famous operatic diva. Floria’s mother has been murdered at her country mansion and if anyone whom she has treated badly was put in a room, the room would be crowded with suspects in her murder.

As it is, there is no shortage of people whom she treated shabbily from her daughter to her ex-husbands, including the one who informed her that same night that he was divorcing her. She had an enormous talent but a talent as well f0r leaving wrack and ruin in her wake. Much of the damage she has done is revealed only as Daisy and the local police officer search for the truth to find the killer.

There will be many life changing revelations before the truth is known. As her lawyer quips, even in death she is his most difficult client. Daisy does get to the bottom on it but not before some lives are shattered in the debris.

Daisy is an unusual heroine with her uncanny knack for straddling two worlds. She has layers to her whether she is in her salon being gossip central or working with the police, she seems capable and in control. There are some interesting characters and the final reveal was a surprise to me... as well as to the characters in the story. I did enjoy it.

Four purrs and two paws up.