Member Review
Review by
Amy S, Reviewer
A Fatal Booking
By Victoria Gilbert
If you want to relax with a cozy mystery, then check out Victoria Gilbert’s A Fatal Booking. It’s even better if you’re relaxing on a beach or wishing that you were.It’s the third book in the Booklover’s B&B Mysteries series, but you don’t have to read the first two books to appreciate the third. I hadn’t read the first two books and enjoyed it as a standalone book. I am adding the first two books to my TBR.
Charlotte Reed runs Chapters, a bed and breakfast in Beaufort, NC that she inherited from her great-aunt Isabella Harrington. Charlotte taught high school until Charlotte’s husband died, and one of her fellow teachers, Lora Kane, has booked the entire B&B with her book club for a week to discuss children’s literature. Charlotte’s book club will be joining them for some book discussions, including a Hans Christian Anderson anthology including Lora’s illustrations.
All of the book club members are staying in the B&B except for Stacy, who lives 30 minutes away in New Bern. Charlotte and her housekeeper Alicia meet the guests and learn their guests dislike Stacy. When they meet her, they understand why. Soon after, Stacy’s body is found, and it appears she was poisoned with strychnine. Charlotte and her group of Irregulars try to find the murderer before other murders happen.
As a North Carolinian, I enjoyed seeing Beaufort highlighted as the setting. I cracked up that Gilbert included “bless your heart”. Many Southerners use that phrase as a replacement for the f-word.
Gilbert doesn’t give the run-of-the-mill strychnine case, choosing a poison that shows up less often in mystery stories. She also does an excellent job of providing legitimate reasons that so many suspects would have easy access to the poison. The plot resolution ties up the loose ends successfully, including a satisfying twist as the story approaches its climax.
A Fatal Booking is an entertaining cozy mystery. I am looking forward to reading more cozies by Victoria Gilbert.
Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for a review copy of the book.
By Victoria Gilbert
If you want to relax with a cozy mystery, then check out Victoria Gilbert’s A Fatal Booking. It’s even better if you’re relaxing on a beach or wishing that you were.It’s the third book in the Booklover’s B&B Mysteries series, but you don’t have to read the first two books to appreciate the third. I hadn’t read the first two books and enjoyed it as a standalone book. I am adding the first two books to my TBR.
Charlotte Reed runs Chapters, a bed and breakfast in Beaufort, NC that she inherited from her great-aunt Isabella Harrington. Charlotte taught high school until Charlotte’s husband died, and one of her fellow teachers, Lora Kane, has booked the entire B&B with her book club for a week to discuss children’s literature. Charlotte’s book club will be joining them for some book discussions, including a Hans Christian Anderson anthology including Lora’s illustrations.
All of the book club members are staying in the B&B except for Stacy, who lives 30 minutes away in New Bern. Charlotte and her housekeeper Alicia meet the guests and learn their guests dislike Stacy. When they meet her, they understand why. Soon after, Stacy’s body is found, and it appears she was poisoned with strychnine. Charlotte and her group of Irregulars try to find the murderer before other murders happen.
As a North Carolinian, I enjoyed seeing Beaufort highlighted as the setting. I cracked up that Gilbert included “bless your heart”. Many Southerners use that phrase as a replacement for the f-word.
Gilbert doesn’t give the run-of-the-mill strychnine case, choosing a poison that shows up less often in mystery stories. She also does an excellent job of providing legitimate reasons that so many suspects would have easy access to the poison. The plot resolution ties up the loose ends successfully, including a satisfying twist as the story approaches its climax.
A Fatal Booking is an entertaining cozy mystery. I am looking forward to reading more cozies by Victoria Gilbert.
Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for a review copy of the book.
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
