If you've gobbled up both books in The Maid (Nita Prose) series, you'll love Susan Juby's Helen Thorpe.

Helen Thorpe herself is quite a delight. She's a former Buddhist monk trained as a butler and employed by an ultra wealthy couple. Add to that, a penchant for encountering odd murders and solving them.

In this book, she's loaned out to sort out the daughter of her employers' friend, a young wealthy influencer whose life has gone off the rails. Helen is supposed to help Cartier learn to balance her life and step back from toxic social media friends, but that quest is complicated by a series of murders.

Glam lifestyles, influencer culture and high fashion are held up in stark contrast to Helen's meditative nature, making this an entertaining read.

I haven't read book #1, Mindful of Murder, but had no problem beginning with this novel, which is book #2 in the series, but can be read as a stand-alone. As with all of Juby's novels, this one reads like a confection but there are life lessons that will stick with you long after the murder is solved.

A butler/nun is lent to a friend of her employer's.

The butler is to help ground and develop life skills for the daughter where the mother died and the father is verbally abusing to their staff while they both grieve.

Both are rich families where money is not a problem. The daughter is working as an influencer with her friends doing wild stunts. However, one of the friends dies in a freak accident, which adds more grief, and the daughter is blamed online by trolls.

The butler/ nun is not online much, so she learns about how the young group is living online. The story is more about what kind of things influencers do to gain more popularity online, the impacts, the downsides, the violence, and how quick things change.

Dogs, an online-detox farm, and murders are all included in the many twists in this story.

I'm such a huge fan of Susan Juby and this series is *chef's kiss*. Helen is a complex character and I found it so interesting to see some of my own concerns and emotions reflected in the way other characters saw/thought about her.
Cartier, an influencer more popular for being unpopular, really grew on me and I ended up very invested in her (and those little dogs!).
A Meditation on Murder is a fun, twisty journey. I can't wait for the next one!

Could use some improvements in terms of writing and pacing, but it had its good parts!

Thank to the publisher for kindly sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I found the premise of internet influencers with secrets and tragedies and trolls very intriguing as it is something I don't know a lot about. While I know negative comments can be devastating, it's interesting to see how influencers might handle it. And, how about when they get "unplugged"?
I digress.
While this is a second Helen Thorpe mystery, I did not read the first. It was alluded to several times in this book but I don't think lack of knowledge of book 1 affected my enjoyment of this one.
Cartier Hightower belongs to an influencer collective called "Deep State" in which members post items individually with their own "gimic" but they also collaborate for group projects. Cartier's PA dies in kiteboarding accident which Cartier films in its entirety. The public are outraged that she didn't stop filming. She claims she was in shock. Later, a member of the collective falls to her death. Cartier is having difficulty coping and the Levine's lend their butler, Helen, to Cartier. Helen's job is to help her become more aware of many things so she can one day take over her father's business. Helen is "offline" and doesn't really understand the influencer way of life. Most of this story was interesting and I read it rather quickly.
I found the reference to cowboys oddly placed. There is a warning about bears but no bears show up. A lot happens in a short period of time at the end as though the author ran out of time.
I still give it 4 stars as it was well written for the most part. I was able to envision the scenes. I love how Helen is able to breathe, remain calm and works to stay in the moment. Good advice!

I just reviewed A Meditation on Murder by Susan Juby. #AMeditationonMurder #NetGalley
I received an advanced copy (ARC) for free and give this review voluntarily

I didn’t read the first one. Not sure if it would have made a difference or not. I found it very slow to start and wrapped up really quickly. Wasn’t really the biggest fan tho.

I hadn’t had the opportunity to read the first book but didn’t really find it necessary as this is an entirely separate storyline, which is great. I admittedly wasn’t entirely sure at first with this one but in the end I enjoyed the story.

I quite liked the character development of Helen, she is definitely s not your typical “detective” and I enjoyed her calm demeanour as a character despite what or who she was dealing with. I’d have to say Helen was my favourite part of the story. I do have to admit I am not really familiar with or follow any influencers so can’t really speak to the authenticity of this part of the story.

Overall this was a fun read with a few twists and turns. Personally I found the ending quite rushed and not at all a surprise as there were some subtle hints along the way. If you are looking for a fun engaging and quite different story, it's worth a read.

I appreciate the opportunity to read this story before the release - thank you,

In Book One of this series, Mindful of Murder, author Susan Juby introduced ex-Buddhist nun turned butler Helen Thorpe and a quirky cast of characters who helped her solve a murder at a meditation retreat in the Pacific Northwest. This is Book Two, and it continues the wonderful storytelling. Now two years later, Helen is butlering for a very wealthy West Vancouver couple who are also of a spiritual bent, and decide to offer Helen’s services on loan to another very rich family for a month. Helen has to tend to a troubled young woman, Cartier Hightower, the daughter of an angry, selfish father and deceased mother, who has joined an internet influencer collective. When members of the collective begin dying, Helen must save Cartier from social media, and from a murderer.

I liked the murder mystery aspect with its menacing undertones, but this is clearly a comedic book, with frequent humour throughout. Juby also delivers serious notes, building empathy for a character while hitting the reader with Buddhist teaching. The characters are well-drawn. I love Helen and her compassionate common sense. She’s so centred, but even her equanimity has limits when confronted with an entitled influencer, or a vicious killer.

The murder mystery plot moves ahead a bit slowly, but that was fine with me because Juby took her time to build an interesting story about the perils of our digital age and I loved her character development. But for those readers more invested in a complex murder mystery, the action doesn’t really get started until later in the book. It all culminates in an appropriately satisfying perilous conclusion with narrowly averted disaster. A great read overall!

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Canada for a review copy!

I did not read the first book by Susan Juby where Butler Helen Thorpe is introduced.
While I liked her quirky character and her assistant Nigel, I could not garner any interest in the characters that she was trying to help out in this novel. I also found the story to evolve slowly and the ending to come to a conclusion quite quickly with a silliness to it that was a little over the top.
I will go back, however, and read the debut of Helen's character and will look forward to reading any new instalments.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins through the Killer Crime Club for the ARC of Susan Juby's 'A Meditation on Murder' in exchange for an honest review.

I admit, I have not read the first book with this character. I did enjoy this second instalment and did not feel like I missed anything not having read the first book, though I may have liked it more. Quirky mystery, this was more of a slow burn, which doesn’t hold my attention as well as a faster paced mystery. Did like the conclusion, overall 3 stars. Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review. Will have to read Butler Helen Thorpe in the first book.

Thank you Net Galley, Harper Collins Canada and Susan Juby for the advance reading copy of this book.
I enjoyed the characters, despite their self-conscious quirkiness. I didn't particularly like the pace of the book though. Beginning and ending of the book involved the mystery the most, but the middle was a struggle for me.
Overall I'd rate this book 2.75 out of 5 ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of Susan Juby's 'A Meditation on Murder' in exchange for an honest review.

No plot spoilers!

Butler Helen Thorpe is back and finds herself in unfamiliar territory as she is thrown into the world of online influencers and internet bullying. The calm and clearheaded butler is appointed to help Cartier Hightower, a rich social media influencer whose life is far from straight forward, find some grounding and purpose in life. Cartier is a member of an influencer group called the Deep State, a group who have recently lost a member in a tragic accident which Cartier live-streamed on her channel. Facing mounting abuse and struggling to cope with the negative attention for their so-called fans, Cartier needs a lot of help. Teaming up with the ever loyal Nigel (from Mindful of Murder) Helen must find a way to help Cartier find purpose beyond her social media presence while contending with the antics of the Deep State, the fallout from a second murder, and a sinister plot to pin everything on Cartier.

I liked:
- The development of Helen and Nigel's characters and the personality and realness of the supporting characters (mainly Lou Ellen and Wallace)
- The writing style which allows me to vividly picture the scenery and environments in which the characters are interacting (helped by the fact I also live in B.C.).
- I love that this book is set in B.C. Not enough books are set in western Canada or in Canada for that matter.

Contains spoilers for here to the end!!

My thoughts:
I think the ending was a bit rushed after all the build up. This is a problem with a lot of murder mysteries where your are nearing the end and have to wrap everything up in a few pages. After Helen escapes (at the 97% completed mark on my kindle) everything happens so fast. The murderer is caught within 4 pages with no problem. Cartier's dad arrives within those four pages on a helicopter with a bunch of men who don't really serve any purpose and there is some dialogue that seems unnecessary about the helicopter. Cartier is given a puppy, her Dad immediately leaves in the helicopter with her other dog that needs medical treatment. Then you have the wind down where Helen explains to the others why the murderer did what they did. As Nigel says "What was the point of doing all those things?" And that is the question I am left with. None of it really seemed necessary because the motive wasn't built up enough. The introduction of Sweet Connections happened too late in the book and felt too much like a plot device.

To end on a positive note. I love the character of Helen Thorpe and it is refreshing to read a murder mystery with such an unlikely 'detective' character. She is, to use the word again, refreshingly kind and I find it very enjoyable to follow Helen through the story as she navigates an environment she is not familiar with such grace and professionalism. Helen makes everyone around her feel calm and happy, including her readers. I very much hope Susan Juby has more adventures in mind for Helen. If you haven't yet I strongly recommend reading 'Mindful of Murder' as your introduction to Helen. It is one of the best debut novels I have had the pleasure of reading.