Good book and mystery. I would read more from this author. It was a quick read for me with an engaging plot.

The first book in the The Limestone Manor series and a great book it is. A book I picked up and had it finished before I knew it. It's a mystery, it takes you on a thrilling journey and you couldn't not get reeled in. Well paced and a story that built well so you never got lost. Greta characters you could relate to and a story that had it all. Mystery, murder, friendship and plenty of twists and turns.

Thank you NetGalley and Chantry Publishing House for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book was gripping and hard to put down. It didn't feel like everything else you see out there, it felt very fresh. I really enjoyed this book!

3.5/5

This was a cozy mystery set in a small town featuring a retired Detective who returns to his hometown and is thinking about setting there.

The book is well written and moves along at a steady pace, but has a lot of background information, irrelevant to the case at hand. That might be due to the fact that the author is trying to set the background for the next book in the series (if any), but it pulls focus from what they are trying to solve.

I liked that the characters were old and set up their own home instead of living in a retirement home, but it also seemed a little unrealistic for someone aged 80+ to walk around half the day and climb hills, or to sit on a motorcycle. I would have liked it more if the characters were maybe 20 years younger.

Overall, still a very good read, and I enjoyed the book.

I received an advance copy of the book and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I LOVE THIS STORY SO MUCH!!! It’s heartwarming, insightful and hilarious. I didn’t expect to like this so much especially when Cliff was beyond abrasive at the beginning. But that was just a teensy part of the story. Pretty soon, things get pretty funny and interesting. I hope the author thinks of turning this into a series.

This book was so good! It was definitely a 5 star read and I enjoyed every word of it. I was completely tangled up in this story and it was so worth it!

The Limestone Manor is a cozy village mystery series opener by Jonny Thompson. Released 18th Nov 2023, it's 266 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

It's always fun to find new authors. This is a nicely entertaining village cozy featuring an octogenarian retired police detective living in a house share, and who's suddenly faced with a murder which he and his housemates need to get to the bottom of if their collective is to continue.

The plotting moves along at a good pace and the mystery is well engineered and comes to a satisfying resolution. Surprisingly good characterization and setting and the prose is pleasant and easy to read. The language is relatively clean (PG, a few damns, a couple other mild curse words, and one bloody). As stated before, the main characters are all seniors, and the author has a lot of fun with it without ever being mean or ridiculing.

Four stars. It's not foreshadowed or stated explicitly in the review materials, but it would definitely make a nice series and readers can hope the author revisits the characters going forward.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

When retired police detective Clifford Shaw hesitantly steps off the train in his former hometown of St. Marys, Ontario, the last thing he expects to greet him is a murder. The only thing worse than being inadvertently roped into the investigation is the surprise he receives when the too-good-to-be-true room rental from his lifelong friend Hans has one massive catch. It’s in a shared house with six other retirees. Already hesitant about returning to the town he swore he never would, Cliff has one week to figure out if he wants to refuse the room or give his old town one last chance. All this while he helps unravel a mystery to save ‘The Town Worth Living In’. Such a fun read! This is reminiscent of another series by a different author but this covers some new ground and I hope to see these characters again soon!

Cliff an ex-cop couldn’t forget his detecting skills with him being 80 now, his instincts were still in tack. His quiet town was changing with the invasion of the motorbike thugs and murder. Sleuthing was like wearing an old glove for Cliff, it was his health he was concerned about, with the young thugs and the murderer.

retired-cop, retirees, friendship, local-law-enforcement, local-gossip, local-politics, murder, relocation, cooperation, Canadian-author, Canada, extortion, gangsters, threats, suspense, small-town, rescue, situational-humor, verbal-humor*****

For this septuagenarian former ER and jail nurse addicted to mysteries, this story was the best and funniest I've read in ages! At the instigation of an old friend, Cliff leaves his solitary digs in Toronto and plans to rent a room in Hans house back in the home town he escaped years ago. When he first arrives he observes a crime scene, meets a young smart constable, and finds that his friend's son is a local cub reporter. He is also surprised and dismayed to find out that the room comes with some irregular conditions. Let the fun begin! His fellow housemates are also of an age and become staunch allies. LOVED IT!
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from Chantry Publishing House via NetGalley. Thank you and hope for more!

This was a pleasant little story about an 82 year old former police detective moving from Toronto to the small town of St. Marys. Cliff grew up in St. Marys and swore he'd never go back, but the offer of a room in a house with his best friend Hans brings him back. There's action at the train station when he arrives and he learns the local OPP have discovered the body of a young man beneath the nearby bridge. It's assumed he commited suicide, but since he was a visitor to the town, no-one knew him. Cliff meets his house mates and is dismayed to find out he's to live with seven other seniors in the Limestone Manor (he's a loner). But he's quickly caught up in social activities and gets involved into investigating the death of the young man.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy of this cozy mystery.

The Limestone Manor by Jonny Thompson is a nice, light read with elderly sleuths which was quite lovely.

I liked all the characters, they were such a pleasant bunch and interesting to read about. All of them are quirky in their own way. It was intiguing to see things from older people's perspective and life experience.
The mystery was pretty engaging although it dragged from the middle and it was a bit difficult to continue reading.
I also liked the setting, it was very picturesque little hilly town.
If this series continues I will read another installment.

With a few minor tweaks this could have possibly been a 4 star book for me. I was initially interested in checking out this title because the description was giving off some "Thursday Murder Club' vibes and I have loved that series. This is by no means a rip off of that series, but it does create the same kind of quirky senior citizen team of detectives. I loved the interactions between all the residents of Limestone Manor. And although Cliff is a bit too cantankerous at the beginning, it doesn't take long to take a liking to him. The biggest weaknesses in this book are the dialogue (not all the time, but enough to throw off the flow of the story) and the mystery itself. With the dialogue I just felt like there were times when the words coming out of characters' mouths were not realistic and/or a little cheesy. When that happened it took me out of the story for just long enough to have trouble believing the events that were going on. And with the mystery I felt like Cliff figured it out so early that then it just came to waiting around for the proof. It's made clear at the end why the police were behaving in such an incompetent manner, but until then it just seemed like they were really bad at their job. Other that those two aspects, I really enjoyed the story and following Cliff as he went from loner to part of the family of residents at Limestone Manor. I would most certainly read more stories involving these characters. Jonny Thompson is definitely an author to keep an eye on!

A fun and entertaining cozy mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed. Well plotted, solid mystery, fleshed out and likeable characters
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Great Book! Esp for a new author. I both laughed and held my breath. I would defiantly read it again. I have also shared the book with others already. I enjoyed the description of the town. But the people were what actually kept me interested. I really hope their is a sequel.

I was enchanted by this book's gentle charm! The Limestone Manor crew stole my heart with their quirky personalities and adventures that defied age. Cliff's reminiscing about St. Mary's whispered secrets of a bygone era, making me yearn for a small-town life. Jan captured my heart, and the cast's camaraderie redefined aging with humor and zest. This cozy mystery debunked my anxiety about growing older, showcasing life's beauty at any stage. I crave more tales from this endearing group and the magical world of St. Mary's.

It took me a bit longer than usual to get into this story, but I was pleasantly surprised! I loved that our main character, Cliff, was elderly. I also loved the banter between the other Limestone Manor residents. I personally found the story itself a bit dull from time to time, but I definitely still enjoyed this Cozy Mystery.

"The Limestone Manor" is a captivating mystery novel that takes you on a journey through the life of a retired police detective and his return to his hometown. Thompson achieves an interesting blend of a mystery that encompasses murders, friendship, and reflections on the past.
The story develops quite quickly, keeping the reader stuck from beginning to end. The characters are well constructed and feel real, which helps to feel empathy for them as the plot progresses.
In addition, Thompson does a great job in creating a tense, dark atmosphere, capturing the mysterious atmosphere of the city and the feelings of the protagonist Clifford Shaw.
It's a kind of cozy mystery that I've loved from beginning to end.

First time reading this author. I found it entertaining from the beginning. I liked the retired group wanting to be involved. The mystery kept me guessing and I enjoyed the characters & the setting. I do hope there is more in this series.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, I was pleasingly surprised by this book! I had a lot of fun reading it.

I would say this is definitely a cozy mystery. The main focus of the story is on Cliff and his friends living at the Limestone Manor.

I've never read a book where the main characters are elderly people. I really liked that. It was so fun reading about their adventures and how they interact with each other. This book really helped me feel better about growing old. I've been thinking a lot about how each day I'm closer and closer to death and that makes me feel so much anxiety. It's very overwhelming. These characters helped me realize that being old is not that bad. You can know you don't have much time left on Earth and still have fun and feel happy.

The cast of characters is amazing. They're so unique and funny in their own way. I would love to be a part of their friend group. I particularly liked Jan. And by liking, I mean that I have a tiny crush on him. I also grew to like Cliff more and more as the story went on.

This book is full of nostalgy, as Cliff reminisced of his old days in St. Mary's. I really liked the descriptions and the overall vibe of this small town in Canada. I think it's so charming and magical. I would love to live there.

It would be wonderful if this story turned into a series. It definitely feels like this first book was a setup for a future series. There's nothing I wish more than to be back at St Mary's and see these lovely characters having more adventures.