Octogenarian friends Lady Marjorie and her cousin-in-law Edna are on a relaxing holiday to Romania. The trip turns deadly when a former opera singer is murdered. When suspicion falls on the diva’s ex-fiancé, Marjorie and Edna investigate to find the killer before they become the next victims.

This book is light-hearted and fun. The relationship between Marjorie and Edna is more adversarial than friendly. I recommend reading the prequel to orient yourself to the characters before launching into this book.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I didn’t realize there was a novella before this book so the characters kept referencing a previous murder they solved that I didn’t know about. I wish had read that first. Overall a solid mystery with lots of misdirection and unlikeable characters who you want to be the murderer. It took me a while to wrap my head around all the relationships between the suspects. I can tell that Edna & Marjorie have a love/hate relationship but sometimes I felt like Marjorie was overly mean to Edna, which made me dislike her a little. I feel like there’s more of a backstory to Howard that we don’t know yet. More character development might be nice for the main players.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of the book

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It's not my usual genre, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's a great cozy mystery that will keep you hooked throughout. I recommend it.

Murder at the Opera House by Dawn Brookes is book 1 in her Lady Marjorie Snellthorpe series about a group of seniors who travel the world, solving the murders that occur around them.

I really enjoyed Murder at the Opera House. The book had a great cast of characters, from our elderly sleuths, to the unlikable family members of the deceased, making determining the murderer a challenge.

My only real problem with the book was with the main character, Marjorie, and her relationship with her cousin-in-law, Edna.

In the very first chapter, I thought Edna was going to be super annoying, and I sympathized with Marjorie for having to put up with her. However, as the story rolled along and I got to know the characters better, I came to really like Edna.

Edna had been through some tough times, and seemed to just be trying to enjoy her life. I also felt a bit sorry for her because while she viewed Marjorie as a good friend, it was very obvious that Marjorie barely tolerated her, and in some cases was judgemental, and downright mean to Edna. Could Edna be annoying? Sure, but I don’t think she deserved some of the treatment she got from Marjorie.

Murder at the Opera House was an interesting murder mystery, and I will be looking forward to reading more of the escapades of this foursome of senior sleuths.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Title: Murder at the Opera House
Series: A Lady Marjorie Snellthorpe Mystery Book #1
Author: Dawn Brookes
Publisher: Storm Publishing
Genre: Mystery Thriller
re-release Pub Date: January 30, 2025
My Rating: 3.3 Stars
Pages: 260

This is the first of six in the Lady Marjorie Snellthorpe Mystery Series

Lady Marjorie and her cousin-in-law (a very important distinction) Edna, travel to Romania when they will continue onto Hungary. In Romania, they meet the rest of their 10-person group. However, before they even get to the river cruise, one of the family group members dies. When suspicion falls on Frederick a member of their travel group – as the victim is an ex-fiancé abandoned at the altar years ago.

Lady Marjorie believes police aren’t on the right track! So it is up to her and Edna, with Horace and even Frederick himself, to solve this crime.
A light enjoyable read and as tease for next in this series states-
~ Don’t miss the next in this series as our favorite senior sleuths prove that age is just a number when it comes to catching a killer!.

Want to thank NetGalley and Storm Publishing for granting me this re-release eGalley
Publishing re-Release Date scheduled for January 30, 2025.

3.25 stars. A lighthearted, short cosy mystery featuring 4 older characters who meet up again on a holiday from Romania to Hungary, and encounter another death… it’s fun and light, and an easy and quick read for those who like their mysteries cosy and with quirky characters.

I received a free ARC copy of this book via NetGalley and Storm Publishing, in return for an unbiased review.

I received the copy of the novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity.

After a long time, I thought I’d give it another go at murder mystery novels, though I can’t say I’ve ever been particularly interested in the genre. ‘Murder at the Opera House’ by Dawn Brookes was a perfect novel to start with; a fast-paced, quick read that doesn’t require much focus to finish, I read the novel during my lunch breaks and my morning coffee.

In the first installment of ‘Lady Marjorie Snellthorpe’ series, Dawn Brookes, the author of many different murder mystery novels, introduces us to various entertaining characters in this intriguing novel, as we follow the main character Marjorie ‘Marge’ Snellthorpe on her vacation to Romania, soon to be interrupted by a sudden death during the Opera. Unlike the family of the victim, who care more about their paid vacation than the recently deceased family member, Lady Snellthorpe, along with her cousin-in-law Edna Parkinton, teams up with two other vacationers to find the perpetrator.

Each character has a distinguishable personality, and after a while it becomes somewhat predictable of how each of them would react. While personally I enjoy some surprises when it comes to character development throughout the story, for a short mystery such as ‘Murder at the Opera House’, not much space was left for many changes of the characters’ personalities or their personal growth. However, the story had some interesting and unexpected twists nearing the end.

I must say, while reading I kept a note open with clues of who the murderer could be, I was still surprised, as each suspect had a ‘good reason’ and suspicious background. Until the end I would not have predicted the outcome.

Overall, I enjoyed this light read, and might eventually pick up other books of the series to read. This was the first novel by Dawn Brookes that I had read, so I dived into it not knowing what to expect, and while it didn’t disappoint me, it hasn’t left much of an impression either. That being said, I recommend this book if you’re looking for a short and easy read.

Fun fact going into this review:

I fall asleep to episodes of "Murder She Wrote" every night.

I've often thought- what would happen if Jessica Fletcher created a geriatric investigative gang who went on scheduled exotic outings?

Well, here you have it.
Lady Majorie Snellthorpe organizes a trip to Romania with a few pals (eh, some are not exactly pals, but amateur sleuths who tolerate each other) and before you can say "Aunt Jessica" they are in a kerfuffle.

This is full of mishaps and laughs and if you love cozy mystery, I highly recommend you add this into your rotation soon!

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the chance to read and review.

The first book from established author Dawn Brookes I have read. For me it was a combination of two of my favourite authors, namely Agatha Christie and Richard Osman. The humour of older people which is a feature of Richard Osman books coming through with that same clever way of writing about serious subjects in a humorous way. The same length of book as Agatha Christie books which I have always considered to be a good length. Looking forward to reading more books from this author. Thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

Right off the bat i was LOL'ing and hooked on these two main characters, their banter is Hilarious! xD
There were a lot of characters to keep straight, but that wasn't a problem since they each have their own distinct voice which i highly appreciated; a Lot of Snark which i thoroughly enjoyed and am looking forward to Book 2 ... Such a FUN read, i've found another fave author with Dawn Brookes; Love her style! :D
Thank you to Storm Publishing thru Netgalley for this copy that i absolutely had a blast reading :)

I have to preface this review with a personal aside - if the word “Opera” is in the title, or if there is even a sniff at the world of Opera, I am reading the book. I probably need to be a bit more discerning.

With larger than life characters, Lady Marjorie Snellthorpe is on holiday, or maybe not. Teamed up with characters that have been introduced in previous installments, a night at the Opera turns into a murder to be solved. There is a slew of people to sift through, rather confusing how they are all related, and all equally unlikeable. The setting of Romania would have been interesting if there was anything to do with the country or culture in the book. There was a whole lot of eating and drinking, coffee, bad tea, brandy and whatever else was at hand.

While certainly fitting into the cozy murder mystery genre I have to admit that I found it slightly boring and stuffy. This might have to do with my comparison to the Verity Bright “Lady Eleanore Swift” mysteries which never seem to be stale. While I enjoyed “Murder At The Opera House” I wish opera had a more front and center part in this novel. I really can’t fault the book for that expectation.

Thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for a Copy

'Murder at the Opera House' is full of unique personalities and suspicious actions that left me guessing who to blame until the end. I found the group vacation through Romania to be an intriguing setting.

If you enjoy reading quick amateur detective mysteries, then I recommend this book to you. Special thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was the first story by Dawn Brookes that I've read, and I must say, I really enjoyed spunky octogenarians Lady Marjorie Snellthorpe and her fellow travelers! We meet up with our intrepid pensioners in Europe, on their way to a Romanian river & city tour. Plans change rather dramatically when one of their party dies under suspicious circumstances. The story is well-told, well-paced and very entertaining. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Brookes work.

I received an ARC; this is my honest review.

This was a fun, fast, cozy mystery. Lady Majorie, her cousin-in-law Edna and her new friends Horace and Fredrick get drawn into a murder mystery while on a holiday tour in Romania. The mystery had me guessing all the way through. The characters are great and quite amusing! A very, enjoyable read.
I believe this is a re-release of this series.
Thanks to Netgalley, Storm publishing, and Dawn Bookes for the free ARC. All opinions are my own.

One of the reasons I love cozy little mysteries is that you can read a book in one day. This is what happened with murder at Opera House. I binged it one day. Marjorie Snellthrope cousin in law Edna Parkinton , whohaven’t traveled together in a long time set out to Romania. Looking for some peace and quiet, Marjorie runs into a group of people who are family. All they do is argue. They also meet up with Horace, Tyler and his friend Frederick Mackworth. One of the first stops is to listen to an opera. Also, in their company is an opera singer who is as somewhat of a diva. Little did everybody know at the end of the opera they sue. Find out a murder was committed. Who can it possibly be?
There are many people who could have committed this murder so it is up to lady Marjorie and her cousin in law Edna to help the Romanian police figure this out. They must get this mystery solved before someone else can end up dead. Especially when lady Marjorie suspects that the killer is amongst them.
I love cozy mysteries and Dawn Brookes is a new author for me and I truly enjoyed this story. I love the characters especially lady Marjorie. I sometimes felt I was back in Downton Abbey. Even though she doesn’t love being around her cousin Edna I truly feel they are like Lucy and Ethel comedy team. There are many twists in this book and a surprise ending of who the murderer was.
Thank you, NetGalley and publishing for the ARC. I look forward to more adventures with lady Marjorie and Edna in the future. Five stars.

I was invited by the publisher to read this book. This is the first in a planned series of mysteries involving Lady Marjorie and her collected team of sleuths, who wind up in situations where there is a murder and they decide to solve it. In this book, a challenging person is found dead, and those in that person's group just want to carry on without figuring who the murderer was - so Marjorie and her team decide to find the killer, before anyone else dies.

What was fun about this book were the numerous people that could have done the killing, so it was nice to get a variety of characters and multiple plotlines going so the reader could also do some sleuthing. This was a cozy mystery-type read, quick and easy, perfect for those cold nights in.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

verbal-humor, situational-humor, relatives, murder, amateur-sleuth, unpleasant-victims, secrets, senior-citizens, annoying-friend, cozy-mystery, first-in-series, contemporary, cruise, Europe*****

These characters positively define the noun as hilariously quirky as they are. The elderly friends and such are on a river cruise down the Danube from Bucharest (and making each other nutz) when a newer acquaintance gets murdered during the operatic intermission. There are more than enough suspects and a whole storyful of laughs! Happy to have read first in series!
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected e-file from Storm Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you!
#DeathAtTheOperaHouse #LadyMarjorieSnellthorpeMysteriesBk1 by #dawnbrookes
#NetGalley #goodreads #bookbub #librarythingofficial #CozyMystery #barnesandnoble ***** Review @booksamillion @bookshop_org #Suspense @bookshop_org_uk @kobo @Waterstones stormbooks_co #Humorous #netgalley #murderattheoperahouse #ladymarjoriesnellthorpe #elderlySleuths

This is a delightful holiday murder [investigation] that takes place in
Bulgaria~and the usual group of octogenarians who are not maybe
quick on their feet, but they are witty!
While on a holiday, the four friends end up (again) having to help
figure out what happened to a couple of their fellow travel
companions, which is just fascinating and fun. The conclusion
snuck up on me, but I had part of the crime figured out! I
loved the conclusion and how the Author wrapped everything
up so well. I look forward to reading other stories.
My thanks to Storm Publishing via NetGalley for this
download copy of the book for review purposes

Murder at the Opera House by Dawn Brookes reminds me of the 'who dunnit' in Clue? Was it the decades old jilted fiance'? Or the daughter? Or the sister? Or brother-in-law? Or the Major? Or his daughter? Or the waiter? Or...even the tour director? So much drama, so many plot twists, so many suspects. Great character development.

Releases Jan 30th. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.