A Deceptive Homecoming

Hattie Davish, traveling secretary extrodinaire, heads home to St. Joseph, Missouri when she learns her good friend Virginia’s father has passed away. She’s looking forward to seeing all her old friends, but her reception is far from warm, Virgina is downright cold. And there are rumors about Virginia’s father’s death. The bookkeeper of Hattie’s former school, Mrs. Chaplin’s School for Women, Frank’s death is somewhat suspicious. After some investigating, Hattie becomes convinced that Frank was not in the coffin when it went into the ground. In her search for the truth (and for the missing Frank) Hattie will travel to graveyards and the underground tunnels of the State Lunatic Asylum and get up close and personal with a murderer. A fun, well written cozy. Another delightful entry in the series

This excellent installment of Loan-Wilsey’s Hattie Davish series offers a beautifully paced main plot, an emotionally rich backstory, and fascinating details about its setting as well as about late 19th century life more generally. The mystery story—involving a dead body that isn’t the man everyone claims to be mourning—is clever and colorful, while the personal history revealed as Hattie returns to her home town for the first time in ten years illuminates her character in a moving way. As always, Loan-Wilsey’s research shines, this time in depictions of locations in St. Joseph, MO that include of a local insane asylum and the house in which Jesse James was killed. Together, the author’s historical accuracy and thoughtful, nuanced backstory provide a solidity not found in all cozies: underneath the lively, entertaining surface, this book has real depth.

Fourth in series of historical mysteries featuring Hattie Davish a traveling secretary. An entertaining cozy with a puzzling mystery that is true to it's historical time period. Looking forward to more books with this engaging amateur sleuth.

I enjoy historical fiction with strong female characters, and the author certainly gives us that here. Unlike many women of her time, Hattie Davish is independent and more than capable of taking care of herself. She's forceful without being brazen, often pushing the boundaries slightly beyond what is expected of polite, society women.

The plot involves several mysteries that tie together. In her pursuit to find answers to one thing, Hattie inadvertently raises more questions and uncovers long kept secrets. The pace is steady, with a couple of intriguing twists.

I have not read the first three books in this series. While this one reads fine as a stand-alone, some of the subtleties within the plot and the characters' relationships were lost to me. I also felt that the female characters' emotional reactions tended to be overdone. I understand that women of that time were considered more fragile, but the excessive swooning and such felt almost comical at times.

Overall, this is a fun read that thoroughly captures and immerses us in another time.

I really liked this little cozy mystery. It had a lot of things going on in this story. Embezzlement, arson, malpractice, murder, burglary and lies. There were many suspects and it just wasn't one person doing it all.

This was my first Hattie Davish book and I would definitely be up for reading more of them. They take place in the late 1800's, which is one of my favorite times to read about. I would definitely recommend this book to any reader who likes cozy mysteries.

Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for providing me with this free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

A Deceptive Homecoming Anna Loan-Wilsey

Hattie Davish rushed to her friends father's funeral. While at the viewing she realized the body in the casket didn't look like the man she used to know. This started her on a quest to discover who it was and where was Ginny's father. This charming cozy has a lot of twists and turns and some unexpected results. A very nice mystery story. Hattie is a darling "detective" who won't give up untill she has the answers. I liked this very much, it was a pleasnat change from the vampire and war stories I have been reading. Sort of like a breath of fresh air.

Thank you NetGalley for the free Kindle version

Hattie Davish returns home to Missouri to her secretarial school to attend a funeral. The only problem is the man in the casket doesn't look like the man she knew. It is from there that Ann Loan-Wilsey spins a delightful cozy mystery rich in history. I enjoyed the characters, as well as the settings, like the state lunatic asylum and Miss Chaplin's School for Women. This was a very nice mix of mystery and history!