Dear Fellow Reader,

Back in January, I reviewed the book Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley Weaver. (https://cecooney.com/2020/01/10/oh-those-cozies-three-cozy-mysteries/) Remember back in those good old days? That was back before we were all inside for the pandemic. ~sigh~ 

Anyway, I enjoyed that book and talked about reading the rest of the books in the series. I have been making my way through the series and then I found that I could get an advanced reader copy of the newest book in the series. ( So this is my unbiased review.) 

A Deception at Thornecrest finds Amory Ames at her summer residence, Thornecrest, waiting for the birth of her first child. Milo (her husband) is out for a few days but should return later that day. A guest arrives at the house and introduces herself as Milo’s wife, Mrs. Ames. Even though they have had several rocky years in their marriage, Amory is sure that the woman is not married to her Milo. But then the young woman identifies him in a picture. Needless to say, Milo has a lot to explain when he gets home. But then another person arrives at Thornecrest, who announces that he is Milo’s (surprise!) stepbrother. It would be hard to deny the relationship as they look amazingly alike. Milo is not happy with this arrival. (But could it explain the first visitor?)  

While they are trying to figure out the situation, there is a murder of a village youth at the village festival. Solving this mystery will take them some time to find out who is who they claim they are and who is not being entirely truthful.

This is another good cozy mystery and I have enjoyed the series. I will say that book 5 in the series, An Act of Villainy, has the biggest surprise ending. I will admit that I don’t usually spend any time trying to figure out “who done it”, when I am reading a mystery. When I get to the end, I generally am not surprised but I don’t put any effort into trying to solve the mystery. I just want to be entertained. I was surprised by the end and I was pleased to be surprised. I thought the author did a good job.

As I seem to have this thing about reading books that are in a series in order, I would suggest that you do the same. By doing so, you see the progression of the relationship between the two main characters. These mysteries are set in the 1930s so they are mysteries written to be from that era. The main characters are very rich. It is a time between the World Wars and the characters seem light and breezy.

Thanks for reading!