Fran Smith (2)

I really struggled between a 2.5 and a 3 for this one. It’s a perfect way to spend a couple of hours in the Edwardian era, with lots of appropriate ambience. I liked the main character, Vita Carew. She’s a young woman with plenty of common sense, the ability to keep her head in a crisis, and a budding sense of humor.

But the plot just doesn’t make it. It’s really thin, involving drug use, a mysterious death, and a bizarre poisoning. Aspects of it are rather ridiculous. It’s so show more light it seems to float away. However, based on Vita I’ll give the series another go in a little while. show less

I haven’t previously read anything by the author, but I’m always on the lookout for historical cosy mysteries.

This was an easy and quick read. The prose was clean, with only couple of typos that I noticed. Some of the capitalisation conventions made me twitch, eg “Vita’s Aunt did such n such.”

The characters were distinct, and rather boldly portrayed, presumably to provide a foundation for plot-necessary behaviour. I did raise my eyebrows at just how frequently everyone unknowingly show more paraded clues in front of Vita, when she just happened to be in the right place to overhear/witness.

Vita herself didn’t make much of an impression on me, personality-wise. Maybe I got the feeling she simply served as the main pair of eyes/ears through which the story would be delivered, and not so much an agent in her own right.

A pleasant historical mystery. show less

Poison at Pemberton Hall by Fran Smith was the last audio book I listened to. I have been travelling with Bob and we tend towards music or silence. And I have been enjoying quiet dog walks without headphones. It was recommended by Hoopla and is the first in a series with a young woman, Vita Carew, as the main character. She lives with an aunt in Cambridge and has a love of science. This first book is set on a country estate where Vita and her aunt are invited to attend a concert by a show more well-known singer. A governess dies under mysterious circumstances on the same night that guests suffer from intense food poisoning. Vita soon finds herself at the center of the investigation as translator between the English and German doctors.

I started the second one but just haven't had time for audio books. I may pursue it at some point but it was nothing special as cozy mysteries go. show less

Sister B (Boniface) receives a letter from Sister Emelda, whose mission is in Peru, asking for membership in Sisters Worldwide Writing Circle which was started so that nuns could write and encourage other nuns. This begins their pen-pal relationship—each letter Sister B writes tells the doings at St. Winifreda’s in Three Fens. Sister B has opened a small shop at the convent where she plans to sell organic vegetables and handmade items to help with repairs on the run down building. It show more soon takes on a life of its own with the help from a cast of quirky characters and a dose of divine intervention.

Charming, witty with a dash of suspense and sorrow to keep it real; it reminded me of my favorite TV series Call the Midwife. I’m giving 5 stars to Fran Smith for Best Wishes Sister B, which I read in Kindle. show less