Jeannette Angell

Thanks to Cozy Mystery Review Crew and the author for an advance reader copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

This is the second book I've read in the Provincetown Mystery series, but it could easily be read as a stand-alone. Impetuous Sydney Riley is the wedding and events planner for the Race Point Inn, one of Provincetown, MA’s most prestigious hotels. Additionally, she is an amateur detective who has solved several murders, which have been chronicled in the 8-book series. This show more novel finds Sydney's parents visiting her for a few days, so in addition to preparing for an upcoming wedding and making sure her parents (including her overbearing mother) are entertained, she is trying to solve the kidnapping and murder of the wealthy owner of a local whale watching fleet.

The killer was a surprise to me, even though in hindsight I realized the author sprinkled clues throughout the book. What makes this so entertaining and a notch above the typical cozy is Sydney's internal sarcastic monologue - the humorous conversations and one-liners she wishes she would actually say to her mother. She has a great relationship with her boyfriend Ali, who is in law enforcement, and her close friendship with her girlfriend, Mirella, demonstrates Sydney's personality and intelligence.

As the book jacket says, this is a novel of irony and intrigue that often humorously converges between family and fatality. show less

Stunning locations, an intriguing setting, and a puzzling mystery from the past.

The Everest Enigma is the debut novel in veteran author Jeannette de Beauvoir’s exciting Abbie Bradford Mystery series. Abbie, a trust fund baby from an old, established Bostonian family with a fresh new PhD in history, is recruited by bestselling historical romance author Emma Caulfield to accompany her on a research trip for her next book to Kathmandu, Nepal, and the Everest Base Camp. At loose ends since show more achieving the terminal degree, Abbie agrees only to discover, once in the mountains, that there is more to the trip than her new employer has let on. Emma hasn’t told her everything she needs to know about their adventure, and now people around them are being killed.

Abbie Bradford, with her unusual childhood and opportunities, is the engaging and surprisingly amusing narrator of the story, and her ‘voice’ hooked me from the very start. She easily adapts to what’s thrown her way as the mystery unfolds around her. Interesting side characters offer plenty of suspects, and the plot twists keep the story exciting and moving forward in unforeseen directions. The unusual setting and the details of the world of mountain climbing were intriguing and unexpected highlights for me, and they have me wondering what could possibly top them in Abbie’s future.

I recommend THE EVEREST ENIGMA to mystery readers, especially those who enjoy cold cases and dramatic settings as a background to the action.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours. show less

In Jeannette de Beauvoir's Asylum, I learned about the horrific real life events of the Duplessis orphans while reading a murder mystery set in current day Montreal. In Deadly Jewels she again skillfully uses the technique of blending little-known history into fiction to tell the story. This time it’s the British crown jewels, which were secretly shipped to Montreal for safekeeping during WWII. Deadly Jewels involves the murder of a doctoral student, the tunnels under the city of Montreal, show more neo-Nazis, the occult, and some Holocaust survivors.

The main character, Martine LeDuc, publicity director for the city, is sympathetic and likeable, but I have to admit I’m developing a bit of a literary crush on her side-kick, the suave détective-lieutenant Julian Fletcher. As with her earlier novel, the city of Montreal actually becomes a living, breathing character, with the author's colourful and clear descriptions of the city and its bilingual culture.

Rating: This was a fun, interesting read. Although characters from de Beauvoir’s first novel return, you can read Deadly Jewels without having to read Asylum first. 4.5 stars.

Recommended for: mystery lovers, readers who like books set in Montreal show less

The author takes two horrible real life events from Montreal's history, and winds them into a current-day murder mystery. The first is the CIA conducted mind-control drug experiments at the Ravenscrag Institute (now part of McGill University), conducted from the 1950s through the 1970s. The second event is the mass institutionalization of children in Quebec from the 1940s through to the 1960s. In traditionally Catholic Quebec, it was an unspeakable disgrace to have a baby out of wedlock. show more These children were taken to so-called orphanages. Other families surrendered their children when they had huge families that they couldn't feed. The Canadian government helped support the Church financially in running these institutions, but the Church figured out that they could get more government assistance for running mental hospitals. Thus, sometimes overnight, healthy children were deemed mentally ill. Years later it was discovered that these children were horrifically abused and sometimes used for medical experimentation. These children are now known as the Duplessis Orphans.

Fast forward to current day Montreal, were in a short time, four women have been found raped, murdered, and posed on park benches. Concerned about Montreal's reputation as a tourist destination, the mayor appoints his director of public relations, Martine LeDuc, to liaise with the police to report on progress and pressure a resolution. Martine goes beyond these instructions and discovers the link between the four murder victims is the Duplessis Orphans. Woven in with Martine's efforts to solve the mystery is a back story of an orphan named Gabrielle who is trying to survived the asylum.

The strength of this novel is in those scenes at the asylum. I also loved all the rich detail about Montreal and its bilingual culture. And of course I was fascinated to learn about this dark period of Quebec history. show less