Sara Rosett

Still working on the Jane Austen documentary, Kate Sharp is less than enthusiastic when she is assigned to look after Arabella Emsley, an actual movie star who is there to film an interview for the documentary about her role in a remake of “Emma,” because doing so means Kate has to run interference for anything the diva wants. But when Arabella turns up dead and, worse, Kate finds her body, she realizes that she has to put aside her distaste for the individual and concentrate on clearing show more her own name, especially since someone seems to be leaving clues designed to make the police suspect her of the crime…. This is the sixth story in the Murder on Location series (the fifth full-length book) and by now the reader is comfortable with Kate and her colleagues, even though in this one her boyfriend Alex is largely offstage. The settings are, as usual, sumptuous, and the mystery is fairly brisk; as a cozy, this series hits all the right spots. There’s no “oh, wow!” moment here, but it’s a very pleasant way to spend a few hours; recommended. show less

A poorly written mystery that is just a flat-out annoying read.

Ellie Avery is a military wife and self-proclaimed organization guru. When her husband Mitch’s commander is murdered in the parking lot of a golf course & several attempts are made on Mitch’s own life, Ellie takes it upon herself to solve the crimes and clear the name of her friend, Denise—the commander’s wife.

The book starts out with a large family reunion hosted by Ellie & Mitch. We get introduced to many members of show more Mitch’s extended family. What a great array of potential suspects, red herrings, & murder victims…right? Wrong. Turns out—with the exception of a cousin who bears a striking resemblance to Mitch—neither the family nor the reunion has anything to do with the subsequent plot. So, what was the point of the elaborate family reunion sequence? Well, it wastes a great deal of the reader’s time and energy, but—other than that—it doesn’t seem to have much of a point really.

Speaking of pointless…In apparent homage to Ellie’s status as organizing maven, many of the chapters end with ‘helpful’ household organizing tips; although none of them are particularly innovative or useful, or relevant to the story.

Aside from Ellie, the other protagonist of the story is the weather. The author incessantly reminds the reader that it is hot & humid. The heat & humidity actually seem to get more mentions in this book than the murder victim himself. Yet, Ellie is always pulling a handful of Hershey’s Kisses out of her designer handbag…just one of the countless, nonsensical elements that pervade this story.

In addition to all of the nonsense, Ellie’s husband Mitch is particularly hard to stomach. Mitch is a colossal know-it-all who is constantly talking down to his wife like she is an infant. Early on he decides to torment Ellie by sneaking behind her back to change the ringtone on her cell phone; this starts a maddening tit-for-tat battle of obnoxious ringtones that persists throughout the duration of the story. When Denise is arrested for the murder of her husband by the bumbling police detectives, Ellie is quick to come to her friend’s defense. Mitch, on the other hand, thinks the police would never make a mistake, readily abandons their friend, & treats Ellie like a mindless fool for believing in Denise’s innocence…what a guy! Later on, he actually has the nerve to become enraged at Ellie for expressing concern for his welfare after numerous attempts have been made on his life. The author made one of many bad judgment calls when she decided that Mitch should actually survive this installment of the series.

There is simply nothing to enjoy in this military based mystery. show less

Los Angeles-based location scout Kate Sharp is sent to England to find her boss Kevin Dunn, who went missing while trying to secure rights to film a new movie based on Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” in various village halls and country houses. She enlists the help of Alex, a local scouting consultant, and together they soon discover Kevin’s missing vehicle, and then his corpse surfaces. Certain that his death was anything but an accident, Kate and Alex both help and hinder the local show more authorities as they try to solve the case - before another corpse appears…. This is the first in the “Death on Location” series of (so far) seven books featuring Kate and Alex, and set mostly in rural England. As a cozy, it’s light and entertaining; I found the secondary romance story a bit annoying, but not terribly so. Ms. Rosett has a knack for creating believable characters and relationships, and she’s clearly done her research into Jane Austen and her times, which I appreciated. I’m not in any huge hurry with these books, but I will read more in the series; mildly recommended. show less

Death in the English Countryside is the first book in the Murder on Location series by Sara Rosett. Kate Sharp is a movie location scout in Hollywood. Her boss, Kevin, has been in England scouting out locations for a feature film adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. When he fails to return, Kate is sent to England to see what happened to him. Their company, Premier Locations, is in a precarious situation, so she must keep his disappearance discreet and find him quickly. What she finds is his show more luggage without any trace of his film equipment. Thinking Kevin may be on a bender (past history) she begins a search of the local pubs and encounters local scout, Alex, who had worked with Kevin and is equally puzzled over his disappearance. Together Kate and Alex continue to search. They find Kevin’s rental car in a river and his body is found not much farther upstream. Kate is determined to learn who killed her boss and friend and prevent her and Alex from being suspects.

This is a nice start to a cozy mystery series rambling around England. The location scout premise is new and interesting. Jane Austen and Pride & Prejudice play a part, but it’s slight and fits the story. There are a number of suspects and some exciting moments when Kate finds herself in danger. If the story at times veered off into unlikely situations, that’s what cozies do. They are about engaging characters doing interesting things and getting into dangerous situations we would never put ourselves into, and this story fits very nicely into that mold. Alex is delightful, very easy-going and comfortable to be with, and provides the hint of possible romance to come. The investigation provided a lot of clues and motives. The English countryside is enchanting.

I received a complimentary copy of the audiobook from the author in exchange for an honest review. Death in the English Countryside is actually the perfect kind of story for an audiobook. It moves smoothly along and is easy to follow. The narration is pleasant and doesn’t detract from the story itself, which is very important to me. This is a charming start to the series and I recommend it. show less