Eugene Aubrey Stratton

American Priscilla Booth has inherited a house in Cornwall from her cousin Sylvia, who died from an accidental fall. The terms of Sylvia's will require Priscilla to spend 30 nights in the house in order to secure her inheritance. Priscilla asks her lover, Mort Sinclair, to join her. Soon after their arrival, they learn that the police are investigating Sylvia's death as a possible murder. Although Priscilla is a police officer, she has no jurisdiction outside the U.S. and she is frustrated by her exclusion from the investigation. Mort establishes a tenuous relationship with the inspector in charge of the case that allows the couple to be involved in the investigation in a very limited way. The suspects include both locals and members of a film crew using a nearby estate as a filming location.

Although this self-published mystery has a number of flaws, it's as good as some professionally edited and published mysteries I've read. A professional editor possibly could have turned this into at least a 3-star book. I think the main problem is with the potential audience. It fits many of the characteristics of the cozy genre, but the level of sexual promiscuity in the book exceeds what many cozy readers would be comfortable reading. The genealogy angle isn't integral to the plot, and I suspect an editor would probably recommend cutting that part of the book. Most readers who select this book based on an interest in genealogy will be disappointed with the lack of meaningful genealogical content.… (more)