The Corpse with the Silver Tongue

Nearly a 4-star read.
The story is a capsule look at the Côte d'Azur (Nice, France) and I enjoyed its cozy mystery quality. There was just enough suspense and twisty plot lines to be interesting but not overwhelmingly tense.

The heroine, Cait Morgan, travels from Vancouver (BC) at the last minute to attend a conference, thus setting her up as the main protagonist for the series. I admired how the author wove a a tale of art theft (a golden Welsh Celtic-era collar and some papyrus scrolls) together with a cast of local characters who are really well-drawn.

My one niggle worth mentioning was a side plot that broke up the story's engagement for me: from time to time there were frantic phone calls to Bud Anderson for his support and expertise show more as a Vancouver police detective.

While a bit of backstory would be normal, the drama around Bud threatened to usurp what was happening in Nice. The dénouement to Book 1 seems to throw the focus back onto the Vancouver connection much too heavily. I would have preferred more of the story to stay centred on the intriguing French police Inspector Moreau.

I wonder why this was Book 1? It appears illogical that the reader was not introduced to Cait when she was the criminologist first helping Bud in his work. There are several references to Cait's victim profiling that helped solve murder cases in the lower mainland.

However, if you enjoy novels by the likes of Iona Whishaw, Connie Berry or Jacqueline Winspear, Cathy Ace's novel is likely to be a pleasure to read. show less

cosy-mystery, Canadian, France, suspense, thriller, relics, situational-humor, verbal-humor, snarky, law-enforcement, German SS, consultant, extortion, theft, closed-circle-mystery, poisons, sly-humor, criminologist*****

I gave it a 5 because 95% of the book deserved it, but I thought the personal ending was a bit contrived.
The mystery was well done and full of twists, weirdness, and blatant red herrings. The characters were interesting, and some of them rather classic representations of a type of person. I think that any woman who has to deal with the "fragile egos" of some men while knowing that she has qualities they lack and is comfortable in her own skin will totally appreciate Cait Morgan! Everyone seems to refer to the "big show more reveal" type of ending as an Agatha Christie, but I think she got the idea from Perry Mason.
I always feel that you can't go wrong with the author as narrator because only they know how to do the snarks effectively. show less

This debut novel begins with one of the most memorable opening scenes I have read recently:

THE CHATTER AMONG THE DINNER guests was bubbling along nicely, when Alistair Townsend suddenly clutched at his chest, made gurgling sounds and slumped into his bowl of escargots. Reactions around the table varied: his wife told him to stop messing about, one of his guests looked surprised, one a little concerned and a couple were quite cross. All of which led me to suspect that “How to react when one’s host drops dead at the dinner table” is not tackled in any modern etiquette books.

It really was purely coincidental that Professor Cait Morgan was at this dinner. She had known the host through work some years before and had bumped into him show more at lunchtime that day. She was in Nice to deliver a paper at a conference for a colleague and due to fly back to Vancouver after the weekend. She surprised herself by accepting his invitation to dinner even though, if the truth be known, she really disliked him

And so she is the only one at the dinner party who knows no-one else and then finds herself a suspect for murder.

I found this an easy and engaging read although I thought there were some plot twists that got into trouble. The style is confident and easy to read. There are a number of characters each of which has a credible motive for the murder, but the police seem to need some convincing that Cait could not be responsible.

Alistair Townsend's death is the main plot which runs alongside another that involves Cait's good friends Bud and Jan back in Vancouver. This part of the story is essential for background to Cait, and for the continuance of the series. (The second novel THE CORPSE WITH THE GOLDEN NOSE is already available.) show less

The first novel in the Cait Morgan Mystery series captivated me with well-drawn characters, a puzzle to solve involving plenty of layers, and an exotic setting. I would classify this novel as a traditional mystery, where good writing and a sufficiently intriguing mystery carry the story to a satisfying conclusion. I was happy to find an amateur sleuth (well, Cait is a criminologist, so not entirely amateur) who is not a skinny young thing. I will definitely read more Cait Morgan mysteries.

I found this a slog. I picked it up cos of its Wales and Canada connection. But I struggled to get through it and was glad it was short cos I would not have done otherwise. It just didn't do anything for me. It has an overweight female protaganist who obsesses about food (boring) - why do male detectives not obsess over their weight? And the side plot in Canada was downright peculiar. Pretty blah all round.