Murder in the Mystery Suite

Jane Steward is a single mom of twins trying to save her family's literary themed resort, Storyton Hall, from financial disaster. As she learns the ropes of running the fabled resort from her Aunt and Uncle, she's inspired to host a Murder and Mayhem Week for fans of mysteries. Chock full of role-playing and crime solving events, the event is sure to attract mystery lovers from afar. All is fun and games until the lines between fiction and reality become blurred. With a real crime or two to solve in addition to keeping guests happy, Jane quickly realizes there's more to the hospitality business than just booking guest rooms.

The Bottom Line: This is the first book in the Book Retreat Mystery series. It was recommended to me by a fellow show more mystery buff, and I'm glad she did. With a quick pace, likable characters, and a literary theme, this cozy mystery is an action-packed weekend read with a surprise twist ending that I didn't see coming. Enthusiastically recommended for fans of cozies and literary themed books. I'm looking forward to book #2.

This review also appears at the Mini Book Bytes Book Review Blog. show less

Meh. Cozy mysteries are hit and miss for me. This one wasn't a total miss but I could take it or leave it. You'd think a series of literature based mysteries would be right up my alley, but this one was way to cozy and cutesy.

The story had way too many cutesy and coincidental names of people and places. One or two would be memorable but 40 million are annoying. She really lost me when it was revealed Jane would need ninja skills and a tattoo on her chest in order for her to curate an antique library.

Details seemed incongruent. If she's trying to raise money, she's sure putting out a lot of funds to do it. One dinner alone required a specially made dress for herself, and was decorated with two dozen brass candelabras, linens show more tablecloths, and specially ordered, color coordinated roses. I also highly doubt a criminal is going to be convinced to come clean and shape up and talk by hearing a Walt Whitman poem. Cute idea...but no.

Many parts were stupidly degrading to women. The Cover Girls use their feminine wiles to get info from party guests and the maid, Lizzie, refuses to involve the police in her assault because she doesn't want to "bother the sheriff".

No one actually speaks in conversation the way Jane speaks. If they did, no one could stand to listen for very long. Dialogue should be much simpler---even for a library steward.

I really don't think I'm gonna like this series but I have book two and I'm sick in bed so I guess I'll keep going. show less

“These people are mystery fans. Readers. Bibliophiles. They’re far too refined to resort to violence.”

I loved the enthusiasm aimed toward books and reading, especially with the themed murder mystery week and the celebration of various literary detectives. It was nerd city for me, trust me. Being with the guests when they visited various rooms such as the Green Gables Gazebo and Agatha Christie Teamroom. Having meals catered to novel names and characters? Yep, a bookworm's dream: Julius Caesar salads, Herman Melville chowder, Homer's pulled pork sandwiches in the Kipling's cafe.

The concept of the murder mystery week, costume contests, treasure hunt and various things was fun. Unfortunately the book lost me a great bit around 40-50% show more into it. The author decided to enter in a large, outlandish subplot that completely changed the tone of the novel and subsequently the rest of the series. It was a surprise and twist that I didn't like. Sure it was clever and unique and added a completely new dimension....but to me it made a fun cozy into an comedic action-adventure with almost James Bondish staff. The plausibility of some of the stuff was so over the top it just left me behind. My interest waned due to this sadly -- if it had stayed just a book resort with a mystery, I think it would have held a higher star appeal in the end.

The characters are intriguing enough, but none stand out much. The protagonist is a single widow with two twin boys, a sarcastic and overweight aunt who gets into health crisis, an adoring uncle, and tons of devoted staff. That changes into something much more later.

One thing that bugged me was banning all electronic devices at the resort. This included phones and e-readers. I'm all for actual books and they're still my favorites, but I found it a little irritating that people couldn't read e-books or listen to audiobooks at a reading retreat. And sorry, but must use Goodreads on the phone or laptop to update =) show less

I would love to go to a resort like Storyton Hall especially if there will be a Resort Manager like Jane Steward, a Butler like Mr. Butterworth, a Head Librarian like Mr. Sinclair, a Head Chef like Mrs. Hubbard,a wonderful friend like Jane has found in Eloise, and please let me meet relatives like Aunt Octavia and Uncle Aloysius and I especially want to meet Muffet Cat. The only ones I'm afraid to meet are the twins as they seemingly have way too much energy for me but they surely add to the amusement within this novel.

This novel is simply a delight at every turn of the page from the names of the local places in town to the name of the ladies book club that meets on a bi-monthly basis. Another charming element of the novel is the show more description of the fun gardens of the local places and the delicious concoctions as the ladies in the book club treat one another to festive refreshments dependent on the title of the book they are reading. I'm also so happy the ladies shared an upcoming title they're planning to read as it added a new author and title to my wish list.

I love the idea of a Murder and Mayhem Week for mystery reader fans and the descriptions of the events added to the joy of visiting Storyton Hall all the while having a true crime scene and an even more interesting detective than we could have first imagined when Jane Steward as Resort Manager was first introduced in the opening pages.

Reading this book is being invited into a very special setting as careful thought was given to each element of the story and each detail shared with the reader. It's a cozy mystery that is at times amusing, at times enchanting, and always charming. I'm so glad that this novel was advertised as "First in a Series" as I'm already looking forward to more visits with these characters and to accompany their next adventures. show less

To spoil, or not to spoil, that is the question.

Actually for me it’s not much of a question because I can’t bring myself to do so but I will say that something dramatic happens about 90 odd pages into this book that, if I’d known about it in advance, might have prevented me from reading it. Which would have been a shame as it’s a thoroughly enjoyable romp. If you’re similarly interested in a bit of a surprise then I advise caution when reading other reviews. I tackled this book with no prior knowledge other than having read several of the author’s books in another series but have now had a look at several reviews and most of them give away things you’re far better off not knowing before it’s time. I will admit though show more that not mentioning this particular event and its subsequent implications does make discussing the book’s plot somewhat challenging. So I’m hardly going to discuss it at all.

Aside from enjoying Ellery Adams’ other work, what prompted me to pick this book up is its setting: a resort for book lovers. As someone who likes to read ‘in the wild’ so to speak (i.e. away from home) the notion of a place set aside for – indeed designed especially for – people who read was too good to pass up. I immediately imagined what it might be like. No piped music. No TV bolted to the wall blaring some sporting event or what passes for news these days. No filling in the blanks as you’re forced to eavesdrop on the shouted, one-sided conversation of the idiot on an iPhone at the next cafe table. No one assuming you’re ‘doing nothing’ because you’re sitting in a comfy chair with a book so they start a conversation about their bunions or some other inane topic of no interest to anyone but themselves. I have grown weary enough of my increasingly elusive search for a quiet place to read other than my own lounge room that I was eager to escape into a fictional version of my quest.

The book did not disappoint. It is set in Storyton Hall, the ancestral home of the Steward Family that has been re-purposed as a retreat for book lovers. Adams makes it delightful. Rooms full of books. Rules that require guests restrict use of their electronic gadgets to their rooms. Plenty of places to sit, relax, absorb, be. Alone or with others. Activities to participate in if desired. No pressure to do so if not. Enough nearby shops to cater to one’s immediate needs but no characterless shopping malls within shouting distance. I’d book a room in a heartbeat if this was not a fictional location.

Jane Steward, widow and mum to twin six year old boys, has taken over as the resort’s manager. As a way to attract more business she decides to host a themed week of events for mystery lovers but, as you might expect, not all the murder and mayhem that follows is scripted.

Unlike in most cosy novels, this book’s amateur sleuth does not tackle investigations on her own. In fact she is replete with helpers in the form of family, faithful servants and staff and the members of her book club (the charmingly named Cover Girls). Even her sons get in on the act. Together and individually this is an engaging cast of characters. I think my favourite is Jane’s Aunt Octavia: devoted wife, obstinately unhealthy, fiendishly clever octogenarian.

MURDER IN THE MYSTERY SUITE reads like an Enid Blyton book for grown-ups. It has all the fun, daring and friendships of a Famous Five novel with adultier additions like cocktails, a dash of romance and serious motives for criminal undertakings. It is, of course, entirely absurd but once you have suspended your disbelief there is an undeniable internal logic to events and it’s easy to get carried away with the adventure of it all. show less

Storyton Hall, hidden away in the hills of Virginia, is a family run resort catering to book lovers. Jane Steward, niece to the present owners, comes up with a Murder and Mayhem week to help drive interest in the resort. From Jane's twin boys (Fitz and Hem) to the staff, townspeople and businesses, there is a heavy nod to books, in particular, mysteries. For instance, Mrs. Hubbard is the on site chef and the Isak Dinesen room, full of taxidermy. At times, I almost found it distracting, but fun to try to guess what literary piece would be highlighted next. As far as cozies go, there was a lot of information, but long on the mystery part, so the book arrived at a satisfying conclusion. It's the first in a new series by this accomplished show more author, and I'll definitely look for the next one to arrives next summer. show less

I think Adams' Books By the Bay novels are some of the very best cozies being written today. I love them, so I was excited to learn that she was writing a new series, and I bought a copy as soon as it arrived at my local bookstore. From the first paragraph, I was in heaven. Storyton Hall is any serious book lover's perfect world, and the countryside and village outside its walls complete the dream scenario. There are times when I read that I want to be drawn into the type of world that should exist but doesn't outside of my imagination. This is the sort of world that Ellery Adams has created in her first Book Retreat mystery.

I was enchanted. Jane's aunt and uncle are still deeply in love after decades of marriage. Jane deals with the show more public the way everyone wants to be treated. Her twin sons Hem and Fitz (Hemingway and Fitzgerald) are a pair of typical, high energy, ornery six-year-old boys. The staff working at Storyton Hall and even the small business owners in the nearby village are lovingly drawn individuals. Jane and her sons bicycle back and forth to the village. It was plain to see that the pages of this book were liberally sprinkled with fairy dust.

There are touches of humor throughout the book as well, but the scene that literally made me laugh out loud was the description of the garden in front of the Cheshire Cat Pub and what would happen some evenings when the pub patrons and local felines would gather together.

The mystery was a good one, keeping me guessing all along the way, but something happened in Murder in a Mystery Suite that just didn't set well with me. Problem is, I can't talk about it without screaming SPOILER ALERT in fluorescent pink flashing neon ten feet high. Spoiler alerts in reviews just aren't my style, so suffice it to say that the suspension bridge of my disbelief collapsed like "Galloping Gertie" did in 1940. The only other thing I will say on the subject is that your enjoyment of the book will depend in large part on how well you like fantasy.

I may have just scared some of you away from reading this book, but don't forget that mileage can certainly vary when it comes to reading books. Your suspension bridge may be much more stable than mine, so don't be afraid to give this book a try. If you're still feeling nervous, then head on over to Ellery Adams' Books By the Bay series. It's marvelous. show less