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theavidreaderandbibliophile's review against another edition
4.0
The Case of The Dotty Dowager by Cathy Ace was a fun British cozy mystery. It is the first book in A WISE Enquiries Agency Mystery series. Henry Devereaux Twyst is the 18th Duke of Chellingworth. He was not raised to be the Duke. He was enjoying his life of painting watercolors until his older brother died. Now Henry is responsible for Chellingworth Hall. Henry gets a late night call from his mother, Althea (Dowager Duchess of Chellingworth). Althea swears there is a dead man in her dining room. She called her son instead of waking up any of her staff (she has a cook, lady’s aide, and gardener/handy man). When Henry arrives at the house, he finds it locked up tight with the alarm on. Althea is in her bedroom with her dog, McFli and a fireplace poker in her hand. The body is gone! All that remains is a bobble hat that Althea picked up and took with her to her bedroom. Henry doubts his mother actually saw a body (he has been hearing rumors that she has been talking to herself).
Henry awakens the staff. All of them were sleeping very deeply and were hard to awaken. None of them heard a thing. The police are called the next day, but they do not believe the Dowager Duchess. Henry decides to call the WISE Enquiries Agency (they think detective sounds to American). Annie Parker, Mavis MacDonald, Carol Hill, and Christine Wilsom-Smythe make up the agency. Their individual skills complement each other. Carol is pregnant and cannot venture far from home. Her job is getting information (online and via phone) as well as keeping them all updated. Mavis will stay with the Dowager, Christine will visit Henry at Chellingworth Hall, and Annie will go to the local village. Each will investigate and keep the others updated. Did Althea see a dead body in her dining room? If so, where did it go? And most importantly, why were they in the Dower House?
The Case of the Dotty Dowager was an amusing British cozy. I give The Case of the Dotty Dowager 4 out of 5 stars. I liked the nice mix of characters as well as the lovely setting. I did not, though, like Annie Parker’s character. I found her very abrasive and hard to understand. She has such a thick accent that it is hard to figure out what she is saying. Mavis’ Scottish accent was much easier to figure out (of course, I have been watching a lot of Outlander). I think if Annie’s was toned down just a little, she would be a more pleasing character (they have her as loud, clumsy, and rude). Overall, The Case of the Dotty Dowager had good writing, great mystery, lovely town, and some interesting characters.
I received The Case of the Dotty Dowager from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The review and opinions expressed are my own.
http://bibliophileandavidreader.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-case-of-dotty-dowager.html
Henry awakens the staff. All of them were sleeping very deeply and were hard to awaken. None of them heard a thing. The police are called the next day, but they do not believe the Dowager Duchess. Henry decides to call the WISE Enquiries Agency (they think detective sounds to American). Annie Parker, Mavis MacDonald, Carol Hill, and Christine Wilsom-Smythe make up the agency. Their individual skills complement each other. Carol is pregnant and cannot venture far from home. Her job is getting information (online and via phone) as well as keeping them all updated. Mavis will stay with the Dowager, Christine will visit Henry at Chellingworth Hall, and Annie will go to the local village. Each will investigate and keep the others updated. Did Althea see a dead body in her dining room? If so, where did it go? And most importantly, why were they in the Dower House?
The Case of the Dotty Dowager was an amusing British cozy. I give The Case of the Dotty Dowager 4 out of 5 stars. I liked the nice mix of characters as well as the lovely setting. I did not, though, like Annie Parker’s character. I found her very abrasive and hard to understand. She has such a thick accent that it is hard to figure out what she is saying. Mavis’ Scottish accent was much easier to figure out (of course, I have been watching a lot of Outlander). I think if Annie’s was toned down just a little, she would be a more pleasing character (they have her as loud, clumsy, and rude). Overall, The Case of the Dotty Dowager had good writing, great mystery, lovely town, and some interesting characters.
I received The Case of the Dotty Dowager from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The review and opinions expressed are my own.
http://bibliophileandavidreader.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-case-of-dotty-dowager.html
crunchywrap's review against another edition
3.0
It took way too long to get into the ‘good stuff’. Once the story got going it got a lot better. But the ended so abruptly, I was left scratching my head.
Some phrasing such as poo-pooed was a bit weird, for me any way. I wasn’t too sure what this actually meant.
I hope every book in the box set isn’t like this.
Some phrasing such as poo-pooed was a bit weird, for me any way. I wasn’t too sure what this actually meant.
I hope every book in the box set isn’t like this.
bookwoman37's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I have read Cathy Ace's other series and have enjoyed them. This is a great start to a new series. I really enjoyed the ladies of the WISE Agency. They work well together and solve the case using their various strengths. This is a traditional mystery set on a Welsh Estate. The mystery itself was easy to solve and it was all tied by the end of the book. I am really looking forword to reading the next book in this series and seeing what new case and trouble the women of WISE get into too. Enjoy this for a good traditional mystery.
christinebeswick's review against another edition
3.0
This is a crime story based on fairly modern technology written in an anachronistic style. Quite fun, but not quite 3 stars.
rosescottagee's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
vesper1931's review against another edition
mysterious
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
The 18th Duke of Chellingwirth approached the WISE Enquiries Agency because he is concerned about his mother. She states that she found a dead man in her dining room of the Dower House one night. But when he arrived there, there was as no body.
An enjoyable cozy modern mystery. A good start to this series.
An enjoyable cozy modern mystery. A good start to this series.
eli_cart's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
fictionfan's review against another edition
4.0
A fun cosy...
Henry Twyst, Duke of Chellingworth, is worried. His mother, the dowager duchess, has phoned him in the middle of the night to say there's a dead body in the dining room of the Dower House, but when he gets there, no corpse is to be found. At first, he assumes his mother must have dreamt it or worse, that she is beginning to lose her marbles, but when a blood-stained hat is found on the floor he begins to wonder. Since the local police don't seem to be taking the matter seriously, he calls in the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency; their brief – to discover if the body really existed and, if so, who was it?
This is quite a fun cosy that is obviously intended to be the first of a series. The acronym WISE stands for Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England – the birth places of the four women who run the agency. It's not really explained how the four came together – there's a brief mention of them all having been involved in solving an earlier case but that's all – but there's plenty of potential for them to develop into a nicely mixed team, so long as Ace can avoid going too far down the road of using rather clumsy national stereotypes. Oddly she only stereotypes the Scot and the Englishwoman (Cockney, of course) – the Irish and Welsh contingent seem to escape. But it's reasonably minimal and hopefully will disappear completely once the characters' personalities are more fully developed in later books.
There are two linked crimes in the story – one is very original and quite fun and I won't spoil it by giving any hints here. The other is the murder which, while it is eventually solved, is left unsatisfactorily explained – it feels as if it got lost along the way as the author got more interested in the other strand. The WISE women's technique is basically to use their various people skills to get people to let things slip during chit-chat, though one of them is a computer expert who finds a lot of background information online. The chit-chat element is enjoyable and the women are well enough drawn so that we see each of their different personalities affecting how they approach their tasks. The online stuff is much less fun – lengthy typewritten reports full of information that it's highly unlikely anyone could find online without hacking government websites, which would not be the WISE women's style at all. I felt this was a way for the author to slip in information that she couldn't quite see how to have her characters uncover in more credible, and interesting, ways.
Overall, then, there are some weaknesses in the plotting, but the characters are likeable and I suspect will become more so over time as the dynamics amongst them get the chance to develop more fully. And it fulfils well the main function of cosies – to be light and enjoyable to read. First books in series are often tricky since it takes time for characters to be introduced, and since this one has four main protagonists that problem is magnified in this case, but Ace pulled it off well enough that I will certainly be interested in seeing how the series develops. 3½ stars for me, so rounded up.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Severn House.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Henry Twyst, Duke of Chellingworth, is worried. His mother, the dowager duchess, has phoned him in the middle of the night to say there's a dead body in the dining room of the Dower House, but when he gets there, no corpse is to be found. At first, he assumes his mother must have dreamt it or worse, that she is beginning to lose her marbles, but when a blood-stained hat is found on the floor he begins to wonder. Since the local police don't seem to be taking the matter seriously, he calls in the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency; their brief – to discover if the body really existed and, if so, who was it?
This is quite a fun cosy that is obviously intended to be the first of a series. The acronym WISE stands for Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England – the birth places of the four women who run the agency. It's not really explained how the four came together – there's a brief mention of them all having been involved in solving an earlier case but that's all – but there's plenty of potential for them to develop into a nicely mixed team, so long as Ace can avoid going too far down the road of using rather clumsy national stereotypes. Oddly she only stereotypes the Scot and the Englishwoman (Cockney, of course) – the Irish and Welsh contingent seem to escape. But it's reasonably minimal and hopefully will disappear completely once the characters' personalities are more fully developed in later books.
There are two linked crimes in the story – one is very original and quite fun and I won't spoil it by giving any hints here. The other is the murder which, while it is eventually solved, is left unsatisfactorily explained – it feels as if it got lost along the way as the author got more interested in the other strand. The WISE women's technique is basically to use their various people skills to get people to let things slip during chit-chat, though one of them is a computer expert who finds a lot of background information online. The chit-chat element is enjoyable and the women are well enough drawn so that we see each of their different personalities affecting how they approach their tasks. The online stuff is much less fun – lengthy typewritten reports full of information that it's highly unlikely anyone could find online without hacking government websites, which would not be the WISE women's style at all. I felt this was a way for the author to slip in information that she couldn't quite see how to have her characters uncover in more credible, and interesting, ways.
Overall, then, there are some weaknesses in the plotting, but the characters are likeable and I suspect will become more so over time as the dynamics amongst them get the chance to develop more fully. And it fulfils well the main function of cosies – to be light and enjoyable to read. First books in series are often tricky since it takes time for characters to be introduced, and since this one has four main protagonists that problem is magnified in this case, but Ace pulled it off well enough that I will certainly be interested in seeing how the series develops. 3½ stars for me, so rounded up.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Severn House.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
maryrobinson's review against another edition
1.0
A modern-day British cozy featuring a detective agency with four women. Wish something was interesting or memorable about this, but there was not.
diannel_04's review against another edition
The title caught me and the story sounded good so I picked this up. What a disappointment. Right from the start I didn't like the main characters. Sure, clever ploy making each one of them from a different country in Britain to form the name but that's as far as it goes.
The women are; Carol, the Welsh one, who is pregnant so doesn't have to go sleuthing but can stay behind manning the computers; Christine, the Irish one, who despite apparently having a MENSA IQ comes across as shallow and spoiled "I want to prove to daddy that I can be independent while still living in his house and driving the luxury car he pays for"; Mavis, the Scot, a former nurse who just seems a little too prissy for me; and Annie, the black cockney, who has a chip on her shoulder the size of St. Lucia. Toss in a bunch of secondary characters and a plot line surrounding a pair of antique false teeth and well, you've lost me.
When the author alluded to how they all met while solving another mystery I had to go back and double check if I had missed a book. I hadn't but I couldn't shake the feeling that more background was necessary because these characters working together just aren't believable.
Yet another book I returned to the library without finishing.
The women are; Carol, the Welsh one, who is pregnant so doesn't have to go sleuthing but can stay behind manning the computers; Christine, the Irish one, who despite apparently having a MENSA IQ comes across as shallow and spoiled "I want to prove to daddy that I can be independent while still living in his house and driving the luxury car he pays for"; Mavis, the Scot, a former nurse who just seems a little too prissy for me; and Annie, the black cockney, who has a chip on her shoulder the size of St. Lucia. Toss in a bunch of secondary characters and a plot line surrounding a pair of antique false teeth and well, you've lost me.
When the author alluded to how they all met while solving another mystery I had to go back and double check if I had missed a book. I hadn't but I couldn't shake the feeling that more background was necessary because these characters working together just aren't believable.
Yet another book I returned to the library without finishing.