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allandanybooks's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This is a brilliant whodunnit murder mystery. It’s quite interesting to see the POV of the murderer who isn’t who everybody thinks they are and there are also so many other hidden characters.
The plot is great and I loved following all the different perspectives. It gives a depth to this book that you rarely see.
I know this is a second book in a series and while it can be read a stand alone, I would have liked to have read the first book first as I feel the characters would have been more familiar to me. But still, the characters are brilliant and humorous and a bit nutty at times. Of course, there’s a few psychopaths in the mix as well, but everybody made the book better and funnier. And although, I had my guess of who the murderer was, the ending still surprised me.
All in all, a brilliant murder mystery and I will now go read the first book in the series!
*Free copy received from Love Books Tours for a book tour and review
The plot is great and I loved following all the different perspectives. It gives a depth to this book that you rarely see.
I know this is a second book in a series and while it can be read a stand alone, I would have liked to have read the first book first as I feel the characters would have been more familiar to me. But still, the characters are brilliant and humorous and a bit nutty at times. Of course, there’s a few psychopaths in the mix as well, but everybody made the book better and funnier. And although, I had my guess of who the murderer was, the ending still surprised me.
All in all, a brilliant murder mystery and I will now go read the first book in the series!
*Free copy received from Love Books Tours for a book tour and review
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
srivalli's review
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
3.5 Stars
One Liner: Interesting premise but got a few misses
Librarian Prunella Pearce and her bestie Bree are all set to start a detective agency after their success in the previous case (book one). The duo and other ladies of the Winterbottom Women’s Institute go to Montgomery Hall Hotel for Halloween to enjoy a murder mystery weekend away from the village.
The hotel’s current owner Tarragon Montgomery is stuck between matriarch Cecily (who doesn’t want to make changes to the place) and his money-loving wife, Stephanie. As if things aren’t bad enough, there seems to be a thief at their barely surviving hotel.
Psychic Selma, who was to be a part of the murder mystery weekend, has been replaced by an impostor with an ulterior motive. With a raging storm outside and the Winterbottom women going wild (thanks to free-flowing booze), it’s up to Pru and Bree to solve the cases and determine if there’s a connection between the mysteries.
Can the duo repeat their success?
The story comes from multiple POVs.
What I Like:
The book works great as a standalone despite being the second in the series. The characters can be a bit confusing (continued in the next section), but the plot is independent.
The pacing is steady and consistent even when nothing seems to be happening. That’s hard to achieve in a book with 350+ pages, but here it keeps going without slowing down.
The mystery, as such, isn’t much. We can figure it out in the first quarter of the book. It’s more of ‘how will all these threads come together, and will the criminal be nabbed’ that keeps the reader moving.
The book is more of a chick-lit and family drama with murders thrown into the mix. Though that wasn’t what I expected, I readjusted my expectations and could enjoy the book (to an extent).
The scenes with the killer are decent and well done. They don’t delve into the darker side but show enough glimpses to create an impact.
What Didn’t Work for Me:
There are three ladies whose names start with C. Two of them stick together and are kinda bosom buddies (in many ways). This doesn’t help in remembering who is who, especially when all of them are loud.
I have no issues with old ladies lacking a filter or making sexual innuendo jokes. But there’s only so much I can read without rolling my eyes at the constant sex jokes (it doesn’t help that some of those went over my head). There’s a difference between older ladies speaking their minds and blabbering. I like the former kind, while the book has the latter. Also, I don’t particularly like the ladies being used as comic relief.
Humorous cozies are fun (I recently enjoyed a goofy book). However, here the slapstick comedy and the murders don’t gel completely in this book. The author can write (the book is very visual). It just wasn’t that good for me. I also see how this will make a great script for the screen (after editing). The comedy I found too much in the book can be appealing when enacted by people.
To summarize, Murders at the Montgomery Hall Hotel is the book for you if you like mindless comedy and jokes with a bunch of murders thrown into the mix. The cover is super cool, though.
Thank you, Bloodhound Books, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
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