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A review by jcbmathcat
Murder at Royale Court by G.P. Gardner
4.0
This is the second book in the Cleo Mack series; however, if you have not read the first book, the author brings readers up to speed with regard to characters and relationships without interfering with the storyline.
I admit that I felt a slight twinge of dismay when I saw that the story revolved around an antique car show that was to take place in Fairhope. I am not a fan of cars, but one of the characters, Red Handleman, was invited to Harbor Village Retirement Center to host a series of lectures prior to the actual show. I admit that Handleman's presentations pulled me in, and, like Cleo, I wish I had known some of his tricks to use when I was in the classroom. Using his lectures as a way to introduce readers to interesting stories about cars was a clever touch.
The characters are well developed and the story is interesting. I requested this book because I have lived in a retirement community for four years now and was curious to see how one would be represented in a mystery. Fairhope, Alabama is an actual place, and was named the best small town in the South by Southern Living magazine in 2016. My community has about 2,000 residents, and is much larger than Harbor Village. Still, the problems Cleo faced as Executive Director and resident of Harbor Village seemed to fit in with what I know about life in my own community. Residents do have their quirks, and the murder took place in the Royale Court shopping center rather than at Harbor Village, which allowed residents to gossip and pose possible scenarios without living in a crime scene.
I recommend this book to readers of cozy mysteries. If you are of "a certain age," you will probably enjoy Harbor Village even more!
Thanks to Net Galley for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.
I admit that I felt a slight twinge of dismay when I saw that the story revolved around an antique car show that was to take place in Fairhope. I am not a fan of cars, but one of the characters, Red Handleman, was invited to Harbor Village Retirement Center to host a series of lectures prior to the actual show. I admit that Handleman's presentations pulled me in, and, like Cleo, I wish I had known some of his tricks to use when I was in the classroom. Using his lectures as a way to introduce readers to interesting stories about cars was a clever touch.
The characters are well developed and the story is interesting. I requested this book because I have lived in a retirement community for four years now and was curious to see how one would be represented in a mystery. Fairhope, Alabama is an actual place, and was named the best small town in the South by Southern Living magazine in 2016. My community has about 2,000 residents, and is much larger than Harbor Village. Still, the problems Cleo faced as Executive Director and resident of Harbor Village seemed to fit in with what I know about life in my own community. Residents do have their quirks, and the murder took place in the Royale Court shopping center rather than at Harbor Village, which allowed residents to gossip and pose possible scenarios without living in a crime scene.
I recommend this book to readers of cozy mysteries. If you are of "a certain age," you will probably enjoy Harbor Village even more!
Thanks to Net Galley for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.