Murder in the Manor

DNF at 25%

This book was a suggestion from August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows.


Books like this you expect cliches, convenient plotlines, and fun little cozy mysteries. They're cheesy Hallmark style stories meant to help you kill an afternoon.

But THIS?? It's no Hallmark movie. It's more like a first draft for a really bad Hallmark movie. It's beyond ridiculous. Yes, yes these types of books are supposed to be ridiculous. But this is BEYOND ridiculous. A woman decides on a whim to go to Europe after her divorce. She decides she'll stay as long as she wants. No regards to customs and policies of England. She conveniently finds an old man who rents her the perfect fixer up sea-side manor. But oh the sweet old man is so gullible he's willing to rent it for $20 a day. A DAY! In a town where all the other rooms are booked for holiday travelers. But wait. There's more. He conveniently had an open storefront after the tennants dissapeared with ALL their stock in the middle of the night. How perfect! She has decided she's going to rent it. She goes online and applies for an extended business visa and TADA within 24 hours she has a business visa. Now she's the belle of the town opening up a cute little antique shop in a town in Wilfordshire.


Between the MC's self righteousness and the complete disregard to how governments work, well I had to give it up. This was awful. I was just waiting for the MC to be offed to put us all out of our misery.

Story was decent. The narrator's voice was just annoying to me, very lisping and seemed fake. I don't know how else to describe it.

The ebb and flow of life

What starts out as a spur of the moment holiday becomes so much more. What a delight this read was. This is the first time I've read from this author and I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the characters, and the twists and turns. I have a new series on my list as I read this book in one sitting.

I'll start by saying that the concept, setting, mystery... all that was great. However, it did not flow together well. Details were all over the place, inconsistent, and filled with an overabundance of clichés. What bothered me most was how unrealistic the circumstances were. I'll buy that Lacey made a last minute decision to hop a plane to England, but she settled as a resident with a private business and a dog impossibly fast. Nonetheless, the potential is there, it just fell flat for me.