Description
A magnificent seaside hotel, striped deckchairs, strawberry ice cream… and a rather familiar dead body? Lady Swift is on the case! Spring, 1921. Lady Eleanor Swift, explorer extraordinaire and accidental sleuth, hasn’t had a vacation since she arrived in England a year ago. Being an amateur detective can be a rather tiring business and she is determined to escape any more murder and mysteries. So she books into the Grand Hotel in the fashionable resort of Brighton for some fresh air, fish and chips and, of course, a dip in the ocean. Eleanor is enjoying her view of the waves and trying to find her bathing suit when calamity strikes: a guest has been found dead at her beautiful hotel. The distraught manager, who can’t afford a scandal, asks Eleanor to solve the case as swiftly as possible. Thank goodness she has her partner in crime – Gladstone the bulldog – to help her sniff out the dastardly culprit. But when Eleanor enters the dead man’s room, she receives a shock big enough to make her forget even the finest ice cream sundae. The body is that of her husband, who supposedly died six years ago on the other side of the world. Has he been alive all these years? Why does he have a copy of their wedding photograph with a cryptic message written on the back? If Eleanor can keep herself safe long enough to find her husband’s killer, she might discover that everything is not quite as it seems beside the seaside… A warm and witty whodunnit! Fans of Agatha Christie, T E Kinsey and L.B. Hathaway will be utterly charmed by this addictive and absolutely gripping page-turner. Readers are totally addicted to Verity Bright! ‘Can I give it six stars please?… Pretty much perfect… Bright has the amazing gift of bringing the reader into that world where the characters are alive.’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘I was literally on the edge of my seat until the last page trying to figure out the mystery. It’s an adorable, captivating book.’ Washington Life Magazine ‘What a wild ride it is!… Gripping… This book is what would happen if Downton Abbey and Agatha Christie had a baby. Fun, fast-paced read with lots of charm!’ The Literary Wife ‘Oooh I loved this book… I wanted a book which would be absolutely soothing to read with a murder in it and this was it. The book was everything I wanted in these troubling times. I loved it.’ Book Reviews by Shalini ‘What a great cozy mystery! I am hooked! This is the best book, bar none, that I have read this year… An extremely witty, fast-paced mystery… I love the heroine, intrepid adventuress… A most enjoyable read!’ Reviews by Carol in Tallahassee ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘A sparkling heroine and perfect partner-in-crime… Every bit as compelling a couple as Bertie Wooster and Jeevesand the series is both entertaining and eminently readable… The perfect light reading for a summer day. An added bonus is the delightful dog Gladstone who is indolent, gluttonous and totally adorable.’ Goodreads Reviewer ‘I adore this series… I am head over heels for Lady Swift and her investigative adventures. This book is perfect for Sunday afternoon reading to escape into a fabulously written English mystery story. Cannot wait for more Lady Swift.’ Sarah in Readerland ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'Mystery By The Sea' by Verity Bright.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 11th March 2021.
This is the second book I have read by this author and the fifth book in the 'A Lady Eleanor Smith' series but can be read as a standalone. The other book I read by Verity is called 'A Witness to Murder' which is the third book in the series which I also highly recommend it.
I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis. I also loved Verity Bright's 'A Witness To Murder' so am hoping it is as good and am looking forward to meeting some of the characters again. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of 45 chapters. The chapters are short to medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in Brighton, UK 🇬🇧. The bonus for me of books that are partly or fully based in the UK is that I live in the UK and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book which makes it easier to picture.
This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonist is Lady Eleanor Smith. The benefits of third person perspective are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out on anything.
Another successful unputdownable cosy mystery by the very talented Verity Bright. I'm always a bit dubious with books based historically as I worry about not being able to 'deal' with the language used but I absolutely love how Verity has written her books. The language used is perfectly suited to the era whilst being easy to read and making it quite humorous on several occasions. The atmosphere and descriptions were perfect and I found myself looking up places to stay in Brighton as it made me feel I was already there mentally and desperately wanted to go physically. It was like I could hear the waves crashing and seagulls cawing.
The storyline had me hooked immediately and I love the way that Eleanor and Clifford go about their detective work. There was so much going on that it kept me entertained thoroughly throughout with mystery after mystery and clue after clue. It was filled with suspense, mystery and suspense and is absolutely perfect to read either curled in front of the fire or lying on a beach which not many books can achieve. I never did work out who the killer was and was completely shocked when they were discovered. A great achievement as I am a huge crime fan and tend to work out who did what quite early on.
The characters were all larger than life, realistic and a complete breathe of fresh air. Eleanor is an amazing character, very bubbly and certainly not your typical 'Lady' she is absolutely unique as well as a very strong female lead which is a great bonus for myself being female. Clifford is absolutely fantastic and I really enjoy how he makes me laugh with his diplomatic skills. I loved meeting them again along with Butters, Trotters and Polly who are all larger than life with their own exceptional personalities. I cannot wait to meet them all again and see what they get up to in the next "episode".
I thoroughly enjoyed the historical notes and it is easy to see that lots of research has been done on the setting of the book which is great to see.
A huge congratulations on another fantastic success Verity!!! Here's to looking forward to your next book 🥂
Overall a fun and easy to read cozy murder mystery with just the tight amount of humour that will keep you turning the pages.
Genres covered in this novel include Cozy Mystery, Murder and Crime amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Agatha Christie and anyone looking for a very easy and enjoyable read.
276 pages.
This book is just £2.99 to purchase on kindle via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5/5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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@VerityBright @Bookouture @Bookworm1986 @bookworm86
Author Bio:
Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humour, before embarking on their first historical mystery. They are the authors of the fabulous Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series, set in the 1920s.
@BrightVerity
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