Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.
Death at Beresford Hall is the 4th Adam & Eve cozy cooking mystery by Emma Davies. Released 7th Dec 2022, it's 333 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, the whole series is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.
This is a fun and engaging cozy series. The author is experienced at her craft and quite adept at plotting and characterization. The mystery itself is well engineered and the clues are all "fair-play" and revealed slowly throughout the narrative. I was really engaged from the start with caterer Fran (her surname is Eve), and her erstwhile sidekick/young friend Adam, the socially awkward son of a former catering client. I found it charming and refreshing that they *are* friends and there's zero romance and never a hint of hanky-panky between Adam (he's 20something) and Fran (who's 40something and happily married).
This installment sees Fran entering a cooking show held in a stately home after another contestant suddenly quits, leaving a vacancy. Fran (and Adam) are really there undercover to investigate a series of ugly incidents aimed at the show's celebrity host, Miranda. When Miranda exits stage left, violently, with a cake slicer to the heart, it's up to Fran & co to get to the bottom of the murder without getting -eliminated- themselves. It's a holiday themed cozy set in a stately home and is enjoyable for those reasons alone, but Fran's talent at ferreting out secrets and motives make it a compelling read.
The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 8 hours and 29 minutes and is expertly narrated by Mira Dovreni. Ms. Dovreni has a classically trained, well modulated voice and does a good job with the wide range of characters of both sexes and ages. I found her accent unobtrusive after a few minutes. It was easy to concentrate on the story.
The language is clean (PG rated) and the violence is mostly off-scene. It's perfectly safe for work/commute reading and the resolution and denouement are well written and satisfying. Spelling and vernacular are British English, but won't present any problems at all for (American) readers in context. With four excellent books extant in the series, it would be a good choice for a long weekend binge read. The mysteries are all self contained, so they can be read in any order, but are best in the order written.
Four and a half stars. Very fun.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Reviewed by annieb123 on
Reading updates
- 12 January, 2023: Started reading
- 12 January, 2023: Finished reading
- 12 January, 2023: Reviewed