Josephine West & the Unexpected Corpse

Josephine West 1920s Mysteries #1

by Beth Byers, Ann Warren

Josephine West is broken after losing her husband during the Great War. She spends her days writing nonsense articles for the local newspaper and evenings avoiding the suitors her mother pushes her way.

Then, Josephine discovers a dead body in beautiful Carmel-By-the-Sea, California. She's determined to both be the one who solves the murder and the one who publishes the story. Can she do it when everyone would try to stop her? She thinks she can, and she's sure no one else will beat her to the truth. The only question is whether the chase will put her at risk?

170 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 3, 2023

Reviews

[Connie P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josephine grows.

Josephine is a young widow who doesn't know for sure that she really is a widow. She was informed that her husband, William, was lost during WWI. She hasn't come to terms with the fact that he is very likely dead. Even so, her mother seems pretty desperate to marry her off again. That's not what Josephine wants, even to the point of not accepting that William is gone because then she has to move forward. She does not want to have a husband who will be in charge of her life. She doesn't want to be stuck with a bunch of children that she's not ready for. She doesn't want to have to keep writing obituaries and birth announcements for her father-in-law's newspaper. She wants to write real stories. She wants to make her own decisions. If she ever gets married again, it will be her choice. She gets her chance to write a hard-hitting story when she finds the dead body of the husband of an old friend. That would also mean working with the lead detective on the case, Edward, whom she had seen socially before marrying William. If he'll let her. Following the trail of a murderer, writing the story, getting to know herself as a grown woman, and getting reacquainted with Edward, who also served in WWI, makes Josephine see what she wants for her own self and she won't let anyone stop her. I very much enjoyed this book and will be reading the next book.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this story. I like reading about intelligent women who can be independent, yet still very feminine. The characters in this book are all the normal type of people for that time. The women were expected to find a man and have babies, but in the case of the main protagonist, she wanted more and compelled the reader to root for more for her. The plot is easily followed and the premise was to find who was killed and why. I think the main character did just that and faced the danger like a pro. I definitely recommend this book.

[S A R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun series

This book is exactly what you would expect from Beth Byers - interesting, well drawn characters, a bit of a love story and a good mystery solved. I did wish Josephine would rat out Dickie to her father-in-law but I'm sure that will happen eventually, if he doesn't catch old Dickie in the act himself. It's a shame our Grandmother's had to put up with the stereotypical nonsense of the era.

Of course I want more. Who wouldn't?

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Cozy Mystery

Loved the characters, and it has a great story line! I'm looking forward to reading the next one in the series. I confess I'm a fan of Beth Byers, and now of Ann Warren! I'm very impressed with the editing in this book as Beth Byers books are notorious for bad (no?) editing. This book seems to have received a lot more care before being published! Highly recommend you give it a try!

[Tony Hisgett · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m afraid I found Josephine irritating, I can understand her still missing her husband, but her inability to move past her families nagging and putting Edward in his place, became wearing after a while. This was compounded when it became clear she had independent means and wasn’t dependant on her family.

I would probably given one star, but the end of the book was a slight improvement.

[Nataliya Palaguta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boring! But...

Characters are pretty sketchy. Heroine's constant claim that she is not stupid just underlines her lack of intelligence and skills. The plot is unimaginative with mostly one-dimensional main actors. But despite all of that, unreasonably, you could feel some sympathy for them. And this is the biggest mystery to me.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the next one. So glad that Beth Byers has started a new series that has nothing to do with Violet as that series is old and stale now, not to mention more like short stories.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cozy mystery set in the 1920s. Sufficiently entertaining, though I wished Josephine had told her annoying family what's what a little sooner instead of putting up with overbearing mother and bitchy sister for so long.

[Lisa Bjornstad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story!

Byers and Warren have created a very believable and likable character in Josephine West. True-to-life events such as PTSD after WWI add credence to the story. Very good book.

[Jill Allen]

Loved it!

Such a great book! The characters were fun to get to know. Loved the story and all the twists and turns. Can't wait for the next one!

[Roberta Kennedy]

Great new series!

Love the new heroine. This book was a page turner, couldn't put it down. Ready for the next book in the series.

[Gillie Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel that I’ve read this story before.

[Katherine Rieder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful and Informative

Historical fiction with a little mystery and a dab of romance! What could be better! Can’t wait for the next one!