Poisoned Heart

Lady Marmalade #1

by Jason Blacker

Lady Marmalade's first mystery. Visiting some friends, Lordy and Lady Apleby turns out to be a dangerous affair. For the kitchen maid at least, who ends up dead.

How did she die and who would want to kill her is up to Lady Marmalade and Inspector Devlin Pearce to determine. Making their work even harder are the five suspects who all had reason to kill her.

The Lord of the manner who was having an affair with her. The Lady who was upset at her cheating husband. Her bastard son, her low life of an ex-husband or the butler who she had spurned.

One of them did it, though they all might have wanted to. In the lineage of Agatha Christie, this cozy mystery is set in the late 1940s.

Genres: Short Stories, Ebooks

28 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 9, 2012

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a 2.5 star read.

The author has created a pastiche of the Agatha Christie kind here but I feel it falls very short indeed. Written as a long short story, there isn't the depth to the characters required to make you feel invested in them. I also couldn't help but notice the discrepancies in the language/tone of the era and what was considered to be issues that could be raised in polite conversation. I have another of the author's books in my Kindle so I am prepared to give this series another whirl.

I received a copy of this short story ebook directly from the author. I have voluntarily chosen to review the book and the gifting in no way influences my review/rating, which reflects my honest opinion.

[Charles van Buren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charles van Buren

TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Mystery is OK

August 12, 2019

Format: Kindle Edition
Review of Kindle edition
Publication date: January 4, 2014
Language: English
ASIN: B0098DKOWY
28 pages

The mystery is ok but I did not find the characters engaging and I read mysteries as much for interesting, engaging characters as for the puzzle. Lady Marmalade? Is she Portuguese?

[Colin Rochford · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poisoned Heart by Jason Blacker

This is the second Jason blacker story I've read. I think this time I understood the reason for the title and it was a bit too clever too trite. The whole story smacked of Agatha Christie without any of the literary merit.
The characters, setting, the plot were all just sketched with an HB pencil and not even shaded in.

Once again this one was too short. it seem to have no beginning middle or end. It was just a very long beginning and a very quick end. I'm sorry I didn't like it at all.

[SherleyB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short sweet lovely story nice characters shall look forward to reading more

[Maria Valentina]

Engaging

[Emmy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very quick read, despite the uneven flow.
Small cast of characters with most who are suspects in the murder of the maid.
Predictable outcome although the evidence isn't easy to follow.

[Karen Siddall · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a 28-page book that launches the short story supplemental series of Lady Marmalade Short Mystery Stories. They are quick reads that relate to the longer series of books in the Lady Marmalade Mysteries.

The second World War 2 is barely behind us and Lady Marmalade, “Fran” to the assembled gathering is attending a mid-afternoon tea hosted by Lady Alys Apleby and her husband, Lord Godfrey Apleby, along with other notables of the area, at their Hampshire estate, Abernathy Castle. The tea party is suddenly disrupted when the housekeeper collapses and dies from an apparent poisoning.

The story is quickly sketched out and gives the first-time reader a brief introduction to Lady Frances Marmalade and a feel for the time and the tone of what the series is like. There are references to earlier cases she’s been involved with and a glimpse of the police representatives with whom she’s previously come in contact. This is really just a taste of what’s to come or maybe a nibble to sustain fans of the series until the next book comes out.

Considering their brevity (the longest is described as 51 pages), their price (all but the first are set at $2.99), and that they’re not in the Kindle Unlimited program, I probably won’t be reading another one. But at 99 cents - a bargain.

[Will Decker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a mystery in the style of 'Agatha Christie' or 'Murder She Wrote' where all the suspects are brought together at the end and the killer is revealed. The clues seem pretty obvious, but the author could have thrown the reader a red herring and only made it seem obvious. Yet, alas, he did not. There is no last minute twist, but it's still a well written short story with very clean editing. A fun read!

[Lora · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an “Agatha Christie” type of mystery with the reveal of the culprit in the meeting with all of the suspects. You get a slight sense of the individuals involved but not a full fleshing out of the characters or the mystery due to the constraints on the short story vehicle. It was fun and had a number of decent suspects. I wish it were longer so as to develop the story more. I would love to see it in a novella length. Worth the read and won’t take long to finish.

[Sharmani Jayaram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lady Marmalade going to visit some friends has a bad experience as the kitchen maid of that manor is found dead.It is the manor of Lord and lady Apleby. Lady Marmalade and inspector Devlin are determined to find the culprit. The Lord of the manor was found to have been having affair with this maid . The wife was upset and the bastard son and butler were also some of the suspects. It is a great and exciting read. I recommend this book to other readers.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poisoned Heart by Jason Blacker was a good easy novella. His characters were well defined. Lady Marmalade seemed come out of no where and take charge of the investigation something like Angela Landsbury's character in Murder she wrote.
Would love to read a back ground story on Lady Marmalade.
Cheers
Lynn🇨🇦

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poisoned Heart by Jason Blacker

Lady Frances Marmalade comes through again in this short story. The story moves quickly and I recommend it for an interesting short read. I would, however, stay clear of those cucumber sandwiches.

[Annette Sullivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story was a very nice, though very short whodunnit. With too many suspects all with motives it makes for an opportunity to put our mind to the task of solving it while reading it. I didn’t guess the murderer, will you?

[Anne Kinslow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anne Kinslow. I just love good mysteries,do you?
This book was a good read from start to finish. If you like Hercule Poirot or Agatha Christie books, then you will just love these LADY MARMALADE MYSTERIES. Why not read one now?

[Loula Evert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poisoned heart

I am biased. No matter what Jason Blacker write's. I love his penmanship. Sometimes witty, sometimes sarcastic or funny. Lady Marmalade reads, are like high english aristocrats speaking, but she is quick, see and understand situations fast. Love it!!!

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't really one of my favourite books, don't really know why but I did like the twist in the end. That made the whole read worth while.

[louise davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. It was short story but it held your attention. Well worth the time to read.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good plot and well written. I like Lady Marmalade with her firm, yet graceful & ways of finding the killer.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars
A short mystery that relies too much on description than action.

[Liette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect short read over breakfast.

[Lonnia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was a quick read. I figured who the guilty party was before the interviews. But still it was a distraction for me after a hard day at work.

[Mailmanr5 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much here I'm afraid. Too simple and easy.

[Nancy Hammons · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a Lady Marmalade story before, this one was short, kinda fun trying to figure out who did it before Fran did. I liked it.

[aem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining vignette a la Agatha Christie style.

[Jean Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good short story although I had a hard time getting interested in any of the characters except Lady Marmalade. Way too many suspects for me.

[Shirley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Reminds me of Agatha Christi's books. A good "Who done it?" book. Set in the 1800's there are 5 main characters that are suspects. Who killed the maid in the middle of a tea?

[Kiran Kumili · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rather simple murder mystery, that could be read in just over an hour. The story starts and ends in the Abernathy Castle of England, whose owner Godfrey Apleby is in deep financial crisis after the World Wars. The small get together arranged by the Aplebys inviting the famous lady detective Frances Marmalade and Mr. Mountbatten, the future representative of the British Crown to India, leads to the murder of the housemaid Christine through cyanide poisoning. Frances, with the help of the Police Inspector Pearce cleverly investigates the brief encounter of Christine’s son and ex-husband along with the butler to dig out a secret relationship between Christine and Godfrey, which resulted in Christine blackmailing Godfrey for huge money. Godfrey ultimately confesses that he was the one who killed Christine because of her pressure to shell out more and more money.

Pros: It’s quite a simple story that involved only few characters and moreover the solution was predictable. The story portrayed the English way of living.
Cons: Did not like the way Indian climate and their habit about drinking tea even in hot summers was being looked down upon by the British, forgetting the fact that Indian tea is world famous and soothing even in hot weather. Can be read once but not a library stuff.

My rating is 2 out of 5

[Rai · Rating 5 out of 5]

A satisfying murder mystery for Agatha Christie fans!

As a huge fan of Agatha Christie's mystery stories, I was delighted to pick up the short story Poisoned Heart. It follows amateur sleuth Lady Marmalade as she gets caught up in a murder mystery at the English country-side estate of some friends she was visiting. The setting is the 1940s and the sense of place, attention to detail, and the cast of characters in this story serve it well. It kept me guessing to the very end as to who committed the murder and why. I look forward to reading more of these stories!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in Post WWII England, Lady Marmalade is visiting her friends at Abernathy Castle when the kitchen maid is killed. A very quick set up to the murder and the suspects, and then a solution in presented. Felt it could have been expanded a bit.

[Hildegart · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story reminded me of the Two-minute Mysteries and Sherlock Holmes. Not necessarily a good thing if being compared to them. This story did not flow smoothly.