Finished Off

Bellehaven House Mystery #2

by Rebecca Kent

More information to be announced soon on this forthcoming title from Penguin USA

Genres: Mystery, Historical Mystery, Fiction, Paranormal, Cozy Mystery, Historical

208 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 9, 2009

About the author

A pseudonym used by Kate Kingsbury.

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable addition to this young series. Meredith Llewellyn does have a full plate, between keeping her spirited young charges in line at the school and dealing with spirits who come to her with unfinished earthly business. The arrival of her new assistant, Roger Platt, adds yet another possible disruption to Meredith's formerly fairly well-ordered life...who knows what mischief the young man (working in an all-girls' school!) will bring forth in the future? I look forward to the next installment!

[Lori Henrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty good story line. I kind of like the ghost aspect. The only problem I have is that there was a bit to much focus on Grace and Olive. If they had more to do with solving the mystery it would be another thing. There is just more focus on them which for me didn't do anything for the story at all. So I am just giving up on this series.

[Linda C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Head Mistress Meredith Llewellyn again meets a ghost wanting resolution before passing on. This time a young girl appears whose family died in a house fire and she shortly thereafter. Again a simple mystery at the finishing school, this time with problems associated with a young male assistant and more dealings with the 2 maids and the suffragettes.

[Drebbles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meredith Llewellyn certainly has her hands full as headmistress of Bellehaven House, a finishing school. She not only has to deal with rebellious students who would rather be tomboys than young ladies, but teachers who are also rebellious, and trying to train a new secretary to keep his hands on his work and not the students. But as busy as she is, when the ghost of a young child appears to her and seems to want her help, Meredith can't turn her away. As Meredith tries to find out what happened to the child she starts to realize that the girl's parent's deaths may not have been an accident as first suspected. Meredith wants to bring the killer to justice and reunite the child with her parents - but will it cost her her own life in the process?

"Finished Off" is written by Rebecca Kent, A/K/A Kate Kingsbury, and fans of Kingsbury's Pennyfoot Hotel and Manor House cozy mystery series will enjoy this new cozy mystery series. In fact, this book reminds me a lot of the Pennyfoot Hotel series - it has a strong heroine (Meredith) who has two close friends (Felicity Cross and Esmeralda Pickard); two feisty maids (Olivia and Grace); a stern but loving cook (Mrs. Wilkins); and a possible but seemingly unattainable love interest (Stuart Hamilton). Just like in the Kingsbury books, there is a strong feminist overtone throughout this book as Olivia and Grace join the suffragettes and Felicity, even though she teaches in a finishing school, uses every opportunity she can to preach about women's rights. Meredith, while more subtle, is also a feminist. All in all, Kent does an excellent job of capturing the time period, politics, and language of the time period the novel is set in.

Enjoyable as it is, "Finished Off" is a very light cozy mystery. The paranormal aspects are a nice change for Kent, but readers never get a chance to know or care about the victims before their deaths. No real suspects appear until halfway through the book and there aren't enough suspects for readers to try and guess who the killer is (which is part of the fun of reading a cozy). The book relies a bit too much on strangers immediately trusting Meredith and giving her the information she needs. There are some nice secondary mysteries involving teacher Sylvia Montrose and Secretary Roger Platt that will no doubt be addressed in future books in the series. Platt adds much of the humor that is laced throughout the book. I'm not quite buying the Meredith - Stuart romance and love the addition of Inspector Dawson as another possible love interest for Meredith.

While "Finished Off" is a light cozy mystery, any book by Kingsbury/Kent is a treasure and I recommend "Finished Off' to not only Kingsbury fans, but fans of cozy mysteries in general.

[Monica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oops! I had the review for the wrong book here. Unhappily that is a measure of how disappointed I am with these books. While there's potential with the premise--headmistress of a finishing school for young women solves crimes in here spare time in order to put ghosts at peace--it's just not executed that well. The characters are two dimensional and interchangeable. The women are either parodies of suffragettes, or submissive women with disdain for other women who are suffragettes. The men are truly disturbing, however, this time a chief constable is introduced and he's slightly human and appreciative of Meredith the lead character. Perversely, she continues to have a crush on the owner of the school who is a jerk, but this "relationship" is passed off as chemistry. This time Meredith is visited by the ghost of a child whose family was murdered. Meredith, haunted by her own loss of a child and husband seeks out the villain so that everyone can find some peace.

[Dharia Scarab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...

1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.

2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.

3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.

4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.

5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.

[Arlene Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

These short quick reads are lots of fun. Heavily character driven, I look forward to the future adventures of the instructresses of Bellehaven and the two irrascible maids, Olivia and Grace. For all that these could be considered fluff, there is a great deal of information about the suffrage movement in England. I look forward to more in the series.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure I want to read any more of this series. Murder mystery set in the early 20th century at a girls finishing school. Too simple and predictable, even for me...and not enough period detail to satisfy me. And it's not my favorite time period, post WWI

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book a tiny bit more than the first one. It was well written, well thought out, the plot was entertaining, and the characters seemed more three-dimensional this time around. Very satisfied with the way the series is playing out!

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like the setting and characters in this series. Can't wait to read the third book.

[Carrie Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute series - Edwardian England setting, but dialogue reads as more modern.

[Karen Boyles · Rating 4 out of 5]

easy enjoyable read enjoyed from start to finish

[Linda Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much better

This book had more substance and I know there are more adventures awaiting Meredith maybe even romance Will read next

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.

[Elisha (lishie) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed book 2 in this cozy series! I'm getting use to the characters & love the setting & time period.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit shallow and repetitive, but pleasant enough for a quick read.

[Brenda]

Not great