Thistlewood Manor: Bumped by a Dame

Eliza Montagu #6

by Fiona Grace

"Very entertaining. I highly recommend this book to the permanent library of any reader that appreciates a very well written mystery, with some twists and an intelligent plot. You will not be disappointed. Excellent way to spend a cold weekend!"
--Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (regarding Murder in the Manor )

THISTLEWOOD BUMPED BY A DAME is Book #6 in a charming 1920s cozy mystery series by Fiona Grace, #1 bestselling author of Murder in the Manor , which has over 300 five star reviews!

For centuries, Thistlewood Manor has stood as home to the Montagu family, a beacon to British aristocracy in rural England. But it’s 1928, and in this new age of women’s rights, Eliza Montagu, 27, a free spirit, has turned her back on her family to live an artist’s life in London.

Yet after Eliza is summoned home, she decides to stay (for now) to help her father run the ailing family business. The presence of her childhood best friend, Oliver, also gives her a reason to stay, as she wonders if their unfulfilled romance might ever come to fruition.

The time has come, it seems, for Oliver to finally propose, and Eliza is ecstatic. Finally, her whole life seems to come into place.

Until Eliza catches Oliver with his ex.

His ex ends up murdered.

And all eyes point to Eliza.

Can Eliza, arrested, clear her name? And with her sisters’ and the servants’ help, find the true killer?

A charming historical cozy mystery series that transports readers back in time, THISTLEWOOD MANOR is mystery at its spellbinding, atmospheric and impossible to put down. A page-turner packed with shocking twists, turns and a mystery that’s hard to solve, it will leave you reading late into the night, all while you fall in love with its unforgettable heroine.

Future books in the series are also available!

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

160 pages, Paperback

Published October 17, 2023

About the author

Debut author Fiona Grace is author of the LACEY DOYLE COZY MYSTERY series which includes MURDER IN THE MANOR (Book #1), DEATH AND A DOG (Book #2) and CRIME IN THE CAFE (Book #3). Fiona would love to hear from you, so please visit www.fionagraceauthor.com to receive free ebooks, hear the latest news, and stay in touch.

Reviews

[Tali · Rating 1 out of 5]

Warning for audiobook readers that instead of a narrator like the previous books this audiobook is done by AI and it makes this book almost impossible to get through. I will not be continuing with the series as ongoing it’s AI narration. There are random jarring noises, weird glitches and sounds, and a lack of any emotional tone that ruins the story.

[Elise Dubois · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love these books. Unfortunately, I have been listening to these in audiobook format. It’s awful. There are hissing noises. Clicking noises. Random sound blips. And if you can get past all that (good luck), apparently there are *** breaks between segments in the chapters. You guessed it, the AI says “asterisk asterisk asterisk” every time these come up. Based on this, I won’t be listening to anymore in the series.

[robbie jean lister · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have just about run out of words to express how much I an loving this series,,I download them from the public library and I finished this one,tried to get the next and was told I had reached my limit for this month so after being upset I decided to see if I could find something on CLOUD,,just to have something to read until the first of April,,,

[LJ Fiorentino · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was an audio book. Plot was good. Read by AI, glitchy and robotic delivery.

[Cyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ve been following this series since I figure I might as well keep going with it. Overall, the stories are fine, not too exciting but it is a cozy mystery. However, there are so many editing issues with this and I find myself a bit offended as a reader. For one, the author can’t seem to get the titles straight. At one point, she referred to a character as a Lady or a Lord and then at another the same character is referred to as Mr or Mrs. This particular book has even more mistakes like this. Did she think the readers won’t notice? Also, Eliza Montagu is sometimes being referred to as “Lady Montagu” - which is incorrect, that’s her mother. And sometimes she is referred to as “Miss”, even more incorrect. And then, Sarah, Eliza’s maid, referred to Oliver by his first name. Even though she is on a first-name basis with Mercy, she is still a servant and who gave her permission to refer to other aristocrats by their first name? It’s just all over the place. I don’t know if it’s laziness on the author’s part or just lack of diligence.

Finally, this book was “supposed” to be a turning point I guess for Eliza and Oliver’s relationship but it’s not. The romance is non-existent and while Oliver has been kind of an afterthought in previous books, he was more front-and-center here. But I realized he has been written as a very weak character. He is very devoid of personality and doesn’t seem to have a mind of his own. He was intriguing before as he was somewhat of a mystery but now I’m not even sure I like him. He just goes along with whatever - I don’t really see the point of him.

The mystery was so-so. As usual, Eliza keeps getting things wrong and finding herself in situations that she always find the most ridiculous excuses for. The whole premise between the victim and Oliver was kind of weak. Oliver’s responses were weak and Eliza’s reaction to all of that was childish. There was no further communication between the two. And Oliver just accepted whatever Eliza proposed - like I said, devoid of personality.

I might just finish the rest of the series just to get it over with but this one book has been most disappointing. I just skimmed through most of the book just to get to the end.