Somewhere in Crime

Minerva Biggs Mysteries #5

by Cordelia Rook

Wedding bells are ringing for Minerva Biggs, but they hit a sour note when an heirloom music box vanishes on her watch. What’s a girl to do when Something Borrowed becomes Something Stolen?

For Minerva, the answer can always be found in Something Old. The siren song of yesteryear leads her to an impossible photograph of both the music box and one of the suspects—years before either is supposed to exist. Past and present seem to have fallen out of time, and the mysteries are multiplying with every beat.

The groom’s ex-girlfriend is sabotaging, the bride’s grandmother is scolding, the ring bearer is slobbering, and now the maid of honor is swearing there’s time travel afoot. Can Minerva restore harmony and walk down the aisle on a high note? Or will her wedding march become a funeral dirge?

Genres: Cozy Mystery

230 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 10, 2024

Reviews

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

CHARACTERS
🔲 mary-sue party
🔲 mostly 2D
🔲 great main cast, forgettable side characters
✅ well-written
🔲 complex and fascinating
🔲 hard to believe they are fictional

PLOT
🔲 you've already heard this exact story a thousand times
🔲 nothing memorable
✅ gripping
🔲 exceptional
🔲 mind=blown

WORLDBUILDING
✅ takes place in our world
🔲 incoherent
🔲 OK
🔲 nicely detailed
🔲 meticulous
🔲 even the last tree in the forest has its own story

ATMOSPHERE
🔲 nonexistent
🔲 fine
🔲 immersive
✅ you forget you are reading a book

PACING
🔲 dragging
🔲 inconsistent
🔲 picks up with time
✅ page-turner
🔲 impossible to put down

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obsessing about a locket, a possible hushed up adoption, rights to a famous song are one way to avoid getting cold feet for your own upcoming wedding lol. At least they are for Minerva Biggs who’s marrying Percy Baird in just a few weeks. This mystery is centered around some of the various extended relations of the old money Baird family and a missing locket/ music box and the song that it contained. When Minerva starts having strange dreams about the people from the past that were involved she doesn’t chalk it up to jitters she sets out to solve a cold case and dig out the truth. What we as the reader get is a very amusing, twisty and surprising mystery story. I very much enjoyed another visit to TyBryd and all the wonderfully kooky characters in this world!
I received an ARC from the author this is my honest and sincere review.

[Marsha Lawton · Rating 5 out of 5]

zipped through the whole series

It’s a rare thing for me to read every book in a series one after the other. I either go looking elsewhere or wait on buying all the books…but not this time. Rook’s Minerva Biggs series captured me from the start, with engaging characters and just-convoluted-enough plots. From the bits of history to Minerva’s love for her dog, I was charmed.
Now, on to check out one of the other series!

[Pam Mentzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't normally write a review because I feel that I am not good at that kind of writing. I am one of those readers who does read the series in order. Reading them in order you get to know and grow with the central characters and the stories flow better. I just finished reading the 5th book and I truly enjoyed reading about Minerva, Tybryd, the Bairds, Plantagenet and the twisty plots.

[Michele Plogh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun Series

I really enjoyed reading the Minerva Biggs series. Not only because of how interesting it was but because, Plant was involved and not just a sidebar.