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WISE Enquiries Agency #11
The Case of the Unfortunate Fortune Teller
‘A FORTUNE TELLER SUFFERING A SERIES OF ACCIDENTS? THAT CAN’T BE GOOD FOR THEIR BUSINESS...’
A fortune teller claims she’s being targeted by someone who’s out to harm her and retains the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency to gather evidence she can take to the police. But, when a body is discovered, Carol, Christine, Mavis, and Annie must scramble to rescue their agency’s professional reputation...and it becomes clear that their client kept critical information from them.
Meanwhile, Dowager Duchess Althea Twyst has invited an old friend from her youthful days on the stage to produce a pantomime at the village hall. With the lives of everyone in Anwen-by-Wye turned upside down by rehearsals, a series of thefts goes unnoticed for some time...until the WISE women put two and two together.
Also, with Christmas on the horizon, the Duke and Duchess of Chellingworth are looking forward to welcoming their extended family to enjoy the local celebrations. However, they find themselves quite unprepared for the bewildering situation that arises when Lady Clementine and her husband arrive.
Join the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency, and the residents of the bucolic Welsh village of Anwen-by-Wye, as they get embroiled in yet more puzzling cases...as well as a chaotic Festive Season.
A fortune teller claims she’s being targeted by someone who’s out to harm her and retains the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency to gather evidence she can take to the police. But, when a body is discovered, Carol, Christine, Mavis, and Annie must scramble to rescue their agency’s professional reputation...and it becomes clear that their client kept critical information from them.
Meanwhile, Dowager Duchess Althea Twyst has invited an old friend from her youthful days on the stage to produce a pantomime at the village hall. With the lives of everyone in Anwen-by-Wye turned upside down by rehearsals, a series of thefts goes unnoticed for some time...until the WISE women put two and two together.
Also, with Christmas on the horizon, the Duke and Duchess of Chellingworth are looking forward to welcoming their extended family to enjoy the local celebrations. However, they find themselves quite unprepared for the bewildering situation that arises when Lady Clementine and her husband arrive.
Join the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency, and the residents of the bucolic Welsh village of Anwen-by-Wye, as they get embroiled in yet more puzzling cases...as well as a chaotic Festive Season.
- GenresContemporaryCozy Mystery
342 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 31, 2025
About the author
Cathy Ace
42 books392 followersCathy Ace migrated from her native Wales to Canada at the age of 40. She is the award-winning author of the traditional Cait Morgan Mysteries featuring her Welsh Canadian criminology professor sleuth who travels the world tripping over corpses, which have now been optioned for TV. She also writes the cozier WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries featuring a quartet of female PIs who run their business out of a Welsh stately home. Both series have been well-reviewed. Her award-winning standalone, THE WRONG BOY, is a gripping novel of psychological suspense, set in Wales, and has also been optioned for TV.
"Ace is, well, an ace when it comes to plot and description.” The Globe and Mail
Cathy's work has won the prestigious Bony Blithe Award for best Canadian light mystery, an IPPY and an IBA Award, and has been shortlisted for an Arthur Ellis Award for Best Short Story.
Her short story "Dear George" appeared on the UK's O Level English Language syllabus and, together with another story, "Domestic Violence", has been produced for BBC Radio 4. You can find out more about Cathy, her books, and events she'll be attending, at www.cathyace.com
"Ace is, well, an ace when it comes to plot and description.” The Globe and Mail
Cathy's work has won the prestigious Bony Blithe Award for best Canadian light mystery, an IPPY and an IBA Award, and has been shortlisted for an Arthur Ellis Award for Best Short Story.
Her short story "Dear George" appeared on the UK's O Level English Language syllabus and, together with another story, "Domestic Violence", has been produced for BBC Radio 4. You can find out more about Cathy, her books, and events she'll be attending, at www.cathyace.com
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 31, 2025
Henry Twyst, eighteenth Duke of Chellingworth, is one of nature’s worriers, and he has several reasons for anxiety: he is the head of the family, the owner of a large, historic house, which is constantly in need of renovation and repair, and also the owner of the surrounding estate, including many properties in the local village of Anwen-by-Wye. Added to this are his concerns about being a good husband to his adored wife, Stephanie, and a doting father to his one-year-old son, and this is both a joy and burden to a man of sixty. At the moment, Henry’s main cause for concern is that his recently acquired brother-in-law has announced that he wants to consult him. Henry’s relationship with his sister, Clementine, has always been difficult. Henry gave up his life as an artist in order to do his duty when he unexpectedly inherited the Dukedom, but Clementine has always been fickle, taking up interests and people and then abandoning them. Henry fears that his brother-in-law is about to confide in him that, after just a few months, Clementine is bored with her marriage.
All of this is very worrying for a man who is naturally indecisive and easily confused. To add to his troubles, while he is distracted, his headstrong mother, Althea, the Dowager Duchess, involves him in painting the backdrops for the local Christmas pantomime she is organising. Despite being in her eighties, Althea is a whirlwind of energy and determination, and soon it seems as if preparations for the Tale of Mother Goose will engulf the whole Chellingworth estate and the small village of Anwen-by-Wye.
Unlike most of the villagers, the four women of the WISE Enquiries Agency have little time to spend on the pantomime. They are fully occupied with their busy personal lives and have just acquired a new client. However, Mavis, the oldest of the WISE women, lives at the Dower House with Althea, and she is concerned that Althea is over-exhausting herself by immersing herself in the pantomime preparations. Before she married the seventeenth Duke of Chellingworth, Althea had been a dancer, and she has invited a colleague from that time to stay at the Dower House and is paying him to adapt and produce the pantomime. Mavis has finely honed instincts from both her previous career as an army nurse, and her present job as an enquiry agent, and these tell her to distrust Oswald Featherington. However, she doesn’t want to spoil Althea’s pleasure and accepts that her friend has the right to spend her money as she wishes, so apart from a few discreet enquiries, Mavis’s hands are tied.
The WISE women’s new client is Pauline Thomas, a fortune teller who has been suffering a series of mishaps, which have left her with several injuries. Pauline suspects that somebody is targeting her and is sure that they are pushing or tripping her. Apart from her personal safety, she is aware that many potential clients feel unwilling to trust a fortune teller who cannot foresee her own accidents. She has also been receiving an unusual number of extremely bad reviews for her business, which is having a serious impact. The WISE women are divided in their opinions regarding whether Pauline can really foretell the future, but they agree to take Pauline’s case. This is very time-consuming, as it involves both electronic and personal surveillance. Matters take a serious and sinister turn when a fatality occurs and neither means of surveillance spots it.
At around the same time, another suspicious death occurs some distance away, which the team feel sure is related to the local crime. The case is now in the hands of the local police, which means the WISE women have to rethink how they can contribute to the investigation without risking their good reputation and livelihood by annoying senior police officers, who feel that such matters should be left to the professionals.
The Case of the Unfortunate Fortune Teller is the eleventh book in the series featuring the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency and the other inhabitants of Anwen-by-Wye, and it is an excellent addition to a warm, enjoyable series. The book has an interesting, multi-faceted plot and is filled with lively, eccentric and engaging characters. This is a delightful read, which I thoroughly recommend.
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Reviewer: Carol Westron
For Lizzie Sirett (Mystery People Group)
All of this is very worrying for a man who is naturally indecisive and easily confused. To add to his troubles, while he is distracted, his headstrong mother, Althea, the Dowager Duchess, involves him in painting the backdrops for the local Christmas pantomime she is organising. Despite being in her eighties, Althea is a whirlwind of energy and determination, and soon it seems as if preparations for the Tale of Mother Goose will engulf the whole Chellingworth estate and the small village of Anwen-by-Wye.
Unlike most of the villagers, the four women of the WISE Enquiries Agency have little time to spend on the pantomime. They are fully occupied with their busy personal lives and have just acquired a new client. However, Mavis, the oldest of the WISE women, lives at the Dower House with Althea, and she is concerned that Althea is over-exhausting herself by immersing herself in the pantomime preparations. Before she married the seventeenth Duke of Chellingworth, Althea had been a dancer, and she has invited a colleague from that time to stay at the Dower House and is paying him to adapt and produce the pantomime. Mavis has finely honed instincts from both her previous career as an army nurse, and her present job as an enquiry agent, and these tell her to distrust Oswald Featherington. However, she doesn’t want to spoil Althea’s pleasure and accepts that her friend has the right to spend her money as she wishes, so apart from a few discreet enquiries, Mavis’s hands are tied.
The WISE women’s new client is Pauline Thomas, a fortune teller who has been suffering a series of mishaps, which have left her with several injuries. Pauline suspects that somebody is targeting her and is sure that they are pushing or tripping her. Apart from her personal safety, she is aware that many potential clients feel unwilling to trust a fortune teller who cannot foresee her own accidents. She has also been receiving an unusual number of extremely bad reviews for her business, which is having a serious impact. The WISE women are divided in their opinions regarding whether Pauline can really foretell the future, but they agree to take Pauline’s case. This is very time-consuming, as it involves both electronic and personal surveillance. Matters take a serious and sinister turn when a fatality occurs and neither means of surveillance spots it.
At around the same time, another suspicious death occurs some distance away, which the team feel sure is related to the local crime. The case is now in the hands of the local police, which means the WISE women have to rethink how they can contribute to the investigation without risking their good reputation and livelihood by annoying senior police officers, who feel that such matters should be left to the professionals.
The Case of the Unfortunate Fortune Teller is the eleventh book in the series featuring the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency and the other inhabitants of Anwen-by-Wye, and it is an excellent addition to a warm, enjoyable series. The book has an interesting, multi-faceted plot and is filled with lively, eccentric and engaging characters. This is a delightful read, which I thoroughly recommend.
-------
Reviewer: Carol Westron
For Lizzie Sirett (Mystery People Group)
April 9, 2025
"The Case Of The Unfortunate Fortune Teller" is book #11 in the "WISE Enquiries Agency" series by Cathy Ace.
As with previous books in this series, the story is told from multiple points of view and contains a number of subplots that the core characters are involved in. If you've been reading the series in order - which you always should - then the core characters and their various relationships are already familiar.
The ladies of WISE are asked to find out who has been harassing a fortune teller. However, the case takes some rather unforeseen turns that completely shift the investigation. It's a deep dive into the rabbit hole to put all the pieces together before the truth is finally resolved.
Meanwhile, Carol and Annie are both eagerly awaiting visits from respective families for Christmas. Christine is getting close to her due date and finding it more difficult to get things done. Mavis is trying to keep opinions to herself as Althea welcomes a former dance partner - Ossie - from her brief stage career sixty years earlier. Ossie is in charge of a "panto" production of "Mother Goose" in the village. He certainly makes some waves in the village. Henry is being his usual fuss pot self over a request from his brother-in-law Julian to "talk privately" once he and Clementine arrive at the hall for the holidays. Oh my!
For the most part, it felt like the fortune teller storyline took a bit of a backseat to everything else that was happening in and around the village. The solution was somewhat satisfying but not quite what I expected.
The subplots of the panto and what was happening in the lives of the other core characters were concerning for some and more confusing or entertaining for others.
For the most part, I do like the core characters of this series though Henry can be tiresome. I also find that Annie's habit of abbreviating others names to be disrespectful - though I do understand that she sees it as being friendly. Ms. Ace does a great job of weaving all of the storylines and characters together. You really do get a feel for life at the hall and in the village.
One minor issue, an initial suspect was later referred to with a different last name at a later point in the book before going back to the original one.
Overall, an entertaining cozy read in this long running series by Cathy Ace.
As with previous books in this series, the story is told from multiple points of view and contains a number of subplots that the core characters are involved in. If you've been reading the series in order - which you always should - then the core characters and their various relationships are already familiar.
The ladies of WISE are asked to find out who has been harassing a fortune teller. However, the case takes some rather unforeseen turns that completely shift the investigation. It's a deep dive into the rabbit hole to put all the pieces together before the truth is finally resolved.
Meanwhile, Carol and Annie are both eagerly awaiting visits from respective families for Christmas. Christine is getting close to her due date and finding it more difficult to get things done. Mavis is trying to keep opinions to herself as Althea welcomes a former dance partner - Ossie - from her brief stage career sixty years earlier. Ossie is in charge of a "panto" production of "Mother Goose" in the village. He certainly makes some waves in the village. Henry is being his usual fuss pot self over a request from his brother-in-law Julian to "talk privately" once he and Clementine arrive at the hall for the holidays. Oh my!
For the most part, it felt like the fortune teller storyline took a bit of a backseat to everything else that was happening in and around the village. The solution was somewhat satisfying but not quite what I expected.
The subplots of the panto and what was happening in the lives of the other core characters were concerning for some and more confusing or entertaining for others.
For the most part, I do like the core characters of this series though Henry can be tiresome. I also find that Annie's habit of abbreviating others names to be disrespectful - though I do understand that she sees it as being friendly. Ms. Ace does a great job of weaving all of the storylines and characters together. You really do get a feel for life at the hall and in the village.
One minor issue, an initial suspect was later referred to with a different last name at a later point in the book before going back to the original one.
Overall, an entertaining cozy read in this long running series by Cathy Ace.
June 8, 2026
Wonderful
The women of WISE detective agency have their hands full trying to keep a woman free from a murder charge, solve another murder and explain to her Grace that her friend is a crook. Oh did I mention the whole village is envolved in a pano.
The women of WISE detective agency have their hands full trying to keep a woman free from a murder charge, solve another murder and explain to her Grace that her friend is a crook. Oh did I mention the whole village is envolved in a pano.
May 16, 2025
Amusing, with a lot going on, as usual. I enjoyed the stories, getting caught up with the characters and the overall lightheartednesss of everything. It was a good book to read while travelling.
August 13, 2025
What a delightful series, had me guessing until the end.
June 25, 2025
Really liked it although it was rather predictable at times.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews