Murder in Mercy

Doyle & Acton #21

by Anne Cleeland

It was very surprising that Mrs. Song had died unexpectedly—although she’d been through the wringer, poor thing, what with her terrible luck in picking husbands. Officer Gabriel suspected there might be a murder afoot, but they hadn’t the whisper of a suspect—it was one of those locked-room mysteries. It all just went to show that having tons of money didn’t matter much, when it came to life’s burdens; faith, in a way, it was almost Biblical. . .

Genres: Mystery, Murder Mystery, Crime

208 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 16, 2025

About the author

Anne Cleeland writes a contemporary Scotland Yard mystery series that is featured in the Amazon top 100 best sellers. She also writes a historical series of stand-alone books set in the Regency period. A member of International Thriller Writers, The Historical Novel Society, and Mystery Writers of America, she lives in California and has four children. www.annecleeland.com; @annecleeland.

Reviews

[martha m.fowler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cleeland succeeds again

As expected, Acton and Doyle were great! This case was very complicated and held my interest until the end. The humor was laugh out loud at the baptismal reception. Poor Gabriel. I was so glad he was not eliminated from the series. I highly recommend this book as well as the previous ones. I have the entire series and have re-read the first one more than once. I look forward to the next offering.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

a good entry

I really enjoyed this book in the series. I don’t know that it will stand out particularly from the others.

[Ez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had this sitting in my TBR pile since it came out in earlier this year because I was hesitant to start what I was sure would be Groundhog Day again - the same story line regurgitated with a plot arc that never ends. While this was a quick read, it was also a surprisingly pleasant one. It had most of the themes from the previous books in the series but they seemed to be eased into the story a lot more in this one (or maybe it was because it had been a while between books in this series for me). Either way, I really enjoyed it, enough to give it a solid 5 stars. While a lot of the repetitive themes were present (a ghost, Acton secretly plotting, Doyle's Church life, her nutting out a killer), they didn't overtake the plot and there were a few good twists to accompany the story line. Most of the secondary characters were present except for Williams and his family but they complemented the plot rather than felt shoved in (although, I'll admit, I would have loved more Savoie).

Readers of the series might remember the previous case of the poisoning attempt of Mrs Song and her traitorous husband that Doyle had worked on. Her story continued here as the book starts with her husband still missing and Mrs Song now deceased. And while this author loves to continue a plot line and drive it into the ground, the art fraud case took on an interesting twist (although I'm sure it'll be dragged up again along with several other story lines that are like the Neverending Story). Doyle was visited by a ghost but it worked well with the current case and didn't take it over the plot with too much ambiguity. There's a new direction in Acton's plotting and scheming involving Savoie's brother that I guarantee the author will drag over into at least one more book but it seems interesting for now. There was a decent twist and the usual 'I can't tell you, soz, Kathleen' from Acton who we're told is brilliant but hasn't figured out that he shouldn't and can't keep secrets from his wife and all it does is upset her.

The usual smattering of editing issues was present again throughout the book. There seemed a bit more substance to this story even though it was pretty short so I'm hoping for more of this in the next installment and not a mishmash of the same old story lines dragged on and on with little to no closure. Fingers crossed because I love the relationship between Acton and Doyle.

[Barbara Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barbara’s rating: 3.75 out of 5 Stars
Series: Doyle & Acton #21
Publication Date: 3/16/25
Period: Contemporary London
Number of Pages: 208

I have been captivated by this series since the beginning, and I always anxiously await each new release. I love all of the eccentric, quirky characters, and I can hardly wait to see what Acton gets up to next – and how Doyle thwarts him. There are always witty and serious moments that combine to present an excellent story.

We have met the victim in previous books – the twice-widowed Mrs. Birdsong – who just doesn’t seem to have much luck choosing husbands. Both of her husbands were villains, with the last one trying to poison her before he died. While he didn’t succeed, someone did, and the investigation now belongs to Detective Sergeant Kathleen Doyle and Special Officer Vadik Gabriel.

Doyle and Gabriel have no readily discernible clues to follow, and decide their investigation should follow two paths. One path would take them back through the investigation of the art theft ring Mrs. Birdsong’s husband was involved in, and the other would be to see if there is a hidden heir somewhere looking to inherit her considerable wealth. The path is a crooked one with red herrings and surprises along the way. Of course, Acton sticks his finger into the mix to make things even more confusing.

I enjoyed the book, and the mystery is a good one, but this is not my favorite book of the series. There just wasn’t as much of the ‘hold your breath’ tension as in previous books. I think it gave us hints of stories to come with the Savoie brothers, which could be interesting.

[Deborah Gebhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

The next addition to this fun series. As events in the lives of Doyle & Acton progress through the series, you might want to read this series in order.
Kathleen has returned to the home of Mrs. Bradford Song, the last time she was here was with Acton, only to discover the poor woman's husband was slowly poisoning her to death. Now the poor woman is dead, and while suicide would be a "nice" resolution to the case, there is no evidence.
When the post-mortem determines she was murdered and since her husband has disappeared, who else would want the poor dead?
But it soon becomes apparent there is much more to the case than the murder of the poor woman and as usual Acton is pulling strings in the background.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot this time has Acton and Doyle working on. murders, art thefts, and money laundering. As always, Doyle is visited by a useful ghost all the while relying upon her fey powers to discern truth from obfuscation. In this book, I found only fiver editing “misses,” and so I shall once again plea for a better and more attentive effort from Ms. Cleeland’s editorial staff.

[Elizabeth Dodd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anne Cleeland is one of my favortie authors. Everything she writes has such a ring of authenticity of both character and storyline.
I'm particularly fond of the Acton/Doyle stories because of the wonderfully eccentric relationship they have.
It's a delight whenever one of her books come out.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a long-time reader of the Acton & Doyle series. This one will not disappoint. Cleeland is a master at writing complex and twisting plots. She is a master with accents, nailing it everytime. This is a must read. Would be a fun book for those in book clubs.

[HatGirl8]

3/23/2025

[Kim Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder in Murcy

There are some pelling and punctuation errors in the ebook, but it's a good story. All her Doyle and Acton Mysteries are good.

[Lilly Hi Way · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed

I'm a great fan of the Acton and Doyle mysteries but this one was a disappointment. The plot was contrived and had little content to it.

[Mari · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ***

[Rhonda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was perhaps my least favorite of the series and I love this series. maybe it is the narrator. She tries but I am not happy with her. Not going to stop me from listening to them.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 🌟

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoy this series!