Pay the Piper

Pennyfoot Hotel #7

by Kate Kingsbury

The Pennyfoot hides many secrets and its downstairs staff keeps a tight lip, even when the Edwardian aristocrats are spotted dallying with damsels in the boudoirs, or gambling in the forbidden card rooms hidden below the floorboards. Should now and then one of the hotel guests fall prey to a dastardly murderer, however, it is up to Cecily Sinclair to restore order before Scotland Yard steps in and shuts down her infamous seaside hotel. PAY THE PIPER The appearance of Scottish pipers in Badgers End has the downstairs staff of the Pennyfoot Hotel all agog. The pipers are there for the bagpipe contest, and the aristocrats upstairs are just as intrigued by all the excitement. Cecily is as thrilled as everyone else, until one of the contestants is found hanging from a hook in the butcher’s cellar, as dead as the beef carcasses on either side of him. The twenty-first and final Pennyfoot book, MULLED MURDER, one of Kingsbury’s beloved Christmas editions, was published in November 2013 by Berkley Books.

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

250 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 1996

About the author

Kate Kingsbury grew up in London, England, and at a very early age began telling stories to her school friends during the London Blitz of WW II while huddling in bomb shelters. Kate moved to the U.S. in the early sixties, and had passed her 50th birthday when she published her first book. Writing as Doreen Roberts, (her real name at the time) she published 26 romance novels for Harlequin/Silhouette. In 1991 her first Pennyfoot Hotel book was published and since then Kate has written 35 mysteries, including the Manor House mysteries, the Bellehaven House mysteries(written as Rebecca Kent) and the Raven's Nest mysteries, (written as Allison Kingsley.) Her new series, The Merry Ghost Inn Mysteries debuted in January, 2017 with Dead and Breakfast, featuring a B & B on the Oregon coast. She has one son, Regan, and lives with her husband, Bill, in the beautiful state of Oregon.

Reviews

[Els · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ik las al eerder een boek uit de serie en daar was ik niet zo enthousiast over. Iedereen krijgt altijd een tweede kans bij mij en nu er een aantal maanden tussen waren, besloot ik mij nog aan eentje te wagen.
Het is echt wel 'upstairs, downstairs' niveau en dat zag ik vroeger wel graag op tv maar toch is deze stijl niet echt mijn favoriet. Voor mij hoeft er niet echt in elke zin van een bepaald karakter een vloekwoord te zitten. Zo kom je natuurlijk makkelijk aan veel woorden. Ik besloot om er mij deze keer niet aan te ergeren en dan leest het boek een pak vlotter.
Ik vond het verhaal ook leuker dan vorige keer. Toen had ik door wie de dader was en enerzijds is dat wel fijn maar anderzijds wordt ik liever op een verkeerd been gezet. Daar is de auteur nu wel in geslaagd en daar was ik blij om.

Conclusie

Het is best een leuk schrijfsel. Ik zou het liever in een andere periode geschreven zien, maar dat is natuurlijk zuiver persoonlijk 2,5 sterren.

[Linda Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Romantic mystery

Very good. A little different than the other books. There were romance for gertie who is a distinctive and for Cecily. The murder was just a little piece of the story

[Michael Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why is it that ALL 'cozy' mysteries have to follow the same formula? They ALL have to use the same clichés over and over again. And even with those series set 100 years or so ago they have the same setup. They might give a fun twist to the crime involved. They might have well presented and defined characters to like or dislike. They might even present multiple events such as old and modern settings that repeat a crime unsolved from the older period. But they are almost all so easy to follow that you know when this happens - that will follow: or when this clue is uncovered the amateur sleuth will then make this mistake. This is book 7 in this series. I will not go back for the previous ones nor read any more. Just too much same-o, same-o.

[Valorie Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phoebe's entertainment has a lot to be desired!!!!!!!!

10 stars!!!!!
Wow, what a miss Mrs. Phoebe made of Cecily's event.
The Scottish Pipers are very competitive when it comes to playing their pipes.
Framed murder, infidelity, a proposal of marriage, and a ghost image is plaguing the Pennyfoot Hotel.
Cecily Sinclair is stumped for a little while until people start talking to her about things they have seen around the hotel.
Her side kick manager Baxter try swiftly help the butcher's wife, while she finds out some disturbing news about her son Michael and his wife.
YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED!!!!!!
Wow, I love this series, I am sad that the kindle unlimited only goes to the 13th book so l may have to check with the library for the rest of the series.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another installment of the Pennyfoot Hotel series starring Cecily Sinclair, hotel manager Baxter, and her staff. Scottish bag pipe players come to the area to participate in a contest. Several are guests at the hotel. It wouldn't be a Pennyfoot mystery if one of the guests isn't murdered. This time it is one of the Scotsmen, though the murder didn't happen in the hotel. Keeping secrets may keep the murderer from being found.
Fun read. I'd give the book 4.5 of 5 stars. Another of the series I would recommend to others looking for a cozy mystery to read.

[Betty · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you have an aversion to paranormal stories, as do I, I would advise you not to read this book in the Pennyfoot series., I gave up a little over one third through it. Hate anything that even hints at gouls or ghosts and especially at Halloween.

I did take a look at the end, though,. I wanted to see how the romance is progressing. It's very slow and I'm getting annoyed with Baxter at this point.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was next in line for the series. I loved the descriptions of the pipers.

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ghostly fun, what?

I am totally addicted to these cozy British mysteries now. The characters, plots and action never disappoint! Onward and upward old chaps, book 8 awaits!

[D.w. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kingsbury still has a great many problems with making me believe that I am in Edwardian England. She doesn't convince me that this is a small town, where tourism is important. She doesn't give me anything to believe that her characters are anything but one dimensional. She lacks the ability to use time correctly. So how does she have a following and get people to buy her books?

This time out, the mystery is a little better. You don't see the conclusion coming at you from page one. You get a little Red Herring so that you might wonder at who did the who dun it. The ambiance provided as we delve into turn of the century bag-piping again doesn't ring true as the later period introduction to Scotland you would have seen in Chariots of Fire gives you honesty.

Here once again we have classes of society that are false. In previous books the housemaid was chastised for her swearing. Here is is everytime she speaks. Just not believable. In a hotel where royalty has honored the halls? Here we have the failed storyline of the white officer son moving back to the village to run the pub, with a black wife having not worked and not contributed to the story and shown the heroine just isn't a mother (Living less than a mile away from her son and they never see each other unless there is a murder clue at the pub?) so he is off back to africa, but let us make an unimportant stab and make them expecting is too much of a cliche.

Then the head butler of the hotel has become more of a general manager in this book for he is doing the accounting, which should fall into our heroines hands with the death of her husband. And without any warmth of affection or courting because he is handy, the author has decided that he shall be the love interest. I am so totally sure that middle aged women must be so lonely for affections that they will look at the man they see the most, even though he always disdains your actions, as the man you want to bed.

So is there a recommendation. Don't spend money on these. Get somewhere for free like the library. You don't get anything historical out of them. The mystery is better elsewhere, and the encompassing story of the series, just isn't captivating.

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I keep reading these because, I think, I somehow expect them to improve--the author obviously knows how to write even if she doesn't know how to write an engaging mystery or a competently researched historical novel. I don't know why, because they obviously don't, and are becoming if anything more and more outlandish. There is actually a brief stab at investigation by Our Heroine, but the murder is needlessly complex and the solution only vaguely supported. The b-plots get all the attention, and they don't deserve it. The resolution was lame. The romantic interactions have zero development or justification, nor do the characters' actions even make sense much of the time. Boggling.

[Bettye McKee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The pipes are calling

A stroke of luck has the Pennyfoot Hotel full in the midst of winter. A Robbie Burns Festival is being held in Wellercombe and the overflow are guests in Badgers End.

Unfortunately, one of the pipers is found murdered in in the cellar of the butcher's shop, hanging on a hook among the sides of beef. Since the butcher insists he carries the only key, he is arrested for the murder.

During an evening's entertainment, Phoebe's troupe of unprofessional dancers attempt the Highland Fling and the Sword Dance with unexpected results.

In addition, there's a christening, a dance, a proposal and a ghost.

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how these books aren't just about the mystery - they engage the reader to care about the characters in the story. We get a deeper understanding and feel to each character with every subsequent book. I loved the theme of the Scottish Bagpipers, Gertie's twins christening, a bit of romantic possibility for Gertie and the deepening of a possible relationship between Cecily and Baxter.

[Donna Zigmont · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly enjoyed this installment of the series. I didn't guess who the killer was until right before the reveal. that made me happy. I notice that with each book I dislike Phoebe more and more. This book was no exception. I like the building of friendship between Baxter and Cecily. Hopefully it will progress soon. I was happy Gertie didn't accept Ross's proposal. She's one of my favorites. I do wish Daisy would lighten up a bit. I found the method of killing to be rather interesting and I was rather sure Tom had done it. Especially after Elsie told Cecily about her meeting with Peter.

[Regan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've otherwise been enjoying this series but this one....I don't know. There was a lot of focus on the secondary characters, one of them who annoys me, and Claire, the sleuth didn't do much sleuthing at all. She was hardly present in the story.

[KayDee · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a group of Scottish bagpipe players descends upon the Pennyfoot Hotel, the staff is often startled by the strident tones of the pipes. They are horrified when one of the pipers is found murdered, hanging up in the butcher's meat cellar with his throat cut!

[Lexi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it! Wish there were more of the series at my library.

[Patricia Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it.

[Georgia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

good cozy

[Debbie · Rating 1 out of 5]

A struggle to get through. Never felt drawn to the story or the characters.

[Gabi Eagon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most enjoyable!

I'm in love with the Pennyfoot staff. The hotel series never disappoints. Cecile and Baxter keep everything exciting and the Kitchen staff is a delight.

[Roberta Baxter]

An interesting Mrs. Jeffries book, as usual. Always love the interaction between the Inspector and his household staff.