Death in Darkness

Molly Sutton Mysteries #8

by Nell Goddin

A disturbed wife. A nanny. And a pack of cowardly, lying friends.Simon Valette, a cultured and successful Parisian, moves his family to Castillac looking for peace and quiet. Before they've had a chance to settle in, someone is found murdered in their library. Molly and Ben work double-time to disentangle all the lies--including those told by their own friends. Will they manage to trap the killer before another victim trusts the wrong person and winds up dead?

Genres: Mystery, France, Cozy Mystery, Fiction

326 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 1, 2018

About the author

She has worked as a radio reporter, SAT tutor, short-order omelet chef, and baker. She tried waitressing but was fired twice.

Nell grew up in Richmond, Virginia and has lived in New England, New York City, and France. Currently she's back in Virginia with teenagers and far too many pets. She has degrees from Dartmouth College and Columbia University.

Reviews

[Tina Marking · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Molly! I love Ben! I want to visit!!

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

So nice to spend some time with Molly Sutton at her lovely little B&B in Castillac. As you would expect, the village continues to attract new people as does the B&B. When Simon Valette moves his family to Castillac for respite from traumatic events, it should be a good decision. The Valette family throws a huge party, inviting most of the townspeople but something goes awry and lo and behold, there’s another murder to investigate.

Molly and Ben are doing well, their collaboration as private detectives is perfect. However, there’s an obvious bias towards Molly by the townspeople, they’ll tell her much more than they’ll confess to Ben which makes the whole thing a little more difficult. And the new Chief of Police is a difficult man and nobody’s talking to him. Another visit to Castillac is always a joy.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

DEATH IN DARKNESS is Book #8 of the Molly Sutton Mystery series by Nell Goddin.
A rich, urban family moves to the small town of Castillac under somewhat mysterious circumstances. When the nanny is murdered during a power outrage (real or contrived - we don’t know) that plunges a dinner party into darkness, chaos ensues.
A somewhat intriguing murder under intriguing circumstances in an intriguing family’s home is at first dramatic and tense, then falters and seems almost inconsequential in the end.
Not enough character development, sense of place or plot arcs to be tense or even interesting. No one really seems to care much. Molly solves the mystery by randomly glancing at an old photo? I don’t think so.
A very frustrating read.

[Marcella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! That was certainly a surprise ending — at least to me. I have read all of this series to date and have enjoy each one. Like the author one of my wishes would be to live in France but since I know this is not possible I am doing the next best thing . . . Reading the Molly Sutton mysteries. At times the characters in this book were a little misleading but all in all it added to the intrigue of the book.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Molly Sutton and her fiance', Ben Dufort, were not busy solving crimes during the summer until a new family, the Valettes, moved into a nearby manor. Simon Valette had been a prosperous businessman in Paris, but said he moved his family to Castillac for the peace of country living. Then, a murder takes place at his home during a dinner party. Everyone at the party knew each other, but none of them knew the host family.

This is another fun book about Molly and the residents of Castillac. The plot gets a bit convoluted, but the author patiently sorts it out.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like a 3.5 for me.

I always feel like I need a rating system based on genre. For a cozy mystery series, this is one of my favorites, mostly because of the characters and the locale. The storyline for Death in Darkness was interesting but there were some aspects that annoyed me - Lapin's situation, the not quite satisfying outcome at the end, and the fact that the town may run out of inhabitants at the rate they keep dying.

[Chris Lindert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always fun to watch Molly, with the help of Ben of course, solve another murder in Castilla, a small village in France. As always, this one takes a number of twists and turns but the result is the same. The mystery, the romance, the French pastries and the interesting local characters who have accepted the American Molly as one of their own all add up to make this another enjoyable Nell Goddin book.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book with an American living in France and running an Air BnB sort of lodging, while also working with her new fiance as a private investigator. In this volume they are trying to solve the murder of a nanny that happened when the lights went out during a dinner party given by some newcomers to the village. Since it's the 8th in the series, I'm going to go back and check out the earlier volumes in the series.

[Linda Harley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Best One Yet

I was completely stumped by Molly Sutton's eighth mystery, all the way to the very end. Some new characters, more knowledge of some regular characters, and many possible killers. This was a traditional country manor mystery,or close to it, and like all of Molly's, simply delicious.



mply delicious

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stories set in beautiful surroundings.

I loved all the Molly Sutton series and could never guess who the murderer was. I could almost taste the pastries Molly was so fond of! The descriptions of Casstilac were so good I could picture the village in my mind while reading the books. I kept expecting Molly to announce she was expecting! When can we expect number 9!?

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

The wrap-up here was a little weird and unsatisfying. Also, again, we are in 2007, less than one year after the public launch of Facebook. I don't think a person in the French countryside would have "pages and pages" of Facebook photographs dating back years to help out with the mystery.
Otherwise, I loved the characters as usual, and will definitely keep reading.

[Meg Deem · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 8th book in the series by Nell Goddin. They are light murder mysteries set in a small French village. Molly Sutton is an American who has moved to the village to find a slower life but ends up involved in village life which includes several murders. Wonderful cast of villagers who become friends that you can visit over and over again.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had not read any of the previous titles in the series, but was able to gather as much as I needed to in order to finish this. Good book, a bit of a quibble about lack of clues to successfully predict the murderer's identity. Fun that it is located in a French village and we have a pair of actual detectives (at least by book 8) to solve the puzzle.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nanny is murdered at a dinner party hosted by new residents and where Molly and Ben attended. I liked visiting the people of Castillac again. But the ending was too abrupt. There were no clues along the way as to 'who done it'. Just all of a sudden Molly gets an idea. Also the plot line about the Valette family was left hanging.

[Meghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was so much potential to recreate the classic mystery motif of "suspects shut in a house" that I was quite disappointed that Goddin did not embrace the opportunity. This one felt a bit dialed in by the author. The main characters were even lazy- completely ignoring some of the subjects until very late in the game, never even getting initial statements.

[Cathleen Wheeler · Rating 2 out of 5]

So many annoying problems with this one. The people and setting were as delightful as always but the mystery just didn’t hold together. There were so many inconsistencies and unanswered questions.

For example, Lawrence says he gave Lapin a ride home but Lapin told the police he just ran from the house.

[Jen de R · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have tried to like cosy mysteries but I think it’s just not my genre. This one was just like all the others - the writing is rambly and bad, the characters are flat, the plot is stupid, even the mystery turns out to be stupid. Lots of pointless things happen. There’s an unconvincing and inconsistent ‘bad guy’ police officer. They all sit around eating pastries and drinking cocktails.

[Christina Bowling · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another good addition to the series. I love Molly and Ben together, and it was fun following along with the mystery. It kept me guessing what would happen next. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. I was gifted a copy.

[Carolyn McClellan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Castillac mystery!

Leave it to Molly Sutton to solve another murder in her beloved adopted home of Castillac. Like the other books before you can’t put it down until you know who did it. Nell Goddin has become one of my favorite mystery authors.

[Denise Lebon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Death in Darkness

Nothing like keeping you guessing til the very end! Excellent story. I love how the author can make every character seem suspicious in a unique way. So sad to finish the book I wasn't ready to say goodbye to all the characters!!! Wanted it to go on and on!!!

[Janet Sketchley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy the gentle pace of these mysteries, the characters, the French village atmosphere (including the amazing food). This one had a few continuity issues near the end and left a couple of questions unanswered. Perhaps those will resolve in the next book, which I look forward to reading.

[Marilynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming

I love this charming series of light mysteries. The characters seem like friends and I enjoy the unique village of Castillac and it's goings on, and, always a murder to solve.

[Carolyn B Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the Dark Darkness

Was the grandfather murdered? How did Molly know about the doctor's mother? Why wasn't there a search for the children? Will Simon and his family be part of another book - perhaps noted they moved away? How did Molly know the doctor failed out of med school?

[Carolyn Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

yet another enjoyable read

Molly does it again solving a murder in her charming adopted French village. The town and its cast of characters continue to delight and the murderer a great surprise

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. The writing is getting better and character development is good but the plot and story lines are still immature. This one had so many threads which didn’t go anywhere. And the whole reason for the death? Insert eye roll emoji.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great read in the Molly Sutton series. I was surprised at who committed the crime. Loved catching up with all of the residents of Castillac .

[Frances Sawaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite an improbable plot; characters who are not credble; a very shaky conclusion. All in all, a disappointing book in this Sutton series. An ARC.

[Charlotte Larocca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant--great setting.

[M.K. Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very much enjoying this series.

[Jeannie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The series improves as it goes