Two people have been targeted. Shots have been fired. Who stands to inherit? Who has the most to lose?
Evangeline "Evie" Parker, Countess of Woodridge, thinks it's nothing but an accident but then an attempt is made on her host's life. Suddenly, all the guests attending the Duke of Hetherington's house party think they are being targeted. Who will be next?
Evie and her new chauffeur form an unlikely alliance to discover as much as they can before the killer can get it right.
I just realized that I rate an alarming number of books 4-stars. I wish I could say it's because there's so much love in my heart, but then we'd all know that'd be bullshit. But it's true that I enjoy most the books I read, so hurray for that! And look, House Party Murder Rap really isn’t setting any new trends or anything, but it’s cozy and breezy enough to get through all simple like, and that's especially the kind of book I needed right now. Though, I do think the action scenes left a lot to be desired, in that they were kind of confusing. There’s a scene (like page 2, so not a spoiler) where Evie and Tom’s car is shot at, but it’s described in such a passive and vague way that when it was referred to in later chapters I was like, “wait, when were they were shot at?” This happens a couple times later too, but this is really just nitpicking on my part.
Evie and Tom make a charming pair, and their back-and-forth is the biggest highlight of the story in my opinion. Though Evie might be a little too kind at points. Every time she “trusted someone implicitly” I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes. Like, come on, you’re in a mystery novel, please get with the program. Otherwise, I’m really happy to have another mystery series with a million sequels to get into. I mean, I might never get to them, but the idea that they're there if I need them is a nice thought.
I wanted to like this because it was recommended by a librarian, and I revere those people. But, Lordy, the anachronisms!
If you could travel to 1920, I can assure you that no one would say anything is "kind of a big deal" or lament that they sometimes "go off topic," and they most definitely would never "go with the flow." Jaysus Murphy.
Anachronisms in historical novels are distracting, which is annoying, and for the love of Pete, where are the editors?! But the *worst* is feeling like I've become a cranky, cane-shaking pedantic ass in my old age, because once you notice one, you notice ALL OF THEM. I wanted to be pleasantly diverted, which is the whole point of "cosy" mysteries. Ugh.
Getting old is bad enough. But don't make me feel older because you can't do your damned research.
DNF at 61% which, I know, why not just finish reading it anyway, but seeing as I didn't CARE what was happening, I didn't bother
SO...um...I think there was definitely a Downton Abbey inspiration here.
Not only are the names pretty similar in some cases--*cough*Tom is a chauffeur*cough*--but I really just got the gist of all the characters from the show being present in the story.
I mean, Sybil as Evie... ...Yeah, I can see it.
And Tom as...Tom... Yeah. That.
Ahem, so, anyway, there's that and it's...distracting.
Like...I felt like I knew these characters, but I knew them from a different series/source, so all of their stories are different, their personalities are slightly different, and their situations are different. It almost felt like cheating on behalf of the author not to try to make them more different.
At least different names or physical descriptions, for example. Like maybe make Evie a redhead and make Tom blonde or Latino or something--I mean, if he's a Texas cowboy (I think?), then describe him as the lone ranger and name him Bill or something. Not. Tom.
But, ultimately, I think that part of the appeal of the book for some readers may just be that nostalgia for Downton Abbey, rather than the book itself. Because, other than the Downton-feels, its's mostly bland and average as far as cozy mysteries go. And one thing that I've noticed about cozy mysteries is that they rely on two things to be interesting and keep the story going:
1) how attached you are to the main characters, and
2) how interesting the mystery is.
#1 kind of drives #2, so the whole Downton-Abbey-similarities thing limits that a lot, when the show went more in-depth on the characters than the book does.
The conclusion to that is wham, bam, thank-ya-ma'am, I'm not a fan.
I made myself get through the 50% mark, just so I could write a fair review. The two main characters are charming enough, for a Cozy Mystery. The peripheral characters were either boring or unbelievable, or both.
The most irritating aspect of the writing, though, became evident within the first few pages. No one ... of either sex or of any social rank ... walked anywhere except by “striding.” There seemed to be no exception, whether the character was the maid, the butler, or the Dowager Duchess. The term simply doesn’t fit all types of characters, and it was overused to the point of irritation to me.
I should probably stop buying books based on their attractive covers. ;-)
The pacing is very odd, particularly at the end, where the book essentially wraps up without a resolution, providing only an infodump in the form of an epilogue.
The heroine is a young, brash, American widow who is determined to flaunt a number of social conventions of her time. Weirdly, though, she seems wedded to other social conventions, and the difference between the two types is not only opaque, but entirely unexamined.
This was okay. I finished it and it was fine. There was just nothing special about it.
I also did not connect to Evie our main character. She struck me as a bit of a clueless, wishy-washy twit. I had trouble buying her as someone capable of investigating what was in her wardrobe, never mind a murder.
I doubt I would read future books in this series. It was just not a 'grab me' sort of story.
Awful. I'm sorry.It is certainly better than I could write but that is all I can possibly say. If I had paid money for the book I'd be asking for it back. Evie Parker is a snob and not even a likable one. The only decent character is Binky. The book was over and I didn't even realize that the "mystery" was solved. It might have made a decent short story but as a book, awful.
Duchess of Windemere has a chauffer hired by her grandmother who is also a body guard. The Duchess is shot at on her way to a country house party. Shortly after arriving, the Duchess and the host Bicky are standing at a window talking when Bicky is shot in the shoulder just as the Duchess placed her tea on a table. Interesting plot of who is the target and why. Really enjoyed the dialogue of the characters.
Since Carola Dunn’s delightful Daisy Dalrymple series seems to have come to an end, I’ve been on the lookout for similar series. While this book has enjoyable characters and a fun setting, the mystery was badly disjointed. There were times when I wondered if I’d inadvertently skipped a page.
Another awesome read by this author, enjoyed the characters and storyline. Not a big fan of historical books, but love this author style of story telling.
Fun new series with an slightly different take on the intrepid aristo woman detecting. Evie is the American widow of a British aristocrat. She went and hid out with her family in the States after his death but returns back to settle affairs and return to her life. She stole quite the prize from the marriage mart away from proper British girls so isn't the most popular girl with the matchmaking mamas despite her insistence she won't remarry. So when strange things start happening she isn't sure whether she is seeing attempts on her life, that of her host, or chasing shadows. She has an interesting sidekick twist in the chauffeur cum secret bodyguard cum long lost friend.
Evangeline ‘Evie’ Parker, Countess of Woodridge is returning to England after a long absence in her native America. She's planning on attending her old friend Bicky's house party and knows she'll set tongues wagging now she's a very wealthy widow. Evie has no intensions of remarrying and doesn't understand why her arrival in the village is causing such a sensation. It's caused such a sensation that it seems SOMEONE is determined to get her out of the way. Her chaffeur, Tom Winchester, believes they've been shot at! How shocking! Then someone takes a shot at Bicky and a neighboring debutante may have been posioned! Some people believe Evie is responsible in spite of her being shot at first. She's determined to clear her name. With the help of Tom acting as bodyguard, friend and sleuthing partner, she sets out to find out who stands to benefit from getting her and possibly Bicky out of the way.
This is a fun story. It's not actually a murder mystery, at least not until the end. The setting and storyline resembles Downton Abbey with a mystery. It's fun and frivilous and a good distraction from the crazy world of today where the biggest worry for a 25-year-old woman is who is she going to find to marry her! The author includes a historical note which I appreciate even though I didn't really need it. I could tell the historical details were well researched and the language too. I only noticed one typo in reference to Pride and Prejudice- Bennet was spelled correctly the first time but not the second. That second reference was pretty random too.
The mystery kept me guessing but not lying awake at night. I didn't guess who was behind the shootings. I was on the same track as Evie. I was surprised at the murder twist. It seemed oddly out of place. I thought it would turn out to be assisted suicide but I guess not.
I really, really did not appreciate the shoehorned Red Sox vs. Yankees references. Doesn't the author understand the "Curse of the Bambino" was alive and well and meant a lot to my dad's generation until 2004? The curse was legit and t-shirts were sold in Boston that claimed "I root for two teams-the Red Sox and whoever beats the Yankees." and "Yankees suck." Making Evie suddenly decide to root for the Yankees and rumimate on how the Red Sox will do without Babe Ruth is so not funny. MASSIVE eyeroll! I did like the Pride and Prejudice references but those too seemed shoehorned in for no reason. At least baseball sets the time period.
Evie is a great character. She's fun and kind. She's a little naive at times, especially when it comes to her money and what that means for everyone else. Evie just wants to get along with her late husband's people. She can't help that she fell in love with Nicholas and he with her the first time they locked eyes. No one seems to understand that and assumes she used her money and some kind of American wiles on him. Now they're worried she's going to repeat the process with another eligible gentleman or even ineligible like Bicky! Evie is kind to her servants and wants to be on equal footing with her chauffeur but he seems to want to preserve social distinctions. Tom is very mysterious. He's acting chaffeur now but seems to have a hidden past. He has access to a wealthy gentleman's wardrobe, numerous motorcars and can hobnob with the nobles and gentry better than Evie. So what's his story?! We don't know yet but he's some kind of official bodyguard. He knows Evie's grandmother from somewhere, somehow. Tom is not overly protective of Evie. His job is not to tell her NOT to do something but to go with her and protect her if necessary. I appreciate that. I THINK he may end up being her new love interest, in spite of her protests to the contrary!
Bicky is your typical affable country gentleman. He's kind, caring and easy going- except when it comes to marriage. Rumor has it there's trouble in paradise. He wanted to marry Evie once, she rejected him, and then he married for money. His wife, Clara, sounds nasty. She's in London buying clothes and can't be bothered to show up and play hostess at the house party. I think "buying clothes" is a euphamism for "having an affair." I was horrified someone shot at Bicky because I liked him already. He doesn't deserve a wife like Clara. He needs a nice wife who will be happy to ride horses and host tea parties and house parties. However, he is a Duke and surely he must have political enemies? What about estate workers? Stable workers? What is their loyalty? Is he paying his staff enough? Is he treating his tenants well? That's the only explanation for someone shooting him through the window on his own estate!
Bicky's mother, the Dowager Duchess of Heatherington, is crazy! She is obsessed with her son and enjoys being a drama queen. To be the center of attention she must tell stories and point fingers blaming people for things they haven't done. She won't forgive Evie for not marrying her boy and seems to have a vendetta against Evie because of it. I don't think she knows how to shoot a rifle and she'd never shoot her own son but what if she hired someone to shoot Evie and then Bicky as a red herring? The other party guests have no personality. Charles, Viscount Maison and Lord Matthew Chambers are indistinguishable. It says Charles is in no hurry to inherit an busy sowing wild oats. Of the ladies, only Lady Charlotte is memorable because of her propensity to meandering speech. Penelope is quiet but said to be fierce. We don't get to see much of her but when she gets a telegram from London about her wardrobe, I suspect it's a fake designed to give her an out and run away since she's scared of being killed.
Other characters in the suspect pool are Lotte Browning, a neighbor who first spied Evie arriving in town. She's a big gossip and surely spread the news as fast as she could. Even worse is Lady Wainscott! She sees Evie as competition for her unmarried daughters; nevermind her daughters were in the schoolroom when Evie married Nicholas. Nevermind her eldest, Miss Clarissa, has been on the town for 5 years now without an offer. Clarissa seems a little timid and cowed by her mother. It's no wonder. With a mother like that! Lady W is a busybody and fiercely protective of her family name. She will see Evie steal another English aristocrat over her dead body! Or is that Evie's? Poor Clarissa can't see that no one will marry her probably because of her mother. She can't see when other women are trying to get rid of her by being patronizing. She thinks they're kind! When Clarissa is supposedly posioned it takes the story in a different direction. Could the beauty shop in town be the link to the shootings? Why shoot Bicky then unless it was a red herring?
I enjoyed this novel enough to want to read more for free but not enough to want to pay for the privledge. I see Hoopla has the series on audio so maybe I will listen to them later. Read this if you love Downton Abbey and cozy mysteries!
Took a chance on another new author for me to read. I love the time period, & I love murder mysteries, so I took a chance & loved it. I've had great luck lately in all the new authors I've been trying. This was fun, fast paced, lots of energy, and great characters. Looking forward to seeing how the next book "stacks" up! 😉
A fascinating story set in 1920's Britain. I loved reading about Evie and the wonderful world of British upper class drama and intrigue. Murder plots, class distinctions, and greed lead to an interesting mystery with delightful characters.
An excellent writer!..the story flowed beautifully from beginning to end...a wonderful and exciting story line...looking forward to reading all of her books❤️
A very British Cozy mystery about Evangeline Parker, Countess of Woodbridge who investigates an accident and someone tries to kill her. There are a lot of people attending the Duke of Hetherington's house party who may be on the murderer's list.