Marion Chesney, AKA M.C. Beaton is known for her frothy, Regency romance novels, which, while never going to be a candidate for any literary prizes, are a fun, quick reads. This book, however, the first in her detective series, is just plain awful.
The author was clearing dialing this one in, relying on her fans from her romance novels to put up with a piece of bad writing. This book has no plot, no character development or motivation, and, quite simply, no reason for anyone to bother to read it.