Murder at Highfields

Berkshires Cozy Mystery #1

by ANDREA KRESS

A newcomer freshly arrived. A body with a bullet. A welcome that just turned deadly…
Berkshire Mountains, Massachusetts, 1931. Aggie Burnside is ready for her next chapter. But when her New York job falls through unexpectedly, the registered nurse jumps at another opportunity and moves to her best friend’s hometown. Though she’s barely settled into the small community before she’s entangled in the local judge’s shocking murder.

With the dead man’s shooting going unheard in a house full of secrets and suspects, Aggie’s sharp curiosity pulls her deep into a long list of possible motives. But as a clueless inspector bungles the case and false leads muddle the investigation, the novice detective and her bestie sidekick step up to find the culprit before the evidence disappears forever.

Can Aggie get a confession before the killer escapes justice?

Murder at Highfields is the lively first book in the Berkshires Cozy mystery series. If you like good-hearted heroines, delightful doses of humor, and smart surprises, then you’ll love Andrea Kress’s fast-moving whodunit.

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

230 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 15, 2021

About the author

Hooked on mysteries at an early age by Nancy Drew, Andrea blasted her way through all the Golden Age authors. Her work is reminiscent of that genre with an inquisitive amateur sleuth, a puzzling murder, a slew of suspects, multiple motives, a few red herrings and a surprise ending.

The BERKSHIRES COZY MYSTERY Series features Aggie Burnside, a young nurse and amateur sleuth trying to figure out whodunnit in 1930s small town Massachusetts. There are 9 books.

The MASSACHUSETTS COZY MYSTERY series has Amanda, Aggie's cousin, solving mysteries in the neighborhoods of Boston. There are 9 books.

The CAROLINA COZY MYSTERY series is a contemporary collection of 3 books.

Reviews

[Emmalynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seriously….. that’s how you deal with a “friend” who tries to kill you???? The author took a reasonably strong, motivated, interesting character and turned her into a fraud in just one sentence at the end!! It’s like she couldn’t figure out what to do or how to deal with a fractured friendship.. I don’t know.. send Glenda to JAIL?????

[Cece · Rating 2 out of 5]

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie, moved to Massachusetts.

[Mary (Biblophile) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this delightful cozy set during 1931 in Massachusetts and featuring recent nurse graduate Aggie Burnside. Circumstances regarding her nursing job fall through so she decides to visit her friend in a small village where the current doctor needs assistance. A local judge is murdered and she becomes involved in the mystery. Closer to home stranger things are happening and she begins to suspect another murder plot.

Suspense, red herrings, lies, and intrigue abound. I liked that Aggie had a good head on her shoulders and slowly began to unravel the deceit that surrounds her. I was slightly disappointed in the revealing of the culprits and results of that reveal. Overall, a well-written, engaging little cozy mystery.

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, this book is very much inspired by ‚Murder at the vicarage‘ by Agatha Christie (it‘s basically the same plot and the same characters). I wouldn’t even mind that fact too much if the author would have given credit were credit was due but alas.

Otherwise I quiet enjoyed this book. The characters were charming and I liked the writing style and setting in general. The mystery wasn‘t really interesting to me and since I know Christie‘s book I figured out the murderer pretty quickly. I do also think Christie did a much better job writing the mystery but that should be no surprise I guess. The ending of the book felt incredibly rushed and unsatisfactory. I probably would have given the book a better rating if the ending wasn‘t as wild as it was and it kind of made me not wanna read another part of this series which is unfortunate.

[Brittany Wren · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story was good…when it was written originally by Agatha Christie. This is a very poor retelling of Murder at the Vicarage.

[Wannee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful Historical Cozy Mystery with Smart & Strong Heroines!!!

This Wonderful Historical Cozy Mystery set in 1931 Berkshire Mountains, Massachusetts, 1931. When Aggie Burnside's New York job falls through she moves to her best friend’s hometown to work as the registered nurse. Aggie is settling in to her new life in the small town until the local judge is murdered.

The story is well written and easy to read with well developed cast, delightful characters and nice doses of humor, the suspense keep me interested from beginning to end trying to figure out the mystery and the murder. It's a fast-paced mystery that flows well with lots of twists and turns that is very entertaining. I really enjoy this book and I highly recommend it to any mystery fans, I cannot wait for the next book in the series.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Ivy Ngeow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Murder at Highfields is a well-written cozy 1930s whodunnit. It has slick twists with great characterisation. Main character Aggie Burnside is a nursing graduate who leaves New York to join her friend and work in Berkshires, a small Massachusetts village in 1931. She starts to enjoy the bucolic lifestyle when she starts to meet and engage with the locals whom her friend has introduced her to. The residents all seem pleasant until the local judge is murdered. It throws up a lot of questions for Aggie, and these residents now seem dark and suspicious. She is urban, smart and witty. Aggie's independence was also clear from the inception when she gave up on her city life for a more challenging rural one. The picturesque setting and visuals were what drew me into this story. The reader will be enthralled by plenty of clues with which the mystery is solved.

[Dineen Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing story! I was hooked from the first page by the vivid characters, detailed descriptions, and building mastery. I'm so impressed with how the author captures the feel, tone, and mood of this time period so perfectly. It felt like I stepped into an old movie and watched the characters play out their rolls on a movie screen. Andrea Kress knows her time period well and beautifully captures it on the pages of this story.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this story a lot. I loved the friendship between Aggie and Glenda. I loved the opening chapter. It was so descriptive and a wonderful way to welcome the reader into the mystery's world. I loved the minor characters. All the interesting neighbors. I was reminded a little of an English golden age mystery.
I received this as an arc from Booksprout and freely left this review.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book from the start. Finally a main character who has her head on straight. The story and characters kept me interested and I finished it in one day .
The only complaint I have is Glenda . I was seriously mad at the ending. I REALLY don’t like her and don’t know why Aggie is still friends with her

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was conflicted about this one. I liked the main character, Aggie, and enjoyed seeing rural life in a quintessential Massachusetts village during prohibition. Having said that this plot was way too close to Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie. Also, the ending was very abrupt. The book overall tended to meander, and then all of a sudden, after a rushed explanation, it was over.

[Andrew · Rating 1 out of 5]

Plagiarism. This was a free download from Amazon Kindle. It took me about eight chapters before I realized the plot, the characters, and the murder were stolen from Agatha Christie. I looked at the post-script and even went to the author’s webpage hoping to find an acknowledgement or that this was an homage, but no such luck. Plagiarism.

[Ryan Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muder at Highfields is written like a classic cozy mystery. The setting is a small village in Massachusetts, circa 1931. Aggie Burnside is a young nursing graduate from New York, who takes the job in Massachusetts. The town is small and people are very friendly of course all that changes made of local judge is murdered. It's very much like an old-school cozy mystery.

[Mai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cool story. Very well researched, but there is one oops that I can fault her for since I may be the only one left in the world who would know this statistic, lol! Mom says I should write to her and let her know and I just might!

[Pamela A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

𝓐𝓷 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓯𝓾𝓷 𝓬𝓸𝔃𝔂 𝓱𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓵 𝓶𝔂𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓯𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪 𝓷𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓮 😊😊😊

𝓘 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓬𝓸𝔃𝔂 𝓶𝔂𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓭𝓲𝓭𝓷'𝓽 𝓭𝓲𝓼𝓪𝓹𝓹𝓸𝓲𝓷𝓽! 𝓘𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓼 𝓪𝓷 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓽𝓸𝓸!! 𝓐 𝓯𝓾𝓷 𝓼𝓱𝓸𝓻𝓽 𝓫𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓪 𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓭𝓪𝔂 😄😄😄

[Cathie Hicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

For once I couldn't guess!

Not only was it not the butler, but I never guessed the ending, or who done it! Very well written, loved the characters. More an English mystery than a Berkshire.

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who killed Judge Nash and why??? A new will??? AND the missing items??? I enjoyed this story and recommended the book.

[Mare · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was enjoyable however using the storyline from Murder at the Vicarage was a bit thin.

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with another series by the same author, the book just stops abruptly. It's not bad at all, but to jarring at the end.

[Sue Hutchins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Terrible narrator!

[lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read story

This story was very interesting and kept me turning the pages long after my bedtime but I needed to know the ending 👍

[Mickie Bridge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poorly written and not a good read.

[C. Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have rated this higher if the plot and characters hadn't been almost entirely lifted from Christie's Murder at the Vicarage.

[Velma Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am enjoying the series

[Gwen Hight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder at theHighfields

A good cozy mystery with a bunch of characters that are mixed up in the death of a judge Its a lot of work but the killer is found Entertaining

[C.J. Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this classic cozy mystery, recent nursing graduate Aggie Burnside takes a short-term job in the small western Massachusetts town where her best friend resides. The year is 1931. Life seems good in this semi-rural village where residents are affluent, not overly-stressed by the Great Depression or Prohibition, and are perfectly happy to be in each other’s business every second of the day. Aggie boards with a local resident, starts her job, and expects to enjoy her stay. Everything changes, though, when the local judge is murdered.

Strengths of this appealing cozy are many. The plot is engaging and challenging with plenty of clues and false clues, twists and turns, and no easy answers. The setting is so well described, from the mountain scenery to home furnishings and clothing, that the story takes on a cinematic aspect. This enhances the historical context of the story. Characters are compelling, and they seem neighborly and kind until they aren’t. They all seem to take on a darker side at some point in the story when it becomes apparent that any of them could be a killer. Aggie is smart, circumspect, observant, and most of all realistic. I especially appreciated her decision to study nursing and to support herself, given that her parents decided to give the family’s savings to her brother so he could attend university. Aggie’s realistic smarts serve her well when it comes to solving this entertaining cozy mystery.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read all the glowing 5 star ratings for this book, I am beginning to wonder if mine was sent from a different universe. I enjoyed this book; it was well written, well researched so that the setting was authentic in its time, well thought out and rather exciting as well, but I found the final "reveal-the-killer" chapter rather rushed and under developed. Considering some of the chapters were almost superfluous and tend to mosey along, the last was reveal-explain-end (almost) - [any more would be a spoiler]. So I am sorry to say 3.5 stars

[Bridget]

Not for me!