The Mystery of Ruby's Sugar: A 1930s Golden Age Cosy Mystery

Ruby Dove Mysteries #1

by Rose Donovan

A locked room. A secret letter. A weekend to solve a murder. Christmas, 1934. The snow lies heavy around Pauncefort Hall. Fashion-spy-amateur sleuth heroes Ruby and Fina are on a mission to avenge Ruby’s family and bring down an empire. After a murderer strikes, an aristocratic family, a princess, a left-wing professor, and a West End starlet are among the top suspects. Ruby and Fina must find the culprit and still carry out their secret plans—all before the law arrives. But Pauncefort Hall can remain snowbound for only so long. If you like Barbara Neely, Rhys Bowen, and G.M. Malliet, then you’ll want to pour yourself a warm beverage and nestle down with The Mystery of Ruby’s Sugar.

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

330 pages, Hardcover

First published December 16, 2017

About the author

Rose Donovan is a lifelong devotee of golden age mysteries. She now travels the world seeking cosy spots to write, new adventures to inspire devious plot twists, and adorable animals to petsit. Learn more at www.rosedonovan.com

Reviews

[Vsevolod Rzhondkovsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you you are interested in reading a witty, intelligent, well-written, ludic and, above all, scrumptiously cozy mystery- Ruby and Fina will be your guides, they will lead you to their mercurial world. The atmosphere created by the author is as unforgettable as the carnivalesque labyrinth of Ruby and Fina”s investigations.

[Randy Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, reading Rose Donovan’s cozy mystery, “The Mystery of Ruby’s Sugar,” from start to finish, unable to put it down. It was a guilty pleasure, relaxing with Ruby Dove, the eponymous heroine of the novel, as she amateur sleuthed her way with her friend and sidekick, Fina Aubrey-Havelock, through the secrets of Pauncefort Hall. The Hall, populated with its cast of characters, provides the backdrop for a classic murder mystery, with motives running wild, not least in the direction of our heroines. Carefully crafted, I followed the clues to all the most likely suspects, just to catch a new scent leading to yet another. No spoilers here. Suffice it to say, I was pleasantly surprised – and gratified – to have the novel culminate as it did, but did not see it coming. True to the genre, this cozy mystery downplayed sex and violence in favor of gentle humor within the intimate interplay of the family, staff and guests of the Hall. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to world of “The Mystery of Ruby’s Sugar” and recommend it as time enjoyably spent. I eagerly await Rose Donovan’s sequel.

[Anne - Books of My Heart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart

 
Kindle freebie on November 15, 2018   (currently free at Amazon and $3.99 at Barnes & Noble as of writing this post. )

It was great to have a cozy mystery rather than another holiday romance. The Mystery of Ruby's Sugar is a historical sort of cozy mystery in the style of Miss Marple.  It's a holiday party in a family country home in England over Christmas. Our main detectives Ruby and Fina are students from Oxford University.  Ruby is studying chemistry but the pair is a highly in demand fashion designer / dressmaker team.  I enjoyed the English wordings and customs.  I liked this lovely story.

HoHoHoRAT #14
 

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a well executed cozy mystery of the holiday house party genre. The sleuths, a couple of female Oxford students who are also fashion designers, are delightful, and the other characters are perfectly executed for this type of mystery. It reads like a mystery of the golden age of mysteries, but was actually published this month (December 2017). If you like Agatha Christie (but with younger detectives), you'll probably like this one.

[Leeanne G · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful cozy mystery series that I'm eager to return to for further adventures with Ruby and Fina. The stakes of this novel were much higher than the average cozy mystery because Ruby and Fina are fighting a greater battle than the one to find the murderer in Pauncefort Hall. The murderer does lead them on a wild hunt, but the real mission is the find the papers that reveal the true horrors being committed by a cruel plantation baron in St. Kitts. Justice needs to be brought to more than one person in this mystery. I'm excited to learn more about Ruby, Fina, and their friends fighting against British colonialism in the next books.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the middle of a blizzard, an Oxford-educated budding fashion designer and her bestie try to solve a series of murderous attacks at an isolated country manor.

The two main characters, Ruby and Fina, have very complicated, and highly implausible back stories that aren't explained very well. The plot moves along at a choppy pace, with both girls becoming smitten over the course of the weekend—for no real reason.

The murder, who committed it, and how it was solved are at least all reasonable. However the decision to blame Granville's death on a lover's spat with Leslie Dashwood over a fictitious affair with Julia Aston is just preposterous!

I really didn't want to give this three stars, but two stars wasn't a fair assessment either. It was just OK, and I probably won't continue on with the series, but 2.5 stars seems more accurate, but since that isn't an option, three it is.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just could not get into this story.

The Mystery of Ruby’s Sugar achieves much more than that, however: it is in part an invective on British imperialism in the 1930s, in part a coming-of-age story about Ruby and Fina, two young women who discover as much about their own political commitments, personal boundaries, insecurities, and feelings as they do about the mysterious incidents transpiring at the Pauncefort Hall, where they are Christmas guests.

A locked room. A secret letter. A weekend to solve a murder. Christmas, 1934. The snow lies heavy around Pauncefort Hall. Fashion-spy-amateur sleuth heroes Ruby and Fina are on a mission to avenge Ruby’s family and bring down an empire. After a murderer strikes, an aristocratic family, a princess, a left-wing professor, and a West End starlet are among the top suspects. Ruby and Fina must find the culprit and still carry out their secret plans—all before the law.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first novel in the Ruby Dove Mystery
series. The main characters, Ruby Dove and Fina
Aubrey-Havelock, are dress designers studying
at Oxford. They are invited to spend Christmas at
Pauncefort Hall for the purpose of helping Lady
Charlotte freshen up her wardrobe.
After all the guests, family plus Ruby and Fina
arrive, a high snowstorm snows everyone into
the Hall. Then two murders occur, two people get
clobbered on their heads, all the guests become
suspects. Secrets abound.
A complex, uniquely plotted historical fiction mystery
during the 1934 Christmas event at Pauncefort
Hall.
The cast features cleverly crafted, well described
interesting characters.
There is danger, intrigue, politics of the era and
suspense all mixed together for a thought provoking
historical fiction read.
A Highly Recommended Historical Cozy Read!!!

[Irene Sauman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A country house mystery where the place is snowed in and no one can leave and the police can't be contacted. There is a lot about bad politics and the effects on original inhabitants of colonialism, in this case sugar plantations on St. Kitts. Ruby is out to avenge her family.
The author may have thought the method of murder clever and original but I have seen it before in a much older mystery. Not that that says much. There is nothing original in murder by guns and knives either, but I did get a feeling of deja vu.
If the political references and background of colonialism were intended to make the story 'worthwhile', and the mission of revenge a grand gesture, they failed. There is a gay relationship hinted at as well as rape, which muddied the waters. The ending left a lot to be desired.

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some excellent aspects to this story, but unfortunately there are also several things that I found quite disappointing.
So the positives, there is some excellent dialogue, the sense of era is great and I even enjoyed the descriptions of the clothes. On the other hand, I found it rather 'preachy' and naive about prison and the police, I also found it completely impossible to visualise the characters as there are almost no physical descriptions of the characters, and finally I found the storyline rather implausible, especially the conclusion.
I am aware that this review has come out significantly on the negative side, but I did actually enjoy it, and it certainly laid the groundwork for the subsequent stories in the series, which are significantly better than this first offering.

[Brenda Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable first novel

This is a cozy mystery set in the 1930s in Britain. The main characters, Ruby and Fina, are Oxford students and clothing designers on the side. On a clothes designing commission, they visit Pauncefort Hall for a weekend. A murder takes place, so Ruby and Fina investigate it.

This book has a bit of an Agatha Christie feel to it, so I would give it a chance if you are a fan of hers. I believe it’s a good first novel, though there were a few typos. I would really give it 3.5 stars, but since it is a first novel, I’m stretching it to 4. I will read the next in this series.

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a bit confused about the period of this novel. Had I read the promotion, I might have settled in a bit less confused. Christmas 1934. Okay. I did find helpful placed up front the cast of characters in this snowed in Christmas story. Ruby and Fina are the dressmaker/Oxford student/sleuths. Ruby presumably is of mixed race, Fina of a fallen noble family. Perhaps Fina's backstory will be told another day.
Frankly, I didn't get quite enough of the personalities and sleuthing abilities to put Rose Donovan at the top of my list of favorite mystery writers. Not bad for number one though. I hope she gets better over time. Others have.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mildly entertaining. Friends Ruby and Fina are invited to a country home to give fashion advice and design clothes for the owner's wife and a visiting starlet. Of course they get snowed in, and a murder occurs. The two girls have another agenda related to the family's holdings in St. Kitt's, Ruby's ancestral home. As well as carrying out their own secret plans, the girls also try to solve the mystery - especially since Ruby unwittingly provided the murder weapon. Okay for light reading - not something I will ever reread. Characterization is good, though.

[Sonia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found this as a freebie on Bookbub and decided to read it because it was set in a snowy Christmastime. Started out promising with the main characters Oxford students who also dabbled in solving crimes. There are mysteries from their pasts which slowly are revealed but I still felt like I had missed reading a prequel or something. Ruby and Fina go blabbing around telling secrets and making accusations that just didn't seem like a good idea to me. And the ending! Sorry, that was unbelievable.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great first novel in a series. A different look at "trapped in in an English country estate with a murderer".

A good read that has me waiting for the sequel (out in late spring 2018 per the author's email). Cozy with an edge. Gives hints at fascinating backstories for the lead characters. Both have tragic pasts that add to their motivations. Won't give any spoilers...but...the ending of this first novel is very different, realistic and satisfying.
Summary - Read it.

[Ellen White · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was nice to read about the world of fashion, as Fina was assistant seamstress and Ruby was a dress designers.Taking a train, and then met with a driver to Pauncefort Hall. Others guest would be, as well as the host Lady Charlotte who requested them to come. Snow storm, murder and police unable to come. Sounds like a good Sherlock plot. It was well done, and characters at the Hall were interesting characters.

[Chanover55 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruby & Fina are best friends students at Oxford, and wardrobe consultants/dress designers. They are also amateur detectives. They are invited to an English estate for the Christmas holidays to help with the wardrobe of Lady Charlotte but to also look into the family's involvement in a riot on their St Kitt sugar plantation. But when a series of murders take place during a blizzard, how can they complete their assignments & uncover the murderer? Kept me guessing until the very end!

[okuyadur · Rating 5 out of 5]

You love detective novels but you don’t care your spy heroes to be trigger-happy guys working for state agencies that spread mass incarceration at home and military coups abroad? Then you are in luck because The Mystery of Ruby’s Sugar, the first of a series, is just out. The book delivers for the genre’s fans: sleuths set out to unfold a mystery, but they are confronted with greater secrets, a dizzying array of potential suspects, and eventually deeper truths along the way. The Mystery of Ruby’s Sugar achieves much more than that, however: it is in part an invective on British imperialism in the 1930s, in part a coming-of-age story about Ruby and Fina, two young women who discover as much about their own political commitments, personal boundaries, insecurities, and feelings as they do about the mysterious incidents transpiring at the Pauncefort Hall, where they are Christmas guests. The reason why they are invited adds yet another layer to the narrative: for lovers of sartorial trends in other epochs, the book is nothing less than a lively festival!

[Elka · Rating 3 out of 5]

A murder during a snowstorm in an English manor home in the 1930s. Well done, in the great tradition of the Golden Age mysteries. A likeable pair of sleuths, and a well-paced and well-plotted story. The ending melts into an anachronistic mush of feel-good identity politics, but this is a series to watch.

[Andrea Stoeckel · Rating 4 out of 5]

“What was hidden behind those eyelids? Was this just a typical aristocratic distance? No, surely not, thought Fina. There was something definitely incongruous about Lady Charlotte’s facade.”

This “teaser” was the first three chapters of a much longer mystery....just wish it had been advertised as such

[Dorothy Porter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amateur sleuths Ruby and Feena are Oxford Students who team up to solve mysteries. Reminiscent of the Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, and Ginny Gordon. It was nostalgic fun. There were social issue themes to give young readers some food for thought. I would recommend for anyone needing some light reading.

[Christie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mystery of Ruby's Sugar is a great book to read. It had a lot of detail and description of the events leading up to the murders. It was interesting to read how that solved the murders too. The novel is filled with lots of interesting vocabulary and I loved having to look up a few of the words. I look forward to reading more about Ruby and Fina's adventures.

[Donald Charlesworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

What great fun!
A colorful, captivating and intriguing "whodunit".
The added socio-political twist combined with an historically accurate portrayal of English manor life places easily alongside the classics of it's genre.

Donald Charlesworth
Victoria, British Columbia

[LaVonne Ouye-Tidwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Fly on the Wall


The book was so very captivating that I found it difficult to put down.
I felt as if I were a fly on the wall in each scene, waiting to see what happened next!

What great fun!

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes after reading the reviews, but found the story complicated and tedious. In my opinion a good cozy has a little humor, but this had none. Also, the guy who killed two people goes free and the poor gay jerk is framed? Really?

[Estelle Richards · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the use of the time period and the setting. Good characters. Interesting locked room mystery.

[Betsy Hamel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 1

I read a review that made me want to read it. In the end I found it to be an okay book,not great but, not bad either. Not going to read others in the series right away.

[Lisa Neal · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was like the author was trying to use as many long descriptive words as possible. If so, the author won that prize but missed the mark on an entertaining story.

[Sandra Singleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://www.amazon.com/review/R32D7AT...

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read. Not normally the setting type that I read, but I really enjoyed the story line.