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Beagle Sisters Mystery #1
Our First Murder
Spinster sisters Amanda and Lutie Beagle, having inherited a Manhattan detective agency from their late brother, look into the case of a headless corpse found in a theatrical lodging house.
- GenresMystery
191 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 6, 2013
When middle-aged sisters Amanda and Lutie Beagle inherit their brother Ezekiel's New York detective agency, his lawyer thinks they'll install a manager. But Amanda is businesslike enough for two, and Lutie's read almost every mystery in their local library, so with cousin Martha, the narrator, in tow, they move in with their cat, parrot, and everything else a detective might need in 1940. A client who hadn't heard of Zeke's death calls them when he finds a decapitated corpse in his friend's room of a theatrical boarding house, and suddenly the sisters are involved with a whole new set of experiences. Almost perfect of its kind.
January 5, 2025
Would say 3.5 stars. If it was a bit more fair play then it certainly would be higher.
Upon the death of their brother, who they only received letters from NYC, they find that he has left them his Private Investigator Biz and they mean to go and handle it for a while.
The author, born in 1899, has a bit more effusive writing style than used in the 1940's, but the book is only 191 pages. And it moves. The characters are Characters and with each one you must figure out how to see below this mask. It’s a wonder plot and you do see enough to get actually facts to work out where to start to look for answers.
There are two sisters and a cousin. The one sister is stern and in charge. The other while appearing flighty is actually extremely astute (and a mystery story lover who mentions several books and even Reggie Fortune.)
The author was actually more of an illustrator so you may find her work in many children’s books of the past. She wrote this book and another (in the same series.). Really happy that Rug Morgue reprinted this a bit ago- or one would NOT be able to find it. I wonder if she’s in public domain now.
Looking for a bit of a cozy and odd ball mystery, if you can find this get it.
Upon the death of their brother, who they only received letters from NYC, they find that he has left them his Private Investigator Biz and they mean to go and handle it for a while.
The author, born in 1899, has a bit more effusive writing style than used in the 1940's, but the book is only 191 pages. And it moves. The characters are Characters and with each one you must figure out how to see below this mask. It’s a wonder plot and you do see enough to get actually facts to work out where to start to look for answers.
There are two sisters and a cousin. The one sister is stern and in charge. The other while appearing flighty is actually extremely astute (and a mystery story lover who mentions several books and even Reggie Fortune.)
The author was actually more of an illustrator so you may find her work in many children’s books of the past. She wrote this book and another (in the same series.). Really happy that Rug Morgue reprinted this a bit ago- or one would NOT be able to find it. I wonder if she’s in public domain now.
Looking for a bit of a cozy and odd ball mystery, if you can find this get it.
September 25, 2017
This is a sweet book, with likable sleuths, and I enjoyed it.
That said, I felt no great urgency to continue reading it, the plot was rather overplotted (too many suspects, too many clues, and far too much of the detective knowing things but not letting the audience, or the hapless narrator, know).
It's perhaps most enjoyable for its evocation of a then-contemporary 1940s New York City. As the main characters have only recently arrived, you get more of a sense of what it might have felt like than from most period novels set there, but taking it for granted.
She wrote only one other featuring the same detectives, and I may well check it out to see if things improve, but will be in no great rush to do so.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
That said, I felt no great urgency to continue reading it, the plot was rather overplotted (too many suspects, too many clues, and far too much of the detective knowing things but not letting the audience, or the hapless narrator, know).
It's perhaps most enjoyable for its evocation of a then-contemporary 1940s New York City. As the main characters have only recently arrived, you get more of a sense of what it might have felt like than from most period novels set there, but taking it for granted.
She wrote only one other featuring the same detectives, and I may well check it out to see if things improve, but will be in no great rush to do so.
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
February 16, 2023
Two elderly spinsters with their spinster cousin, a cat and a foul mouthed parrot star in this fun and fast paced murder mystery. Too bad this author only wrote two in this series. Definitely getting the second.
Want to read
November 9, 2018Synopsis: two sisters end up owning and operating their brothers PI agency when he dies. One of his clients calls and now they have a murder!
Want to read
September 8, 2009My library only has book 2... guess I will go ahead and read that first...
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews