Description (from cover): “When corpses clutching poems begin turning up around Storyton Hall, Jane Steward is on the trail of someone exercising poetic license to kill and is determined to keep her fairytale resort from turning into a southern gothic…
As Jane eagerly anticipates the wedding of her best friend Eloise Alcott, Storyton Hall is overrun with poets in town to compete for a coveted greeting card contract. They’re everywhere, scrawling verses on cocktail napkins in the reading rooms or seeking inspiration strolling the Poet’s Walk, a series of trails named after famous authors. But the Tennyson Trail leads to a grim surprise: a woman’s corpse drifting in a rowboat on a lake, posed as if she were “The Lady of Shallot.”
When a second body is discovered, also posed as a poetic character, a recurring MO emerges. Fortunately, Jane is well versed in sleuthing and won’t rest until she gives the killer a taste of poetic justice.”
My Thoughts:
See the reviews for other books in this series: Murder in the Mystery Suite, Murder in the Paperback Parlor, and Murder in the Secret Garden.
If you have not yet had the chance to read a cozy mystery by author Ellery Adams, you are missing out. Adams has a unique way of creating cozy mysteries that engage the reader and capture their hearts with the most endearing characters. She has numerous mystery series that I have read over the years, and her books never disappoint. In this eighth installation of the Book Retreat Mystery series, Jane Steward, the owner of Storyton Hall, is hosting a contest to award one poet an employment contract with a new greeting card company. Poets are all over the grounds of Storyton Hall, writing and engaging with each other, and competing to win the grand prize. That is until one of the poets is found dead in a rowboat on one of the property’s lakes staged in death as “The Lady of Shallot.”
Of course, finding the murderer and keeping her guests safe is of the utmost importance to Jane and her team of friends and family, all while making sure the secret collection of books, ancient writings, and papers remains safe. When another guest is discovered murdered in “poetic” circumstances and a missing handwritten poem of Walt Whitman comes to light, Jane pulls the team together to protect the remaining guests and Storyton Hall as best as she can. Will she be able to solve the murder before the guests leave for the weekend or will a killer be allowed to escape justice?
This book was all about character development for the future books in this series: Jane’s best friend, Eloise is about to get married; Jane’s uncle has what appears to be medical events happening that makes him forgetful and foggy-minded; and Jane’s relationship with Edwin seems to be getting serious. I really have come to love this series and the characters really feel like family. I am always eager to return to this series as I know I will never be disappointed. This book was a great addition to this already fantastic series, and I hope that every mystery lover reads this series and enjoys it as much as I do.
Overall Rating: 5+ stars
Author: Ellery Adams
Series: Book Retreat Mystery #8
Publisher: Kensington Cozies
Publication Date: September 27, 2022
Pages: 354
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Get It: Amazon
Disclaimer: This book was given to me by the publisher, through NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review. I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.
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