Monday, May 9, 2022

Deadly Chapel (A British Seaside Cozy Mystery #1)

Author:    N.C. Lewis
Genre:     Mystery

Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:    9798565094121
Independently Published
188 Pages
$12.99; $4.99 Amazon
January 30. 2019

⭐⭐


She just got an invite to a wedding.  Unfortunately, it is from her ex.  When Doris Cudlow attends her ex-husband's wedding, she's pretty sure it was a mistake.  Boy, is she right.  But it isn't until the bride disappears and her ex is on the run from the police that things really go downhill.  Doris teams up with her nosy landlady, and the duo turn detective to solve the mystery.  As Doris digs, she uncovers a web of lies along with a deadly secret.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Doris Cudlow just got a new job at a newspaper.  Unfortunately, she can't make it to work on time, and that's when she finds out there are changes ahead in the newspaper she works for that may make changes for her.  Not to mention she received a wedding invitation in the mail -- from her ex-husband.  When her landlady invites herself as Doris's guest, she has no choice but to go, even if she doesn't want to.  That leads to seeing a bride disappearing, and a murder soon following.  Now her ex-husband Toby is on the suspect list, and when he asks Doris for help, all she can do is say yes...

This is the first book in the series, and I really wanted to like it.  Especially since I did like the cover.  Unfortunately, that's the best thing about the book.  Doris is boring.  So boring that I really didn't care much about her...which doesn't matter, since we don't know much anyway.  How tall is she?  Color hair, color eyes?  Thin, heavy, in-between?  We don't know any of that.  Pretty or plain?  All we know is she married Toby right after college, and they were married ten years, so she's hitting forty pretty soon.  She also has an old car and no savings, living in a small studio, and is willing to work selling hot dogs, if that's what it takes.  Quite an interesting person, right?  Wrong.

When Toby's bride goes missing, the inept police inspector thinks he did it.  Even though when the lights went out the bride entered from the back of the church and the groom was standing in the front.  Even though when the lights came back on the groom was still standing in the front of the church.  Even though he has an alibi from the rector and the fact that he couldn't have been guilty, but never let that stand in the way of the truth, right?  The entire plot is lost somewhere along the way, and I couldn't find it anywhere.

Plus the newspaper where Doris works -- people who have been there over ten years are told they have 30 seconds to get everything from their office because they're fired.  Then when Doris is working on the murder, she's told to put that story on the back burner and write one on a new flavor of hot dog someone is working on.  Seriously?

Doris is a recovering alcoholic but keeps beer and liquor in her home?  Nope.  Not believing that one.  Then there's the audition.  She auditions for a part in Willie Wonka as a munchkin.  Has the author seen Willie Wonka?  I think they might be thinking of The Wizard of Oz.

Sad to say, this book could have been so much better if Doris had something -- anything -- going for her that made me want to read another in this series.  But even though the murderer was found, as we knew they would be, the ending didn't leave a comforting feeling that Doris has a bright future in front of her.  Therefore, I really can't give this book a great rating, and I normally do love British mysteries.  I gave it two stars because I finished it.  Sorry.



More on N.C. Lewis's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/l/n-c-lewis

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