The Secluded Village Murders by Shelly Frome was a unique take on an old fashioned mystery. Crossing the Atlantic between two “twin” villages, it follows Emily the tour guide as she is trying to figure out who killed her beloved mentor and friend while also trying to keep her tourers safe and on track. Add in Doc, who seems to be following her and an English police officer who is more interested in his tea than his job as well as an American officer with a crush on Emily that won’t let him do his job correctly. All in all, a zany cast of characters. I enjoyed it. Read it while recovering from a procedure and it was fun. Four stars. Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher. #bookstagram #all_the_pages

This is definitely a British mystery. There is an overabundance of characters, plot twists, and red herrings. It became confusing and bogged down. I was able to figure out who was who and the story became interesting and enjoyable, but it did take work. Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 3 Stars

Although written by an American Professor Emeritus, THE SECLUDED VILLAGE MURDERS reminds me so much of the delightful British village cosies popularized by the Grande Dame Agatha Christie, and still continued by a variety of subsequent authors. Emily lives in Lychfield, Connecticut, and runs a travel business which involves ferrying American tourists to the British Isles for exploration and adventure, including to Lychfield's English "Twin City," Lychfield-on-the-Moors. Just before she leaves, her oldest friend falls from the roof of an empty house, which she observes, and is convinced that was not an accident, but purposefully caused. No one, including the local state trooper, believes her. Everyone in the community seems enrapt with the potential new subdivision development, which will effectively destroy a wonderful scenic area untampered since colonial times.Emily goes on to England, but she never gives up, no matter what obstacles fall into (or are tossed into) her path.

I got an early review copy of this book from Netgalley.

I didn't know the author and had no idea what to expect, apart from the fact that it would be a kind of detective. To be honest i chose the book because of the attractive front cover and the introduction that it was written in the style of a classic British Mystery with a contemporary young American woman as the amateur sleuth.

I thought it would be like a Midsomer murders kind of thing.
The book turned out to be about a young American tour guide who regularly goes to some small English places in the moors. Although there are some problems at home (her substitute father falls of a roof and she suspects foul-play, a real estate developer threatens to buy up and destroy half the village) she goes on a trip to England with a little group of 3 decidedly strange half brothers and sisters. More misfortunes follow her on her journey.

Maybe this is an American interpretation of an English mystery but frankly I didn't like the book very much. I just couldn't relate to the characters, Emily included, and I thought they were a bit of a caricature without being intended like that.
I found the plot unconvincing and hard to read.

I did learn something though, didn't know what a McMansion was before I read this book.
2 start, maybe 2,5

It is a British Mystery about Emily Ryder, a tour guide, who witnesses the suspicious death of her friend. Too bad I don't have more time to read a good book quicker.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing this copy.

This book is about Emily Ryder, a guided tour guide. She takes a group to England, Lydfield-in-the-Moor to do what is called twinning, with Lydfield, CT and attend a fete that celebrates the two villages. While trying to get the next trip organized with elderly siblings, a mentor of hers, Chris, is badly injured and later dies, after falling off the roof of a house that had just had some work done on it.

A shady developer is trying to get her to get her mother to sell property and issues threats because Emily refuses. She is 'working' with Will and his dog Oliver, there is a state trooper who doesn't believe that her mentor died under suspicious circumstances, but handyman Will agrees with her t hat something is not right. Her friend Babs who is a sassy reporter who keeps pushing Emily for a story. Then there is Emily's mom who is trying to keep her B&B afloat.

With all of the characters in the book, I got a kick out of the arguing siblings. The trip to England was a bit more exciting to the story, as there was another murder and then when Emily's life is in danger it becomes a page turner. All in all I enjoyed this book, reminded me more of a British mystery than just a mystery that takes place in America.

I think that I would love to see a sequel or ongoing series with Emily Ryder and her adventures as a guided tour guide. Maybe it is in the works? If you love a good mystery, I think you would enjoy this one.

In The Secluded Village Murders, author Shelly Frome weaves an intriguing cozy mystery that follows the amateur sleuth adventures of tour guide Emily Ryder as she tries to solve the murder of Chris Cooper, her beloved mentor / father figure.

Emily is making final preparations for a guided tour to the United Kingdom with the eccentric elderly Curtis siblings Harriet, Silas, and Prudence that includes a "twinning" fete between their hometown of Lydfield, Connecticut and it's sister village Lydfield-in-the-Moor, United Kingdom. But a few days before she departs for the UK, Emily witnesses Chris Cooper's fatal fall from a slate roof during a rainstorm. Chris owned a roofing business and was the head of Lydfield's Planning Commission, and he was being pressured to approve the development of a piece of land next door to Emily's mom's B&B and the Curtis' property by the Gordon Development Corporation. The developers want to buy Emily's mom's B&B and the Curtis property, but there is resistance, so the developers result to using pressure tactics. When Emily tells State Trooper Dave Roberts that she thinks Chris' death is the result of murder instead of a fall accident, he doesn't buy it, so Emily enlists the help of Babs Maroon, a features reporter for the County Times, and Will Farrow, the B&B handyman to investigate the murder while she is in the United Kingdom. Can Emily and friends solve the murder mystery and get justice for her beloved mentor while she's across the pond?

The Secluded Village Murders is an entertaining story that has enough quirky characters, intrigue, suspense, humor, and drama that easily draws the reader into Emily's amateur sleuth adventure. This cozy mystery is full of devious plot twists and turns that will easily keep you guessing. Emily tries to juggle her responsibility to provide the guided tour for her clients while dealing with the murder mystery back at home, but she finds herself being challenged and pulled in a lot of directions, and being thwarted by some dangerous people who want to stop her from revealing the truth at any cost. The author provides the reader with many clues along the way, but you have to stay on your toes, or you will find yourself a bit confused with all the twists and turns until Emily's determination to expose the truth behind the murder mystery is finally revealed and solved.

The Secluded Village Murders is an intriguing whodunit tale that cozy mystery fans will want to add to their reading list.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours.

https://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-secluded-village-murders-by-shelly.html

I thought the premise of this book was great, I liked the idea of ‘twinning’ villages but unfortunately, for me, the story fell flat and it was an effort to finish the book. I wasn’t 100% sure why there was a need for the twinning aspect of the book with regards to the murders which seemed a shame.

There was so much going on it made it hard to keep everything in line, overall it was a bit confusing. I often felt that I had missed a chapter or two and had to re-read sections because things suddenly appeared or happened with no explanation. Whereas in other parts there was too much detail that wasn’t necessary.

My main issue with the book was the character development. Or lack of. Emily as the main character didn’t hold my sympathy which meant that I struggled. There usually needs to be some lightness in a murder mystery with a sidekick however Babs was awful. Emily’s main drive seemed to be that she wanted to do everything on her own but this wasn’t developed well. I would have liked to have had a bit more background on Chris as well as Harriet however these seemed rushed and so limited my reasoning for wanting to discover who and why they were murdered. I also highly doubt that a police officer would have told someone to ‘sod off’. I’m not sure where Frome picked up his British slang but often it was cringe inducing.

Unfortunately I won’t be recommending this book.

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a classic British mystery in the great tradition of British mysteries. Emily owns and runs a village Bed and breakfast with her Mom. in a small English village that is charming. Emily does not want to sell the bed and breakfast her family owns but developers want it sold and they want the land it is on. Then Emily's best friend falls from a house he re-roofed. He sadly passes away. Emily thinks he was murdered and she begins to look into his death and possible suspects within the development company.
Soon after when on a tour with her community members one person ends up dead on the tour. The local police do not seem concerned and do not think its murder. Emily does not agree. Now she knows both deaths were probably murder.
As she grows closer to the truth through her own investigation, she is in danger and the true motive behind these heinous crimes will be reveled.
This had a very lovely setting, nice characters and a good plot. I enjoyed this new mystery and look forward to further work by this author . Thank you for the ARC which does not influence my review. A enjoyable read !

They want to develop the hilltop above their bed and breakfast and they are trying to buy everyone below it out. Emily has no desire to sell the bed and breakfast. Her mother is thinking maybe they should and go elsewhere to make more money. Then Emily's best friend who is like a father to her falls from a house he re-roofed. He never regains consciousness and passes away. Emily thinks he was murdered...

BQB Publishing and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you). It has been published and you can get a copy now.

It gets worse. She's going on a tour with three folks from the village. They are related but don't get along. One of them even leaves early. Emily knows something strange is going on but no one will admit anything. Then the older one of the group ends up dead on the tour. She can't get the cops interested in the deaths so she works on finding the killer herself.

Her romantic interest at home knows how her friend died but doesn't tell her because he doesn't want to upset her. She's still upset and even more so after she finds out the cause. Her ferreting brings her to close to the truth and she almost becomes the next victim.

There are plenty of suspicious characters, odds and ends of clues to check out, and the killer surprised me. Did you guess right?

I'm glad I didn't know that Shelly Frome is male before I read this book. I have sort of a prejudice against male writers trying to get inside female heads and making the character believable. Female writers trying to get inside male heads gives me almost the same shudders, but not quite.

Therefore, I was surprised when I went to review this book and there's a photo of the author! A professor no less. While there wasn't quite the kind of female introspection in this story as in stories written by females, I thought it was the stiff-upper-lip type of British through processing. I like that writing style so didn't think much of it. That's the only difference I can tell.

If you don't like British style humor, or British style mysteries, then you won't like this book. The humor comes from the characters, and they are quirky, and they are wonderfully developed. I've met people just like these, and it was clear from the outset that Frome understands elderly people very well. After seeing his photo, I now know why. There is a great small town flavor about this story with all the small town secrets and busybodiness, too. It is a wonderful combination.

The story drags in a few places, but don't skip them because you'll miss some important clues. One thing I like about this book is the reader is given all the clues necessary to solve the mystery. Another thing I liked is that I figured it out, but not too early.

A most satisfying read.

Five of five stars.

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I really enjoyed this British cozy with the twist of having a young American as the amateur sleuth. The characters were well written, the setting sounded divine and the story had plenty of twists and turns. I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

I enjoyed the mystery and how it worked out in the end. At some points I found it hard to follow though. Wouldn't mind reading more from the author.

Not a great beginning, too much talk that really had nothing to do with the story. I heard to much about Chris without really getting the full back story, so I didn't really know him from Will the handy man.

Found this book hard to follow, it jumped around a lot and I had trouble concentrating on the flow of the story. I guess it just not my type of book

Enjoyable and well-plotted, if a little convoluted with respect to characters. There were quite a few in this, most of which, I imagine, will reappear in the next book, and they do need to be established, after all. I quite liked the MC, Emily, and hope she will continue to lead rambles and tours in the UK. The author describes the area around Dartmoor in great detail, as well as an area in London, so he obviously has a great eye for observation.

Overall, a bit slow to start, but it picked up its pace and it wrapped up with a bit of a surprise at the end.

The book is well written and there's an intriguing mystery but I didn't like the characters.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC

This is a story with a timeline. That's the best I can say. The book does not evoke any emotions (except maybe boredom), there are too many stupid characters (including the policemen) and there's a miniscule amount of suspense.

An interesting mystery that was well written with a couple of confusing characters and an okay storyline. It could have been a lot more intriguing and exciting if it wasn’t so jumbled and all over the place at times. As a mystery, it’s a little lightweight on the puzzling side, but an interesting and mildly intriguing one, all the same,