Back for another case, Nina Fleet runs one of the most charming bed and breakfasts that any murderer should feel lucky to spend a night in. The streets of Cymbeline, Georgia are littered with quirk, from a local coroner playing double duty as a pastor to an apparent delicacy known as grilled peach and peanut butter sandwiches. Author Anna Gerard has crafted a fully realized world for Nina that, for readers, is easy to stroll around in for a few hours. If it wasn’t so hot, it’d be heaven.

Well … the high murder rate might be a problem, too. In this case, Nina does seem like the best person to solve the mystery. Surrounded by a cast of dramatic egos, she’s seemingly the one levelheaded sleuth in the bunch. She’s matched with a mystery that’s lot of fun, and filled with a healthy dose of Shakespearean references and misdirection.

It seems that it almost has to be that Cymbeline, Georgia hosts an annual Shakespeare festival. And that’s good for business for B&B owner Nina Fleet, until there’s a murder in her back yard.

Nina had planned on a bit of Hollywood when the troupe of actors performing Hamlet booked into her B&B for two weeks, but it didn’t quite turn out the way she expected. The director, well-known actor Harry Westcott, is her adversary…he claims to be the owner of her beloved Queen Anne home through an inheritance. The tension only increases when the lead actor is found murdered in Nina’s formal Shakespeare garden and all the other actors are suspects…with solid motives.

For me, Peachy Scream started off slowly, but once it hit its stride it was a most enjoyable read with twists, turns and danger lurking. Nina comes across as somewhat pretentious and off-putting until you get to know her and then you’re rooting for her to find out who the killer is in their midst before she is the next victim.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Nina is delighted to welcome the theatrical troupe who will be performing Hamlet during the town’s Shakespeare festival. Her enthusiasm is lessened when she realizes her nemesis, Harry, is the director of the troupe and the production. They form an uneasy truce when the lead of play is murdered in the garden of the B & B. Acting is a cut-throat business but could one of the other actors kill for a role. Nina is suspicious and discovers the lethal weapon but the villain remains hidden.

She and Harry, who have discovered they can play nicely together, come up with an ingenious plan to have the murderer reveal his or her identity. With apologies to the Bard, they rewrite a scene and prove the show must go on for the culprit to come foreword. It is quite clever with more than a couple of 180 degree turns.

There is also an intriguing finish to the book that makes me suspect the lady may protest too much. We shall see. Five purrs and two paws up.

Shakespeare and a decently written cozy makes for a delightful summer afternoon read. The characters were engaging and the story was delightful.

Peachy Scream by Anna Gerard is a fabulous mystery, set in this quaint small town in Georgia, with these wonderfully dynamic characters.

Is Len's death an accident, or is it murder?

Nina Fleet
Nina is our sleuth, innkeeper, and now an actress. Ok, that last one is a stretch, but she gives it ago. One of the things that I like about Nina is that she sees things differently than others, which can be good or bad. Nina is also curious but keeps her ethics strong. She makes a good sleuth. Oh, and isn't her dog Mattie cute.

Harry Westcott
Harry is an actor, and his aunt was the previous owner of Nina's house, now the Fleet House Bed and Breakfast. He once said he was going to sue Nina for the house. However, I think the two of them may also have a bit of a flirtation going on. They seem to be getting along better. Harry seems lost to me. His aunt was that one person that he felt unconditional love from, and now that she is gone, he doesn't have a home.

I like Harry, he listens to Nina and goes along with her schemes. They make good partners. Although, with Harry, I can't tell if he is scheming. Yet, I like the attraction between the two of them.

The Mystery
The mystery is the death of a businessman, one of the actors staying at the B&B for the Shakespeare Festival in town. Most of the others in the troupe don't like Len, and he has a way of picking on people. Yet, Len does have money and a trophy wife. Let's say there are lots of suspects with motive. The reasoning caught me off guard; that is for sure.

Five Stars
I love a good mystery, especially those with a hint of romance. This small town in Georgia is pretty lovely; I look forward to the next book in this series. My rating for Peachy Scream by Anna Gerard is five stars. I recommend this book to all cozy readers out there.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Peachy Scream by Anna Gerard.

This Guest Review is for Baroness' Book Trove.

Until the next time,
~Jen

If you would like to see other reviews like this one, check out BaronessBookTrove.com.

Even though I haven't read the first book in Anna Gerard's series set in a B & B, I still jumped at the opportunity to read this one, Peachy Scream as I enjoy a well written cosy, and this looked like it fitted the bill perfectly.

Fleet House B & B in Cymbeline, Georgia is this year's venue for a Shakespearean amateur theatrical production. Nina Fleet, the proprietor of the fledgling B & B is looking forward to the event, expecting showbiz glamour as the actors arrive for their two-week stay. But her enthusiasm abates when she learns the company's director is her nemesis, struggling actor Harry Westcott, who still claims to be the rightful heir to her elegant Queen Anne home. Accusations of infidelity and financial wrongdoing abound, and then the lead actor is found dead in Nina's garden...

Peachy Scream was a compelling, charming, fun cosy read. The cast was quirky, and protagonist Nina was spirited, peppy and amusing. The town of Cymbeline was filled with a terrific bunch of folks, and I really liked the Reverend Dr Bishop, local minister, funeral home director and county coroner who was loads of fun. The troupe of players, with their chaotic relationships and havoc-wreaking behaviour certainly add plenty of drama to the entertaining plot. The mystery itself was well done and there were enough red herrings and twists to keep my armchair detective cravings satisfied.

The hidden agendas of the players turn all of the drama into melodrama, while the strained relationship between Nina and Harry adds an element of farce. Nina had a rather curious relationship with Harry that intensified as the story progressed, and I’m fascinated to see how it plays out in future books. Overall, a marvellous cosy and a very worthwhile read.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Crooked Lane via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

A poisoning at a bed and breakfast full of actors putting on Hamlet. It’s up to owner Nina to discover the killer and allow the show to go on in this cozy mystery.

I'd really liked the first book in this series when I read it last year, and this one was a great follow-up. It was set not very long after the first one, and when Nina's nemesis Harry showed up, I was all ready to be upset with him and wish he'd go away. But he surprised Nina (and me!) by acting fairly normal, well for Harry anyway. It does help if you read the first book first. Then it'll be easy to understand just why Nina wasn't a fan of Harry's and wasn't happy to see him back.

Once again, they made good sleuthing buddies. I got a kick out of his nickname for their little operation of looking into the death of one of the Shakespeare players. I think eventually Nina decided to cut Harry a little slack. I do like them a lot better when they're getting along, and who knows, she might even fall for him. ;)

The mystery was sort of a premises mystery with only the people in the troupe as logical suspects. I wasn't surprised by who did it, but I'd had someone else in mind most of the time. I really enjoyed the showdown, because staged ones are so much more fun and tricky. It'll be interesting to see what old Wild Hare (Harry's tour company) Harry gets into in the next book. I'm sure whatever it is, Nina's going to be right in the thick of it with him!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, and my opinions are my own.

I loved this book from the very first page. The characters were all likeable. The plot well thought out with well placed twists and turns that left me on the edge of my seat. I can't wait for the next one.

I loved Peachy Scream! Though this is the second book in the series, it’s very easy to jump right in and enjoy it. You’ll find out what happened in the first book in Peachy Scream, so if you don’t want any spoilers, you’ll have to start with book one.

When I was in high school and college, I had a lot of fun acting in plays, and I would have gladly gone on to star on Broadway, but you know….you kind of have to live in NYC and have some money and a place to live and be better than the competition….oh well. Pretending works. You should see my Angelica Schuyler! But I digress…

In Peachy Scream, a Shakespeare troupe descends upon Nina’s B&B for the days leading up to the Shakespeare festival in Cymbeline. This is great for Nina because it means guaranteed money. But lo and behold, her frenemy Harry Westcott is the director of this troupe. If Peachy Scream were to become a movie, I’ve already cast Harry’s role in my head…Jensen Ackles is going to play Harry. Harry’s got a snarky side; he’s got a sweet side; he’s got a helpful side; and he’s got an annoying side. You’ll love him, and I hope Nina eventually will too. They’d make the perfect couple!

Hamlet. Oh that Danish prince. If you’ve never read Hamlet (or any Shakespeare for that matter), you should. Or at least watch it! I loved all of the scenes where the actors are rehearsing, but my favorite is the sword fight in the front yard. In Hamlet, there’s a play within the play, and in Peachy Scream, the play within the play is very important! It’s not at all what the actors rehearsed, but it helps to solve the crime by getting the guilty party to confess.

The characters, setting, humor, and mystery make Peachy Scream such an enjoyable read. I know all of you cozy mystery readers will love it!

Peachy Scream is book two in the Georgia B&B mystery series, and whilst I have not read book one I felt right at home reading this book. Nina (pronounced Nine-ah - which totally irked me) is preparing for the towns annual Shakespeare festival and she has manged to get her little B&B fully booked for two weeks by a Shakespearean troupe but what she wasn't aware of that the company's director is Harry Westcott - Harry and Nina have a back story from book one that is well covered in this book, and covered in such a way that it gave you everything you needed to know without distracting from the current story.

The guest get settled and Nina gets to be privy to the nuances of the troupe with their bickering and accusations during rehearsals, but whilst taking the guests on tour of her authentic Shakespearean Garden, they find the lead actor dead in the bushes! From all angles it looks like it may have been natural causes, but Nina knows at least a few of the others had motives for wanting him dead and soon realises it was in fact murder.

She finds a unlikely ally in Harry who agrees that something is afoot with the troupe and together they join forces to try and out the killer before they claim another victim. I really enjoyed this cozy mystery and loved how Nina and Harry put their differences aside and came together to help each other.

“Finding a dead body in your formal garden has got to rate in the top ten Bad Things that can happen to a person. To be fair, war and plague and famine do have a lock on the first three spots.”

Once again, Anna Gerard has me caught up in a book by the first few lines. I really enjoyed Peach Clobbered, the first in this Georgia B&B Mystery series, so I was very much looking forward to Peachy Scream – I’m happy to report that I really enjoyed this new installment as well.

Nina’s first person narrative voice is delightfully conversational and a little bit snarky (which I love), and the characters she encounters at her B&B and the small town of Cymbeline are as quirky and suspicious as you might expect for a cozy mystery. Instead of nuns, in Peachy Scream, Nina’s inn is descended upon by a troupe of Shakespearean actors with none other than Harry Westcott (Nina’s part nemesis, part potential love interest) at the helm. These Hamlet players bring a new level of layers (and dry humor) to the mix, making you simultaneously entertained by their drama & feeling sorry for Nina for having to put up with them. (And can I just say that I’m typing this from Georgia. In the summer. In the hot hot hot summer. And I can’t imagine being all dressed up in Shakespearean garb to rehearse and perform a play outside. Nope. Nope. Nope. lol)

I also really love the eccentricities of Cymbeline – the author has done a great job of capturing a small southern town with its offbeat way of doing things. Particularly the ‘one stop shop’ appeal (?) of the coroner who also happens to be a pastor and the funeral home director! (LOL) The police chief is refreshingly portrayed as a competent law enforcement officer and is a great supporting character – and, for her part, Nina is more responsible (sometimes) in her sleuthing than a lot of cozy mystery heroines. And, of course, Mattie the sweet & faithful dog – gotta love her!

Bottom Line: Engaging to read & smartly written, Peachy Scream is a fabulous followup to its predecessor in the Georgia B&B mystery series by Anna Gerard. The plot, with its infusion of entertaining & intriguing characters, will more than hold your attention from beginning to end, and you’ll turn the last page already eager for the next trip to Cymbeline. While my initial guess of the culprit was ultimately right, I was never 100% sure until just before the creative reveal – and I certainly didn’t guess the WHY behind the WHO. Fun series to add to your TBR list!

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)

To be honest, I had trouble following this book. Even it's only the second in the series, the author, in my opinion, didn't give me enough background to get a feel for the background story. However, it was interesting. I loved the town and how they rallied around the Shakespeare Festival!

I will be going back to read the first book to make sense of a few background facts including what's going on with Harry! There's obviously some type of relationship to figure out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book!

4.5 stars

This is the second book in the Georgia B&B mystery series by Anna Gerard.

I have been looking forward to this book ever since I finished reading the last one. And I was not disappointed.

Was there as much angst between Harry and Nina as before? Not really. But it is there.

Harry brings back his big bus with a troupe of actors for the Shakespeare Festival in Cymbeline. He books his troupe in Nina’s B&B and she is never the wiser that Harry is involved until he shows up with the gang. One of the troupe who has a penchant for asking for all sorts of favors ends up dead on her porch and Nina and Harry are once again pushed into a mystery they are both involved in.

This book sort of gave me a bit of stress as the mystery washed out. I think that is the sign of a great writer. It gave me all the feels. Definitely a series and author I recommend. I am hooked on this series!

If you like cozy mysteries, definitely check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

Cosy authors certainly like to set their series in B&B's. I suppose it is a modern version of the country house parties which authors like Agatha Christie used. Just a good way to bring together a bunch of people and keep them in one place while murders are performed and resolved.

Anna Gerard certainly collects an interesting group of characters into Nina's B&B in this book. The town is in the middle of a Shakespeare festival and Nina is hosting a group of actors who are going to present performances of Hamlet. Unfortunately Hamlet dies in Nina's garden and she suspects foul play. The book centres around her investigative procedures as she sets out to find the guilty party.

This was a fun story, well told and entertaining to read. Occasionally the author became a little bit too whimsical. One example - naming a husband and wife Jack and Jill Hill. Just small things though. Overall an enjoyable book.

PEACHY SCREAM by Anna Gerard
The Second Georgia B&B Mystery

Cymbeline, Georgia is gearing up for its annual Shakespeare festival. While Nina Fleet is too late to become an official sponsor of the event, she's happy to host the Georgia Amateur Shakespeare Players at her B&B. That is until she discovers the director is none other than Harry Westcott, the actor who previously lay claim to her Queen Anne home. Although worried about Harry's machinations, Nina allows the group in only to find the Shakespearean troupe plagued by pranks. When their Hamlet is found dead in Nina's garden the first thought is that he died of natural causes. But did he? One thing is certain, something's rotten in the Fleet House B&B and it's up to Nina to find out what!

I'm delighted to be back at Fleet House Bed and Breakfast and even more delighted to be thrust back into the world of theatre, especially Shakespearean theatre. Shakespeare and his themes are timeless, as are motives for murder and the two are intertwined beautifully in this second Georgia B&B Mystery. In addition to loving the nod to the bard I also appreciated the way in which the book acknowledges certain modern societal issues.

The characters come to life in the pages of PEACHY SCREAM and drive the story while keeping the readers invested. The characters are vibrant and unique from the young emo thespian to the trophy wife and the pastor/county coroner/funeral director Reverend Doctor Bishop. Everybody, from the actors in the troupe to the townsfolk, have intriguing symbiotic relationships. I especially love the dynamic between Nina and Harry.

PEACHY SCREAM is a delightful mystery infused with Georgian hospitality and Shakespearean dramatics. I wish I could imbibe a peach mimosa while giving Mattie a pat as I relax under the magnolia tree ready to see what happens next!

PEACHY SCREAM is the next episode in the Georgia B&B series. Yes, episode. These books read as if you were watching a Hallmark mystery with all of your favorite entertainers present. As the series grows, we meet more of the entertaining residents of Cymbeline, Ga. These books feature our intrepid B&B owner Nina Fleet as she manages to find a dead body in the garden and investigate the murder with one of her least favorite people...or is he? An absolutely entertaining cozy mystery that I'd feel comfortable recommending to all of my reading circle.

The first book in this series, Peach Clobbered, was just the quintessential first book in a cozy mystery series. The location was marvelous, the characters were appropriately quirky, the dog was adorable and the mystery was properly twisty while the story had a lot of heart – and a superfluity (that’s the correct word, I looked it up) of surprisingly with-it elderly nuns.

I miss the nuns. (Now there’s a sentence I never expected to write!)

Not that Nina Fleet – and her still adorable dog Mattie – aren’t still operating the Fleet House B&B in lovely Cymbeline Georgia. And not that I still wouldn’t love to find the place that inspired it once travel is safe again.

But I miss the nuns. They brought something to the first book that isn’t present in the second one. Making Peachy Scream more of a typical cozy than one that stands head and shoulders above the rest.

The story in Peachy Scream is still plenty charming – although the murder victim certainly is not.

When Nina’s nemesis, jobbing actor Harry Westcott, returns to her B&B with a troupe of amateur Shakespeare players in tow, Nina is certain that Harry is up to something. Again.

After all, when Nina and Harry first met, it was over his lawsuit to vacate her ownership of his great-aunt’s house. The place that Nina had just bought and just started setting up as a B&B in touristy Cymbeline. Not that Nina didn’t buy the house fair and square, rather that Harry’s contention was that the seller had no rights to sell because his great-aunt promised to leave him the house in her will. Which she didn’t – or at least no such will has ever been found although I expect it to turn up at some point later in the series. (That is a guess on my part and not a spoiler. I could be totally wrong. Time will eventually tell. Hopefully.)

Still, Harry’s back and Nina’s suspicious. As she should be.

But Cymbeline, named for Shakespeare’s play, is just about to open its popular, profitable and annual Shakespeare Festival. Harry and his troupe are the contracted acting company for this year’s play, Hamlet. And every other possible place for the players to stay was booked long ago. The festival is very popular!

Which means that Nina, rightfully suspicious as she is, can’t afford to throw Harry out on his rather delectable ass. Not that she’s noticed. Much.

It’s clear to Nina from the moment that she is introduced to Harry’s troupe of players that, to quote the Bard, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark,” or at least in the state of the company. When the man whom everybody seems to hate – including his trophy wife – turns up his toes in the middle of Nina’s Shakespeare garden, there’s a bushel of suspects, a peck of motives and no end in sight. But the show must go on.

And so must Nina’s and Harry’s reluctant collaboration in investigation. But this time, it’s not the play that’s “ the thing to uncover the conscience of the king”, it’s the play within a play within a play that catches the murderer.

Escape Rating B: Anyone who has spent their school years being endlessly compared to an older sibling or cousin and always failing to measure up will understand my reaction to Peachy Scream. I absolutely loved Peach Clobbered and picked up Peachy Scream because I was hoping for more of the same – or hopefully even better – in the second book in the series now that the setting and characters had been established.

I just didn’t realize how much of the charm of the first book was owed to the nuns. Without them, Peachy Scream doesn’t have quite the same charm. It’s still a good cozy mystery, but the nuns made the first book rise in a way that this one doesn’t.

Not that the story doesn’t have its own charms. The troupe of players, their surprisingly convoluted relationships and the almost internecine warfare amongst them certainly adds plenty of drama to a scenario that is already fraught with it. After all, these are actors – albeit amateur ones – and drama is their natural state.

The whole concept of the play within a play within a play really works here, especially as it seems completely natural for Cymbeline to host a Shakespeare Festival. It would be more of a surprise if they didn’t!

And the hidden agendas of the players make for an appropriate tipping of drama into melodrama, while the strange and strained relationship between Nina and Harry adds an element of farce.

There’s one element of the story that, while in some ways it’s done very well, in one particular aspect adds to some discomfort while reading. It was a common device in several of Shakespeare’s plays, for example in As You Like It, for the Bard to play with gender roles and gender stereotyping by having one or more female characters spend much of the play masquerading as male characters, with all of the dramatic and comedic possibilities for mistaken identities and misplaced affections on full display.

So the concept that one of the members of the troupe is a woman pretending to be a man fits right into the Shakespearean milieu that Cymbeline plays homage to with its festival.

But Nina’s reaction to discovering the possibility that the Chris that presents themselves as male may be female made for a very uncomfortable read. In 21st century terms, when this story is set, it is entirely possible that Chris is in transition rather than in disguise. Nina’s waffling about how to refer to Chris inside her own head, her seeming compulsion to hang herself up on knowing Chris’ gender felt so wrong that it literally dropped the grade of the book from a B+ to a B. The point where Harry just tells Nina to get over herself and use the gender nonspecific “they” in reference to Chris made ME heave a sigh of relief. And it should not have been necessary.

That being said, there was a lot about Peachy Scream to enjoy. The cast was even quirkier, in their own way, than the previous book. The town of Cymbeline is filled with a terrific bunch of folks, and while the Reverend Dr. Bishop, local minister, funeral home director and county coroner, wasn’t as much fun as the nuns; he was a fascinating character in his own right and I hope we see more of him in the series.

And Nina’s relationship with Harry, as weird as it already is, got even weirder at the end of the book. I’m terribly curious to see how THAT plays out in future books in the series!

This series is becoming a favorite and this was an excellent addition to the series.
I was happy to meet again the well written cast of characters and the quaint small town. I had a lot of fun in read the plot and the solid mystery kept me guessing.
I can't wait to read the next instalment, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Peachy Scream by Ann Gerad is the second in the Georgia B&B Mystery series. This is an quick, easy to read Cozy. It can be read alone but I suggest reading book one in order to meet all the main characters.
This time Nina is hosting a Shakespearean troupe in town for the yearly Shakespeare festival. The troupe is an electic mixture of actors. The biggest surprise is Harry is part of the group.
When one of the actors is murdered in Nina's garden, Nina is once again drawn into the investigation. She doesn't want the B&B to get the wrong reputation.
This story has plenty of suspects, a lovely setting, relatable characters, some humor and life in a small town.
I was given an ARC by Cooked Lane Books and NetGalley for an honest review.