Unfortunately, this wasn’t the most compelling cozy mystery I’ve ever read. Felt a little flat. It’s about a retired librarian and her rich, agoraphobic, genius boss who team up to solve a murder. It was okay!

The blurb for this book caught my attention and I was eager to read it. Unfortunately, I keep getting distracted by little things as I was reading. For example, why did so many of the characters have alliterative names? Besides Cam Clewe, there were at least three others that popped up in the first chapters that have first and last names that began with the same letter. I wondered if that was relevant to the plot rather than getting sucked into the story. It wasn't a bad story, but the book just didn't hook me.

Thanks to Crooked Lane Books for access to a digital ARC on NetGalley.

Jane starts a new job cataloging Cam’s collection of rare books. Before she even starts her new job, Cam’s ex girlfriend is murdered. And he enlists Jane to help find her killer.

First in a new series by Victoria Gilbert. I really enjoyed the main character jane! I enjoy reading cozy mystery series where the main character is slightly older. Gives a different perspective on life. And Jane’s employer, Cam, gave me Sheldon cooper vibes! Definitely look forward to continuing this series!

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC!

I liked the premise of this book. However... I fought to not DNF it within the first half of the book. The pacing is odd, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it a week after finishing it. It was a slow read (personally), but the timeline felt suspiciously fast?

The characters weren’t really that likable. I could see parts of myself in Cam; being neuro divergent and on the spectrum, I pinpointed similarities in his mannerisms and communication that were achingly similar (if not the very same) to how I operate. It felt nice to have a bit of representation, even if the ND traits were deliberate or not (we never really get an answer to that). However, other than Cam? I didn’t like a single character. With how long the book was, I expected to get a better feel for the other characters but ala... nope.

I found the FMC to be a bit aggravating. There was a lot of self-imposed ageism coming from Jane, in my opinion. It got a bit tiring to read the comparisons being made between her and the other female characters. I, and probably many other readers, can appreciate the fact that the protagonist is an older woman. I don’t want to keep reading her putting herself down though. And that’s what it felt like to me as I was reading.

The plot twist and the ending fell a bit flat for me. It seemed... far-fetched? I can’t reconcile the grandmother of one of the sorority members that isn’t mentioned until the last 1/4 of the book being the killer, let alone her enacting revenge for her grand-daughter. It felt forced and I said ‘wtf’ in a very not excited way.

Premise had a lot of potential but the writing left a lot to be desired.

Retired librarian, Jane Hunter, is excited to take up a new job cataloguing the private collection of rare, classic mystery novels and associated ephemera, owned by reclusive Cameron Clewe. Rarely leaving his stately manor, his wealth and good looks somewhat balance out his lack of social skills. The pair share a passion for the collection, which offsets their seemingly mutual aversion on first meeting: Jane isn’t impressed with his arrogance and standoffish attitude and, she suspects, he’s disappointed to find her ‘old and frumpy’.

And from poor first impressions it seems that their working relationship can only get worse: Jane stumbles across a dead body in the mansion’s library, and Cameron is at the top of the list of suspects. Fortunately for him, it’s not a short list, and he soon enlists Jane’s help in trying to clear his name and track down the real killer.

I’ve been enjoying Victoria Gilbert’s Blue Ridge Library Mysteries series for a while now, and so a new bookish-themed series from her seemed like a sure thing. Alas, I wasn’t too impressed with this.

The mystery itself is okay, if – as is common with the genre – a little abruptly ‘solved’. I really liked the lack of too much leaning on the ‘cosy tropes’: no pets, cakes or unrequited love. And the level of geeking out over the ‘rare books’ collection was enough to whet the appetite of the unfamiliar (ie me) without ever feeling like any kind of info dump.

Info dump is a good phrase, though, for the dialogue – especially at the beginning. The character interactions as they introduce themselves is hugely unrealistic and really really jarring for me. There are better ways to reveal a bit of a character’s back story and/or thought processes, than having them randomly go into huge detail with a complete stranger. I also never wholly warmed to either of our leads: Jane is a bit bland, Cameron too aloof.

My hope is that these are teething pains setting up a new series, and that book 2 would settle into this world and flow a lot better. The pairing of a socially awkward man and a softer, but still intelligent, side-kick isn’t new at all, but I’d happily give this one another chance to improve from shaky first steps.

I love a good mystery read that's fast-paced and keeps me guessing with a surprise twist at the end I never saw coming. A Cryptic Clue is not that book. I usually tear through books but this was one I kind of kept putting down and picking back up again. It's not what I would consider a page-turner; it's pretty "cozy" as fast as mysteries go. I wasn't incredibly invested in the characters, and I was often bored and annoyed at how conveniently characters offered up information and always happened to just ... be around. There was a definite lack of tension that resulted in this book not holding my interest.

I did like that the main character is a well-rounded, capable middle-aged woman who knows who she is - I did really like Jane, and I would perhaps give another book of this series a go to see if the author has settled more into the genre a bit. A Cryptic Clue is not a bad read, it’s just not what I was looking for; but I'd give Gilbert another shot to be proven right or wrong.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All views are my own.

This is my introduction to the author’s writing; it is also the start of the new Hunter and Clewe cozy mystery series, following the adventures of retired academic librarian Jane Hunter and book collector Cameron Clewe.

Our narrator is Jane, who was forced into early retirement by budget cuts, and has recently been hired by a wealthy collector to catalog his collection of Golden Age crime novels and ephemera.

While the job promises to be interesting and fulfilling, Jane’s new boss is somewhat strange, a mix of arrogance and social anxiety that is somewhat off-putting, but not a deal breaker by any means.

Then, on her literal first day on the job, Jane finds a body in the library, and things start getting weirder by the minute.

The novel is narrated in first person, past tense; though I am not a fan of first person, I struggled with a different aspect of the writing.

To put it bluntly, the author needs to ease up on the descriptions, and leave something for readers to fill in; if Jane tells us every time someone shifts in their seat, including herself, any momentum that may be building through dialogue dies on the spot.

There are too many passages doing nothing for the story or the characterization, that should have been cut in edits; like this: between two lines of dialogue, Jane tells us, “I plucked the lime wedge off the rim and squeezed it into my glass before dropping it into the fizzing tonic water”.

Why do we need to know this?

Or that Jane changes into “comfortable sweatpants” before doing whatever?

It’s not just padding the word count, it distracts from whatever is actually happening in the scene.

And it’s a weird contrast with other aspects of the story where there’s a bit of holding back, such as Jane’s own backstory; we get a lot of heavy-handed hints–domestic abuse, an alcoholic ex and so on–, but no specifics.

As for the mystery itself, it was refreshing that Jane was willing to suspect Cam, even if the author and publisher killed the suspense there by telling us it’s a series with them both; I was also happy to see at least some basic details on the work archivists do. However, I was quite unhappy with the utter lack of ethics of taking material from the collection out of the property, without even informing the owner, and then handing it over to someone Jane barely knows.

There’s just no justification, but it’s especially jarring when a few pages earlier there’s a whole thing about not trusting people just because they seem nice, then Jane tells her landlord–who she has known a week!–that she took documents from her new boss’ collection without asking, but that she’s “sure he wouldn’t mind”.

And I’m sitting here going, “How can you know if Cam won’t mind? You barely know him!”

Then there’s the fact that if Jane’s landlord turns out not to be a decent person, she just handed him something to hold over her head.

How is this professional or sensible, let alone smart?

Worse: shortly after, Jane once again takes papers out of the house without telling anyone; it’s a miracle they don’t get destroyed after someone breaks into her lodgings.

It doesn’t help that Jane isn’t very organized in her thinking; someone breaks into your apartment, and you start cleaning before calling the cops?

The novel suffers from an excess of tangents that lead nowhere; perhaps because the author is trying to set up a multi-book story arc related to Cam’s family, but that plot thread took entirely too much page space.

While there are a couple of red-herring-type side plots, they are set up a bit clumsily, and the final solution ends up coming out of left field as far as Jane, and the reader, are concerned; it turns out that Cam knows more than he’s telling, but the denouement feels rather contrived.

Where does this leave me?

Well, I am curious about Cam’s family history, and would like to see where his relationship with his personal assistant Lauren goes, but I’m not quite raring to read the next in the series.

A Cryptic Clue gets a 7.00 out of 10

I received a complimentary ARC copy of A Cryptic Clue, (Hunter and Clewe #1) by Victoria Gilbert from NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books in order to read and give an honest review.

… a quick fun cozy mystery that has engaging characters, an intriguing plot, and a few touching moments. A fantastic read that keeps the reader turning pages until the very end…

A Cryptic Clue is the first in author Victoria Gilbert’s newest series Hunter and Clewe Mystery.

When newly retired librarian Jane Hunter is forced into an early retirement at sixty, she scrounges to build a new life for herself. With Bailey, her daughter finally on her own and acting in a Broadway play Jane is able to downsize and reinvent her life. Selling her home and moving to a small apartment living beside her investigative reporter, landlord Vince. Jane is also ready to launch a new career working for the wealthy recluse Cam Clewe cataloguing his large book collection on his infamous historical estate known as Aircroft. Aircroft once belonged to the famous Airling’s and was bought by Cam’s father Albert when the last Airling passed away and upon Albert’s death it went to Cam. Aircroft hides many mysteries, and it has birthed many tales of suspicious death, tragedy, even rumors of ghosts. So infamous in fact that Jane’s landlord Vince is authoring a book about the Airlings as well as the mysterious Aircroft Estate. During her orientation Jane meets Cam’s assistant Lauren and the rest of the staff Dia and Mateo as well as some family friends Naomi, Hannah Kyle and Brendon who are staying for an upcoming gala. When Jane stumbles across Cam and his girlfriend Ashley having a heated conversation Jane begins to wonder what she has gotten into although she will find out when she starts on the Monday after the Gala.

When Monday arrives and she gets to work in the library, something feels wrong, and when she stumbles over Ashley Allen’s dead body her job becomes more complicated than she ever expected. When Cam becomes a suspect, he enlists Jane and Lauren’s help to help him solve the murder. The closer Jane gets to the truth with help from Vince and her new friends the closer she gets to being the murderer’s next victim.

I really enjoyed this book it felt like a refreshing take on a very “Sherlockian” style mystery featuring an older woman playing an almost motherly version of “Watson.” Overall, a quick fun cozy mystery that has engaging characters, an intriguing plot, and a few touching moments. A fantastic read that keeps the reader turning pages until the very end. I highly recommend it to readers who love a modern twist on Sherlockian style mysteries.

Congratulations to the author on a successful beginning to a wonderful cozy series. Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinion is my own.

"A Cryptic Clue" is the 1st release in the "A Hunter and Clewe Mystery" series by Victoria Gilbert. The author is a favorite author of mine of cozy mysteries. Jane is the protaganist . A retired librarian who is struggling with being retired and not doing well living on her pension. She does not suffer fools and does not like most people. Life has changed drastically for her and she is not coping well. I like her attitude and take charge personality. She takes on a job to sort through a book inventory for a intiquing young collector and utilize her skills as a librarian. When a body is found in the library of his last failed lover the mystery begins and centers around some valuable books Jane is determined to save.

This was intriquing from beginning to end. I enjoyed the wonderful well crafted sleuth and the conclusion. I look forward to the next in series.

An enjoyable cosy mystery, A Cryptic Clue by Victoria Gilbert is the beginning of a new Hunter and Clewe crime series. Jane Hunter is a retired librarian hired to catalogue the books in Cameron Clewe’s private collection. Cam is the young wealthy owner of rare books and artifacts, somewhat of an oddity with his intelligence, and reticence to venture beyond the Grand Manor grounds. He becomes a suspect when his girlfriend is found dead in his library. Together, Cam and Jane decide to find the killer, as their investigation finds there is no shortage of suspects. Interestingly, the narrative includes many mentions of classic mystery books and detective authors. Fans of gentle crime thrillers will enjoy this gentle tale of a new detective pairing with more adventures to come. Overall, a three stars read rating and personal thanks to Crooked Lane Books and the author, for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given.

"A Cryptic Clue" the 1st instalment in the "A Hunter and Clewe Mystery" series by Victoria Gilbert. I think this is a great start to a new series. A retired librarian gets back to the books—and into a devilish murder case…

I found myself engrossed in the story and reading it in almost one sitting. It was entertaining, full of twists and turns as well as a few surprises. I did guess the killer before Jane but I still found this to be a fun easy read.

I can’t wait to read the next book and see how things are going for Jane, Cam and the rest of her new found friends.

I highly recommend this book to all my cozy loving friends.

I requested and received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my OWN.

3.5 stars

While the mystery itself was engaging, I just found it very difficult to connect to the mc, Jane. I found her to be very judgy and annoying which was disappointing because I usually love older judgy female characters. I also found the pacing of the story to be very slow and it was a struggle to get through.

I really enjoyed the setting and the mystery so hopefully book 2 is better.

This eARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Great beginning to new series with well-developed characters and a tightly conceived mystery. See my complete review at www.reviewingtheevidence.com

This is the first book in the A Hunter and Clewe Mystery series and I absolutely loved this book. It was a five-star read for me.

Jane Hunter she is a 60 year old retiree. She used to work as a librarian and now she's gone into retirement and she basically she takes on this job archiving the private collection of Cam who is this 33 year old like mega millionaire. He has this huge house, huge collection and so she's basically organizing his collection for him. Cam is a very particular. Among other things, he has a lot of social anxieties.

On her first day doing the job, the body of Cam's most recent ex-girlfriend that gets discovered in the library at his house by Jane. Jane tries to find out who did it. Cam is obviously a suspect but there's lots of other suspects too.

I loved the fact that the protagonist is an older lady. I thought that gave a nice dynamic to it which is something we don't see all that often. I liked the fact that cam had so many issues. I suppose it would be the best way to put it, He's he is definitely a man who has a lot of issues and I think it's going to come out more with a lot of other things in the series. I would definitely be interested to read more in this series because I love both of the characters. I loved how they mesh together.

A great cosy mystery.

Cameron “Cam” Clewe is seeking an archivist to inventory his ever expanding rare books and artifacts. Jane’s thrilled to be hired on by Cam and to uncover the secrets of his latest acquisition, a trove of items related to the classic mystery and detective authors. But Jane’s delight is upended when a body is discovered in Cam’s library. The victim, heir to a pharmaceutical fortune, was the last in line of Cam’s failed romances—and now he’s suspect number one. Cam vows to use his intelligence and deductive skills to clear his name but he’ll need some help. It comes down to Jane to exonerate her new boss—but is he truly innocent? This is the first book in the Hunter and Clewe series of murder mysteries. It's a book about classic books and writers with a mystery thrown in. It has a large cast of characters and each one tells why they wanted the victim dead. Jane is a very likable character and Clewe asks her to help prove his innocence. The ending was a complete surprise to me. If you like cozy mysteries then you will love this book. I'm looking forward to the 2nd book in the series.

"A Cryptic Clue" by Victoria Gilbert takes you on a delightful literary adventure with retired librarian Jane Hunter. This cozy mystery introduces Jane as she dives into the task of cataloguing the eccentric millionaire Cam Clewe's collection. Unexpectedly, Jane finds herself caught up in a murder investigation when Cam becomes the prime suspect in his ex-girlfriend's death. With intriguing characters and a charming setting, this book combines charm and suspense, making it a perfect choice for anyone who enjoys a good whodunit.

Throughout "A Cryptic Clue," hidden secrets and numerous suspects keep you guessing until the very end. While it may not be a high-octane thriller, this cozy mystery offers a relaxed and enjoyable reading experience. The lovable characters, including Jane and the socially challenged Cam, bring depth to the story, while the atmospheric setting and bookish backdrop add a delightful charm. With surprises sprinkled along the way and the promise of more captivating adventures, this book sets the stage for an entertaining series.

Filled with bookish charm, an engaging storyline, and a touch of suspense, "A Cryptic Clue" delivers a cozy mystery experience. Whether you're curled up on the couch or basking in the sun, this leisurely-paced read will keep you entertained.

A Cryptic Clue should have been the perfect book for me - not only a whodunnit but one solved by a librarian. However, I just couldn't connect with this book. I found all the characters really irritating, especially Jane. We get it Jane, cataloguing is time intensive and detailed. You told us. A lot. I also found the recording of Jane's internal monologue a bit cringy - for example "Donna swatted away a buzzing bottle fly. One of the last of the season, I thought. Doomed to die soon". I think because I was so irritated by the characters, I couldn't engage with the plot. I finished the book just to finish it, but it was a slog and by the end, I didn't much care who had done it.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the chance to read an advance copy of A cryptic clue by Victoria Gilbert. I wanted to like this book because the premise sounded interesting but just found the plot too slow. After picking it up several times, I finally DNF'd it at 50%.

This is a cute, cozy mystery, with a solid, plausible plot. I certainly liked the characters, and I felt this made a good start to the series.

This was a different mystery, with different characters, that I'm used to, but I thought it was a refreshing read and I can't want to read the next book in the series. Story was well-written and kept me guessing till the end!