Tag Archives: Connie Berry

Review: Mistletoe and Murder, by Connie Berry

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Cover art for Mistletoe and Murder, by Connie Berry. Winter village scene with snow and a lit Christmas tree.

Mistletoe and Murder, by Connie Berry (Crooked Lane Books, 2023)

Christmas Eve is fast approaching, and the wedding guests are arriving any day. American antiques expert Kate Hamilton is set to marry her British detective fiancé, Tom Mallory, in a carefully-organized wedding in a quaint English village.

What could possibly go wrong?

If you guessed flight delays, wardrobe issues, and last-minute schedule changes, you’d be right. And of course Tom’s mother’s continued disapproval of Kate as a future daughter-in-law.

But this is a mystery series. And this time, the mystery is too close to Kate’s heart. Neither she nor Tom could bear to leave on their honeymoon without seeing it resolved.

Readers will enjoy a novella-length visit to the village of Long Barstow and the regular cast of characters. Those familiar with the series will recognize some visitors from previous books. If you’re new to the series, you can start here and not feel out of place. But it’s worth starting with book 1, A Dream of Death, and following the series from the beginning.

Each Kate Hamilton Mystery is a contemporary story with connections to the past.

Mistletoe and Murder is book 4.5 in the series. To learn about author Connie Berry and her books, or to sign up for her newsletter and receive a free short story, visit connieberry.com.

[Review copy from the public library via the Hoopla Digital app.]

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Review: The Shadow of Memory, by Connie Berry

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Book cover: The Shadow of Memory, by Connie Berry

The Shadow of Memory, by Connie Berry (Crooked Lane Books, 2022)

A stranger is found dead in the church yard—and he turns out to have a past connection with a local woman. When their mutual friends begin dying, can those deaths really be of natural causes? Meanwhile, Kate senses something fishy—and sinister—about a painting whose owners need to sell for quick cash.

I’ve been enjoying the Kate Hamilton mystery series, and book 4, The Shadow of Mystery, continues that trend. We have welcoming small British towns with just enough detail for atmosphere—and with plenty of good food for readers to savour vicariously.

In these books, the mystery comes first: cleverly plotted, clean, and with the present-day death somehow connected to secrets from one or more generations past.

The characters feel lifelike and come with personal and relational complications. These never overshadow the mystery, instead adding background flavour.

American Kate is an expert on antiques, currently assisting her English friend Ivor Tweedy (don’t you love his name?) with his shop, The Cabinet of Curiosities. Kate’s fiancé, Tom Mallory, is in British law enforcement. Once they set a date for the wedding they’ll need to decide which continent to call home. Kate and Tom have each lost a previous spouse and each have adult children. They each have a mother, too: Kate’s is a steadying source of advice, while Tom’s can’t accept him remarrying. Guess which one lives nearby?

We also have the elderly Vivian Bunn, with whom Kate currently boards, and the even older Lady Barbara Finchley-fforde living in the nearby manor house.

Readers can begin with this book with only mild spoilers for the previous ones, but I’d encourage you to start with book 1, A Dream of Death. You won’t regret it.

Despite the familiar and detailed way she writes British small town settings, Connie Berry is an American author based in Ohio. Check out her books at connieberry.com and sign up for her monthly newsletter, The Plot Thickens.

[Review copy from the public library.]

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Review: A Legacy of Murder, by Connie Berry

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A Legacy of Murder, by Connie Berry

A Legacy of Murder, by Connie Berry (Crooked Lane Books, 2019)

My new favourite mystery series!

A Legacy of Murder is one of those books I don’t want to end: a clean and satisfying mystery, an engaging protagonist, quiet humour, complicated characters, charming English-village setting, evocative description, food, family dynamics, romance … and the promise of more books to come.

American antiques expert Kate Hamilton has an eye for details and patterns that helps her notice clues. She’s in Suffolk, England, to visit her daughter, Christina, who’s interning at historic Finchley Hall. When another intern is found dead, Kate has more than curiosity prompting her to look for suspects—she wants to protect her daughter from becoming the next victim.

Kate’s other reason to visit the area is to see Detective Inspector Tom Mallory, who she met in Scotland in the previous book. Who’s she kidding, though? What chance does a trans-Atlantic romance have when both parties love their jobs and are rooted in their communities? Not to mention having family members who disapprove.

As much as I enjoyed the story and the characters, it’s the descriptive language that encouraged me to linger on each page. I want to write like Connie Berry when I grow up.

Some samples:

The scent of beeswax polish mingled with the mustiness of old wood, the dust of the ages, and a hint of mildew—an antique dealer’s perfume. [page 15]

His hair, shaved at the sides, fell in a mop over his eyes. He looked like someone who might bring a manual typewriter to a coffee shop for the effect. [page 22]

In a time when current cozy mysteries often feel like light snacks, A Legacy of Murder is a full-course meal. Highly recommended!

A Legacy of Murder is Book 2 in the Kate Hamilton Mystery series. For more about Connie Berry and her work, including book discussion questions, visit connieberry.com.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

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Review: A Dream of Death, by Connie Berry

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A Dream of Death, by Connie Berry | A Kate Hamilton Mystery

A Dream of Death, by Connie Berry (Crooked Lane Books, 2019)

A remote Scottish island. A private hotel steeped in history. And a repeat of a centuries-old murder.

This is the sort of mystery I love best. The setting is so real I can almost step into it, and I liked the protagonist, Kate Hamilton, from page one. Kate deals in antiques, not crimes, but she has a good eye for detail and strong motivation to solve this mystery. The company of an attractive, vacationing English police detective is a bonus.

The language is engaging. My favourite lines:

Three years had passed since Bill’s death, and the veneer of coping I’d laid over my grief was as thin as eggshell porcelain and every bit as breakable. [page 1]

Guthrie sat between his mother and Elenor, looking as if his license to exist had just expired. [page 29]

How many minutes, hours, days had that old clock marked? Years rolled by, then decades and centuries, and every morning the hands of the clock turned anew, as if it were possible to record over the failures and griefs of the past. [page 64]

A Dream of Death is the first book in the Kate Hamilton Mystery series, and I’m eager to read book two, A Legacy of Murder.

Connie Berry is an American author who writes this Scottish setting like it’s one she knows well. For more about the author and her work, visit connieberry.com.

[Review copy from the public library.]

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