I refuse to acknowledge this book ever happened. Whether Ms. Braun was in ill health and trying to end the series before her death or a ghostwriter unfamiliar with the history of the characters finished it, in any case it was an ignoble end to a long running series and deserved a better send off.

. A bittersweet end to a light and enjoyable non-murder mystery series (Well, non murder until now). I think this one was the best yet, and the perfect way to end the series. Joan and Janet are clearing away the last of the boxes from the overloaded carriage house when they discover a skeleton. Constable Robert has never handled a murder inquiry before, so a more senior CID officer is brought in from nearby Derby. When the CID officer proves to have no interest in solving the mystery, newly arrived Edward Bennett pulls a few strings and he and Janet follow up on the few missing persons cases still unsolved from the time estimated that the body was placed there. Chasing down the leads, Janet and Edward pick apart the clues and solve the mystery.

I loved every minute of this book, and I’m sorry to see this series end, but I’m hoping a new series starts with Edward and Janet’s new adventures

Edit: I went back and re-read The Bennett Case (Markham Sisters #2) last night and OMG Edward did put something in the safe! It was nice to revisit when they met and really highlighted all the events in this book. So sweet and charming!

I picked this book for the Takes place in a non-English speaking country square in r/CozyMystery book bingo on Reddit and it was available at my library. When I read the blurb, it had all the things I like - history, World War II tales, forensic anthropology (I'm a sucker for old bones!) and after reading several good reviews and the "Look Inside" on Amazon (always my first stop when selecting a book) started off the book off with a bang. I was looking forward to diving into this and boy, am I glad I found it! This introduced me to a new series (well, they were written in the 80s, so new to me) to devour

"Skeleton Doctor of America" Gideon Oliver is in France to teach classes at a law enforcement seminar. After a class, Joly, a French police detective, requests his help on his new case after some bones were discovered buried the cellar of a manoir. Like a dog, Gideon salivates at the mention of old bones and with his friend, FBI Agent John Lau, head off to take a look. At the manoir are assembled the family of the manoir's owner, Guillaume du Rocher, who called them to a family meeting to discuss something important. Before the meeting could take place, Guillaume drowns, touching off an investigation that spans back to World War II.

This was a real mystery with so many questions: who was buried the basement? Who put it there? Was Guillaume murdered? If so, why? The buried bones touch off a mystery that begs to be solved, and Gideon and John find themselves in the middle of the investigation.

This reminds me of the old mysteries I've read - "old" meaning classic mysteries I've read that were written in the 20s, 30s, and 40s. In fact, it reminded me of books I've read by John Bude and Joann Cannan, always a plus in my book. The author did a great job so bringing the characters to life, fleshing out their personalities without bogging down the story with unnessesary detail, which helped the book maintain its quick pace. Main characters Gideon and John are a charming, likeable team, I liked them from the start. And the plot! So many twists and turns that I didn't see coming, leading up to an explosive ending. I would love to go into detail about the details that fascinated me the most, but I don't want to spoil anything so let me just say...whooo boy, this was one of the most intricate and unexpected plots I've ever read and I'm hooked!

DNF

I don't know if it's just me or if it was the book, but I just couldn't finish it. It was super cute and I was looking forward to it, but there was so much stuff crammed into the first few chapters in the book that had no context that had me wondering if I'd missed an earlier book but no....it was a confusing way to start off a debut book in a new series. I think it would've been a better if they started the series at the beginning instead of reeling off a bunch of past events that may or may not be related to the current plot (I don't know if it was, I didn't make it that far into it.) Also, I think there was too much going on, the mime murder would've been a fine plot, the bunny saboteur would've been a fine plot, but having them both in the same book made it too cumbersome and felt disjointed.

I'll set it aside for now and maybe I'll pick it up again later but yeah...no..not any time soon.

This is a series that continues to grow as it goes on. I don't mean character or plot development (there's plenty of that) what I mean is each book is more intricate and surprising than the last. I was just commenting on the r/CozyMystery reddit that I thought cozy mysteries were evolving to focus more on the "feeling" of a cozy and leaving out the "mystery" part of a cozy. That is, it seems like a lot of cozy mysteries are just chick lit with a predicatble murder plot thrown in as an afterthought and to me, that's not a true cozy mystery. While Chick Lit has its place, and I'm not knocking it, I read cozy mysteries for the mystery not so much the cozy

This is probably the only series to blow that assumption out of the water. True, there's a lot of "chick lit-y" type stuff in these - women's issues, the tight bond of close girl friends and the power and strength of women. But what this series gets right is the powerful plots that dominate the story, keeping the reader in the dark until the last page. While this doesn't sound like something extraordinary, let me tell you, as someone who primarly reads cozy mysteries; it is extraordinary.

Take this book; Nora is at the flea market picking up new knickknacks to use in her book shop when she buys a bowl from a local Cherokee artisan potter named Danny. Nora is struck by the obvious love Danny and his wife share, as well as the beautiful work he creates. When Danny is found dead in an overflowing creek, Nora puts the Secret, Book and Scone Society on the case. So while putting her heart and soul into finding out who killed Danny, Nora also puts her energies into helping Danny's grieving widow, who is pregnant with their child. Along the way, Nora puts her heart to work to help a man suffering from a long-term ailment who has come to Miracle Springs in the hopes of finding healing, plus consoling and empowering her friends who are dealing with their own crises.

While it sounds like there's a lot going on, this book (and this series for that matter) does a great job of blending the lives and personalities of the women with a taut, intricate mystery and the beautiful pacing slowly winds you into the world of Miracle Springs until you find yourself unable to put it down. The end result is a wickedly complex and tangled web of a story that traps you in its pages.

The only knock I have against this book (well, it's not much of one) is

Spoiler

the plot of June's son was never really resolved as to why exactly he targeted the others. I could understand why he targeted June because he was angry with her, but why target the others? How did he even know about them? Why would he think they needed to be targeted? Didn't make any sense to me, I'd have appreciated more depth to that. Perhaps it'll come up in future books, I don't know. But I thought it was weird.

Also, I'm 3 books into this series and it wasn't until this one that I realized my "mental image" of Nora was wrong. I had her visualized as a small, skinny waif like woman with short dark hair, so I was shook when she "put her blond hair into french braids" like WHOA, seriously? So wrong.

I requested this book from Kensington on Netgalley because it sounded good; I love books set in the 1920s and this one sounded like it was right out of a Christie novel. After a couple of chapters, I realized this was the second book in the series, so I went back and read the first book before I read this one. And I'd have to say, it probably wasn't necessary, there were very few mentions from the first book and none of them impacted this story but it was well worth the read. This series is definitely now very high up on my must-read list! The books are so easy to sink into, with great characters, a dash of romance and amazing twists to keep the plot moving quickly.

I enjoyed this one a lot, I've come to love the characters and look on them as friends. Jane is easy to relate to; equal parts strong, sassy and vulnerable, you just want to be her friend. The dashing and mysterious Redvers adds some spice and watching (well, reading) their chemistry and tenacious investigating makes it easy to "fall" into the story quickly. I also liked that it picked up from where the last book left off, with many of the same characters and giving us more of a look into who they are.

While I figured out "whodunit" pretty quickly (there weren't many suspects, which made it pretty easy,) I enjoyed watching the story unfold and all the twists and turns. I could've done with a bit less of the rehashing that happened throughout the book, but I didn't feel that it slowed the plot down any; the pace moved along steadily and it really didn't take much to draw me in and keep me there. But the ending! Absolutely smashed it, loved the thrilling North by Northwest chase at the end and the last chapter left on an open note makes me salivate for book 3.

If you enjoy Agatha Christie, great characters, lovely scenery and riveting plots, this series has it all.

3.5 stars, but I'll round up to 4 because I like this series so much. I enjoyed this one, but it felt like a "springboard" basically just existing to introduce new plot points for future books. And as such, I feel a bit unfulfilled and as a whole, the story felt like it never really came together. The main plot about the inn's guest who was acting strangely and later found shot on the beach after the storm and dying soon after was a good plot but I felt like it was shoved into the background, and other smaller/less important things were given more space instead, like the bones recovered from the plot of land Abby didn't even know she owned - which also led to a lot of pages on expanding the inn. That stuff should be in the background, not eclipsing the main plot. I did like that Abby finally got resolution about the death of her husband and son.

I also questioned the hurricane as a plot device. The book is set in late spring (I'm guessing late April or early May) and there was a hurricane. Hurricane season is June 1st through November 1st, but really doesn't get cranking until late summer/September. So how was there a hurricane racing up the coast before hurricane season even started? Hmm...looked it up, in the entire history of tracking storms, only 2 were before June 1st, one in 1887 and one in 1951, so I guess it's possible but unlikely.

Did I love the book? Sure, I look forward to each one and devour it in one evening but I'd say it's not one of my favorites and I'd probably skip it on a re-read.