Anna St. James is the owner and landlady of Moon River Boarding House. In the early mornings, she enjoys a walk with her dog Huck and stops to capture the scenic landscape and nature's beauty with her watercolors. Opinions are mixed about the anticipated arrival of Nathaniel Smith, a new boarder, and the first mysterious impressions he creates raise concerns. It's only one puzzle for Anna to solve as a pirate reenactment turns to realism.

I loved the introduction to life on Frostfall Island. The setting of Frostfall Island is picturesque: an island off the east coast with views of the Atlantic Ocean from all sides of the island and the necessity of a ferry ride on the SS Salty Bottom to the mainland. The provision of a map at the beginning of the novel enhances the reader's experience. The diverse backgrounds of the characters are a delight. Anna is a woman you'd love to know in real life with a multitude of talents, from artist to landlady to chef to sleuth. I had a suspicion about Nathaniel Smith, and until it was verified, I loved the pace and build to reveal his background and reason for becoming a boarder away from the mainland.

The author's descriptive writing was a joy to read, creating vivid imagery or feelings that you've felt but couldn't have described so perfectly and therefore appreciated even more. A few favorites:

Anna’s favorite time of day for enjoying time as a watercolor artist outdoors "…I preferred to catch nature just before it went from inconspicuous to glorious. It was like spotting and admiring a movie star long before anyone else noticed their potential."
Friend Molly why she doesn’t care about a few wrinkles or a little chin sagging… "Each new line or sag is another year that I got through this wonderful adventure called life."
Anna’s thoughts on a restless night… "They were noisy, active and jumpy as a bunch of toddlers in a bounce house."

I highly recommend a visit to Frostfall Island.… (meer)

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FerneMysteryReader | Mar 14, 2024 |

Marigolds and Murder (Port Danby Cozy Mystery Series… door London Lovett

Lacey Pinkerton, a florist newly arrived in Port Danby, has an extraordinary nose, a "million dollar" nose. Why? It is extremely sensitive and so can discern fragrances better than virtually everyone else on earth. But, it also brings some difficulties with it: she can become overwhelmed by either very strong odours or huge numbers of scents coming at her quickly. (Seems a little strange that she would choose to become a florist, but at least flowers smell nice.) As a Cozy Mystery, there is always an element of romance as well as a mystery of some sort. In this case her next door neighbour and a police detective. What will she do? Oh, the mystery is not that, of course. One of her neighbours is found lying in her pumpkin patch with her head inside a smashed pumpkin, her potential prize winning biggest pumpkin which is now destroyed.
So what happened? It is actually more interesting (to me, at least) to see how her nose plays a part in the solution. Lovett has created a quirky town with some fun characters with individual traits to carry on the plot. Well written, interesting, but sort of pedestrian at the same time.
I would call it pleasant beach reading.… (meer)

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thedenathome | 2 andere besprekingen | Jun 13, 2023 |

Marigolds and Murder (Port Danby Cozy Mystery #1) door London Lovett

This one was pretty light on plot. Natural enough I guess for the introductory book in a series, introducing the setting, the lead character, all the other charactes and their quirks, and pleasant enough. Not much of a mystery though.

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JudyGibson | 2 andere besprekingen | Jan 26, 2023 |