Jane’s boyfriend is missing, and she thinks she may find him at North Carolina’s historic Biltmore Estate. Officially, she’s there to learn about luxury hotel management, but she’s also prowling around the breathtaking buildings and grounds looking for secret passageways and clues. One of the staff gardeners promises to be helpful . . . that is, until his body turns up in the reading room of his cottage, a book on his lap.
When she finally locates the kidnapped Edwin, his captor insists that she lead him back to Storyton Hall, convinced that it houses Ernest Hemingway’s lost suitcase, stolen from a Paris train station in 1922. But before they can turn up the treasure, the bell may toll for another victim . . .[summary via Amazon]
When the Charmed Pie Shoppe Mysteries ended (also written by Ellery Adams), I didn't think another series would capture my attention and all of my emotions so much. However, the Book Retreat Mysteries were waiting in the wings, waiting to captivate. And, captivate they do!! This series holds a very special place in my cozy heart...
Jane Steward is the Guardian of Storyton Hall, and among the responsibilities this entails, it involves murder, mayhem and protecting not just those that she loves, but also a secret library. In Murder in the Reading Room, Jane is racing to the man she loves, to save him. However what she finds changes everything she knew about being a Guardian and the people around her.
Oh gosh... this series is everything that defines a cozy. It is set in a small town, there is murder and mayhem, and "cozy" characters and situations that give readers the "toe-curling" feeling of wanting to curl up with this book for hours. However, it also provides so much more than the traditional cozy. I finished Murder in the Reading Room and described its words as "constantly moving, never stationary". For anyone that has read a book by Ellery Adams this is such a perfect description, because she has the ability to spin her stories on the axis and move them in a direction that we never see coming, a direction that is the perfect evolution for the story and characters. This is exactly what happens in Murder in the Reading Room. Forget everything you thought you knew about Storyton Hall, Jane and her friends because life will never be the same again!
Every story in this series centres around at least one author in history. This time it is Ernest Hemingway and I loved reading more about him. Quite often, at the end, I put down the book, and pick up my computer to research said author. I love that Ellery Adams has me researching and wanting to learn more about the authors I'm reading about.
I cannot recommend the Book Retreat Mysteries enough. They transcend the traditional cozy, and I strongly believe that every cozy mystery reader should be reading them. Intelligent, well-plotted and definitely cozy these are books not be missed!
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