Saturday, June 8, 2013

BOOK REVIEW: MURDER IN THE MONASTERY by LESLEY COOKMAN

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Accent Press Ltd (April 3, 2013)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 190891775X
About Murder in the Monastery:

The eleventh book in the Libby Sarjeant series of British  murder  mysteries  which  features  a retired actress as the female sleuth and are based in the picturesque village of Steeple Martin.

Libby Sarjeant is invited to look into the provenance of a jewelled Anglo-Saxon reliquary which has appeared on a website. The nuns at  St  Eldreda’s  Abbey  are  curious,  as  it  apparently contains a relic of St Eldreda herself. Libby’s friend Peter obtains permission to mount a  play based on St Eldreda’s story in the ruins of the original monastery called,  naturally,  Murder  In The Monastery. And then, inevitably, a real body is discovered, and Libby and her friend Fran find out that this is not the first.
 
Purchase from Amazon.

About Lesley Cookman:



Lesley started writing almost as soon as she could read, and filled many Woolworth’s exercise books with pony stories until she was old enough to go out with boys. Since she’s been grown up, following a varied career as a model, air stewardess and disc jockey, she’s written short fiction and features for a variety of magazines, achieved an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Wales, taught writing for both Kent Adult Education and the WEA and edited the first Sexy Shorts collection of short stories from Accent Press in aid of the Breast Cancer Campaign. The Libby Sarjeant series is published by Accent Press, who also publish her book, How to Write a Pantomime, with a foreword by Roy Hudd. Lesley is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, the Society of Authors and the Crime Writers’ Association.

Lesley’s pantomimes are published by Jasper Publishing.

 

Reader review. . . 

The sisters of St. Eldreda's Abbey have an ancient relic, the finger of St. Eldreda.  The reliquary in question has changed hands (no pun intended) several times, and in mysterious ways, over the centuries.  The sisters would like to know more concerning the history and ownership of the reliquary, so they turn to retired actress Libby Sarjeant for help.  When Libby's friend Peter writes a play to be presented at the Abbey entitled Murder in the Monastery, one of the actors is found murdered near the reliquary.  Libby, her friend Fran, and the rest of her usual cast of characters are on the case.

This is the eleventh (!) book in the series, and as this is the first I've read, I felt a bit behind throughout the book.  I enjoyed it, as it is a good, cozy British mystery at its best.  The group of friends who gather at the pub, the Chief Inspector who shares just enough information with Libby, and the quaint little village itself are all mainstays of this genre, and Ms. Cookman does it well.  

4 stars

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the Cozy Mystery book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” 

  

1 comments:

Sandie said...

This sounds like a good read, but I think I would like to read the previous 10 books first. (this could take awhile, and some saving to purchase them). Good luck with this book!

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