I have read and reviewed the first book in the series, The Body in the Garden, and so I was eager to see how the characters of Lily and Jack have grown.
In this book, Lily Adler takes a break from the London society to visit her Aunt in Hampshire. When she hears about a haunted house in neighbouring her Aunt’s place, Lily obviously wants to take a look. However, when she arrives to find a dead body at Belleford Manor, hauntings take a back seat to the murder mystery that unfolds. This time though, Lily finds a friend in Matthew Spencer on her investigative journey.
I can’t deny my love for locked room mysteries and Katharine Schellman delivers on that front. With a set of suspects at hand, the author unfolds the mystery in layers and manages to put a twist in there too. The underlying horror theme with the hauntings at the Belleford Manor, the setting is really interesting. This is a thorough cozy mystery though and not a horror story, but the haunting element is used to elevate the mystery.
Lily Adler is as stubborn and courageous as ever. Matthew Spencer is an interesting addition. He is very similar to Lily, but also different from her at some aspects. I did miss Jack Hartley though and I think I prefer Jack over Matthew overall. The beginning was a bit slow and the slow pace holds up to almost halfway of the story. There were somethings that could have been excluded in order to make the story fast paced. As someone who was looking to get back to the characters, I did get through the book. But I don’t know if I would have continued in case this was the first book I picked up from the series.
I would not suggest anyone who hasn’t already read a Lily Adler book to start the series with this one. However, putting aside the pacing issue, this was an entertaining plot to delve into.
Review Copy received from Partners in Crime Tours
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