A somewhat charming main character and a delightful setting redeem this very ordinary and predictable mystery. Need a book that requires no thought but still keeps you reading? Do you like cozy-mixed with police-procedural mysteries? Then this light tale may work for you. ( )

First in a cozy mystery series set on the gorgeous 1990s Isle of Man, this Kath-recommended story gets my seal of approval. What makes it so enjoyable is the acerbic-spinster heroine/sleuth (both apply to Aunt Bessie in this book). So I'm pleased to present my first post-strokes review of the delight that is Bessie.

If you're a fan of cozies you already know you're not going to be gore-splashed, or challenged to keep up with the pace of a police investigation; and that the cops will treat the amateur sleuth completely unrealistically as a colleague. This is, of course nonsense. But if you can go with the suspension of disbelief that mysteries require it's a trip to make with a quest for a character-driven story about a charming group of small-town friends who, regardless of their ages and genders and jobs, genuinely form a close community of supportive friends. The mystery here is not hugely difficult to work out; but the stakes are personal by the time the solution hoves into view.If it hadn't been so, I would've turned the last page of the book and immediately forgotten the whole thing; shifting from resolving the murders of innocent people to keeping Aunt Bessie safe was a bolt of storytelling inspiration that kept me very invested in the proceedings. The Scooby-group the author's assembled is going to be the make-or-break as the series moves on through its 26 (TWENTY-SIX!!) volumes, as always with cozies. The beginning is promising enough that I've already used part of a gift card to get [Aunt Bessie Believes] (An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Book 2) with the rest of that gift card. I'm recommending them based on the ease of investing in the set-up and setting; the pleasures of being entertained by genuinely nice people doing their best and choosing to do the right thing at every turn; and the pleasantly direct yet descriptive prose. ( )

Although I only rated it three stars, I enjoyed reading this novel a lot. Aunt Bessie is an elderly single lady living in a cottage on a beach on the Isle of Man. She spends her time reading crime novels, meeting friends and going to the bookshop. The setting is very cosy indeed, and I adored the descriptions of Aunt Bessie's life - it was soothing to read about her orderly habits, her comfortable home and the beauty of the island. In fact, this interested me much more than the actual case. This is why I enjoyed the second half, when the crime story really picks up, a little less than the first half. The case was ok, but I did not particularly care for it and the characters involved were not very interesting to me.
However, it must be said that all in all, this novel is rather like "cozy crime fanfiction", and I think an editor would have changed quite a lot of things. What really got on my nerves after some time was how utterly illogical and stupid the police persons behaved. I think crime novels should at least be a tad bit realistic.
Still, it was the perfect read for my current mood and I will definitely continue this series! One can never have too many feel good reads at hand! ( )

Aunt Bessie is more like a friend than a fictional character. It's fun to get to know her and her friends and to learn something about the Isle of Man which I knew nothing much about previously. I do have to admit that I wasn't expecting much from the book at first, since cozy mysteries are not really my “cuppa tea”… but I found that I really enjoyed it and almost wished I could share a “cuppa tea” with Aunt Bessie. It was a change from the dark, gory, and disturbing mystery books, or the ghostly paranormal books that feed this ghost story junkie’s “habit” that I usually read ….and it met a challenge category…so win, win. ( )

Another series first. Aunt Bessie lives on the beautiful Isle of Man and knows most people in her community. On a bad weather day she takes her daily walk on the beach and literally stumbles over a dead man. DI Rockwell is new to the area and the first thing he learns in the investigation is that Aunt Bessie is a useful tool. In addition to knowing people, they trust her and soon she's assisting the investigation.

I enjoyed this, will continue the series and will be interested in how it develops. ( )