Beth Byers

Violet and Victor are returning home from Europe because younger sister Isolde is unexpectedly getting married; when they learn that her fiance is older than her father, fat and ugly, and quite clearly keeping company with another woman, they vow to do everything they can to derail the marriage. While on her wedding day, Isolde finally gets up the gumption to refuse to marry the man, the question is soon extremely moot as the scoundrel has been quite comprehensively murdered. But who among the already-gathered wedding guests could have done it? Chief Inspector Jack Wakefield doesn’t suspect Violet this time, but her father is certainly in the frame, unless Violet can find out differently…. This is the second in this cozy series and suffers from all the flaws of the first, plus some. Aside from using Americanisms that a British aristocrat in 1920s England simply wouldn’t use, the writing itself is just extremely sloppy. For example, a great deal is made of the fact that Violet and Victor hire a cab to reach a particular London destination because they figure a cab driver would be more likely than themselves to be able to find the place, but after speaking with various people at that destination, they blithely pile into *their own car* to head off elsewhere. And, sorry, people in the 1920s were not “journaling” - certainly they *kept journals* and *wrote* in same, but the word was a noun, NOT a verb (shouldn’t be a verb now, according to me, but it definitely wasn’t one then). And, well, the whole tone of this book just comes off as rather poorly written fan-fic; it’s not worth a minute of your time. I’m angry with myself that I bought the *third* book in the series (it was cheap on kindle); unfortunately I can’t return it for a refund because I certainly won’t read it. Don’t waste your time with this series; I’m sorry I gave it even two tries!… (plus d'informations)

Violet Carlyle and her twin brother Victor are summoned to spend the Christmas holidays with Aunt Agatha, along with various cousins. This is no hardship for the twins, as Aunt Agatha more or less raised them after the death of their mother, and they love to spend time with her. But Aunt Agatha is concerned that one of her relatives is trying to kill her to get hold of her massive fortune, and she hopes that Jack Wakefield, the son of one of her close friends and a Chief Inspector at Scotland Yard, can identify the culprit before he or she succeeds…. This is the first of something like 30 books in the Violet Carlyle cozy series, set in 1920s England and featuring a slew of Bright Young Things. It’s very sloppy in terms of language - among other sins, Violet and Vic call everybody “luv,” something the children of an earl would never do, and there are definite Americanisms that are completely out of place (no Brit of any class would call money “the green” but these characters do constantly). That said, the main characters are entertaining and fairly witty, the dilemmas of life are well-drawn, and I kept reading because I wanted to find out what happened next, surely the most important job a writer has! It also has the advantage of scratching my current cozy-set-in-the-1920s itch and being very inexpensive in e-book form, so I will continue with the series for now, at least; a mild recommendation.… (plus d'informations)