Murder at the Maples (A Flora Lively Mystery: Book 1)
Mirrorball Books (September 16, 2013)
Genre: Cozy mystery
Number of Pages: 274

Synopsis

A tragic death. A reluctant sleuth. A childhood prank that went horribly wrong.

When Flora Lively inherits her father’s business she’s totally out of her depth. Shakers Removals is in trouble, and manager Marshall isn’t helping one bit – the ex-pat American delights only in winding her up. But Flora has other things on her mind, like Joy: surrogate grandmother and resident of the Maples Retirement Village. When Joy’s pet pug has a brush with death, Flora is pulled into a series of bizarre incidents at the Maples, where fear is starting to take hold.

Could harmless old Mr. Felix really be the boy from Joy’s past, determined to exact his revenge, or is it Joy’s guilty mind playing tricks on her? And what about the Captain’s death? Accidents happen, even to the most careful people, but Flora’s not convinced the old man simply fell down the stairs … Playing detective seemed like a good idea at first, but before long Flora realises the stakes are far higher than either she or Joy imagined.

Full of warmth and humour, this gripping puzzle will appeal to fans of M. C. Beaton and Edie Clare.

Review

Murder at the Maples is a cozy set in England and is about a moving company that seems to specialize in moving seniors from their homes into a retirement community.  Running the company after her father’s death, Flora has some big shoes to fill and has a manger, Marshall, that while related somehow, is from the US and sees business differently than Flora.  Not that either is right or wrong, they just have opposing viewpoints on how to run the company.  Flora has a degree in psychology and it comes in handy when dealing with the seniors that are moving into the Maples retirement home, in fact she has befriended Joy and is maybe a little too invested in the happenings at the home.  However, this comes to be a benefit when seniors start dying and Flora starts questioning what is really happening.

This book did take a little for me to get in to, but once I did and fell into a rhythm, I couldn’t wait to read what might come next.  Some of the “evil” characters were rather obvious to me, but may not be to everyone.  I think I knew that they were bad in some respect but didn’t know all of the details as to why.  It is a good start to a new series and we give it 4 paws.

About The Author

Joanne Phillips lives in Shropshire, England with her husband and young daughter. She’s the author of commercial women’s fiction Can’t Live Without and The Family Trap, and the Flora Lively series of cozy mysteries. Can’t Live Without was an Amazon top 100 bestseller in 2012 and her books regularly appear on category bestseller lists.

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I received a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.