Book: A Death at Silversmith Bay
Author: Emma Jameson
Pub Day: February 21st 2022
BuyLink: https://geni.us/B09NMBXMV4social
About the Book:
Librarian Jemima Jago can’t resist a whodunnit, but finding a body in a bookshop is a plot twist she could never have expected…
Jem Jago is back at work with her antique books, and spending her weekends exploring her new home—the windswept Isles of Scilly—in her little sailboat, Bellatrix. She’s really starting to settle into island life. Unfortunately, murder in the Scillies is not as rare as some of her manuscripts…
On a trip out to picturesque Penzance with best friend Micki, the pair stumble across an intriguing mystery, not of the fictional kind. In Tatteredly’s second-hand bookstore, they discover the body of beautiful Gina Marrak, Micki’s former sister-in-law.
Jem can’t bear to see Micki so distraught, and with the hapless Detective Conrad in charge of the inquiry, she must do some sleuthing of her own to find out the truth. As she convinces Gina’s so-called friends to talk, Jem learns she wasn’t actually well liked in her little corner of Penzance. Did the jilted lover, the pretentious pub landlord or the rowdy real estate agent bump off poor Gina?
Poking around the scene of the crime, Jem finds an unusual book which leads her down an unlikely path. But can Jem get to the bottom of the mystery before the terrible tale comes to an end for her too?
A fun, cozy page-turner filled with mystery and intrigue, from the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Emma Jameson. Fans of M.C. Beaton, Faith Martin and Agatha Christie will be totally hooked!
My review:
I enjoy a good M.C. Beaton book, so when I had the chance to read A Death at Silversmith Bay, I jumped on it. This is my first book in the series. I wasn’t unduly hampered by not having read books 1 and 2, although I suspect the backstory would be helpful. So, don’t do like me – start at the beginning.
Jemima Jago, or Jem, is coming home to Penzance after having spent some time in the Scilly Isles. Imagine her surprise to find her flat occupied by a cat she doesn’t recall owning, and her bathtub full of bags of smelly, messy garbage. Turns out her sister Tori is the one responsible, both for the cat and the garbage. When Jem sees what appears to be a bloody mallet in the trash bags, she has to figure out what happened.
When she and her friend Micki find Micki’s sister-in-law with her head bashed in in her used bookstore, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the bloody mallet in Jem’s flat could well be what did Gina in. Jem earned a reputation as an amateur sleuth in Scilly, and the “Scilly Sleuth,” as she was dubbed now has to work out what happened, and whether her sister had anything to do with it.
A Death at Silversmith Bay is a light, enjoyable read. I liked the setting, as Cornwall is a place I’ve never been but would love to visit. The characters were entertaining and believable, even when they did some pretty stupid things. Wyatt the Walrus was a particularly humorous touch (although I’m sure the people in his path probably didn’t find him amusing in the least!). The mystery kept me guessing, and when I’d think perhaps I had it figured out, bam, another suspect got knocked off the list.
And I want Jem’s job! I’d love to be a librarian where I can take lashings of time off to go pursue interests outside of work. Are there any other bosses like hers in the world, and if there are, are they hiring?
If you’re looking for an engaging, cleverly written mystery that will let you escape to Cornwall for a while, take a trip to Silversmith Bay. Five stars from me!
Disclaimer: I received an advance reader copy of this book from Bookouture and NetGalley. All opinions here are mine, and I don’t say nice things about books I don’t actually like.
Author Bio Emma Jameson writes mysteries that readers call witty, romantic, and full of surprises. An aspiring novelist since age seven, she took a long, twisty route to the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. After years of working at a major medical center, her first novel, cobbled together on nights and weekends, became a runaway e-book bestseller. Now she writes full-time and has sold over half a million books. A compulsive reader and information hoarder, Emma is always searching for that fascinating nugget or startling fact that will spark another novel. A lifelong Anglophile, she resides in the United States, where she enjoys swimming, yoga, and serving the needs of not one, not two, not three, but four cats.
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