Customer Reviews

A Rose Before Dying (A Second Sons Mystery)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In "A Rose Before Dying", Charles Vance, the Earl of Castlemoor, becomes involved in a murder investigation when his uncle, Sir Edward, is accused of murdering his ex-mistress, Lady Banks, after she throws him over for a younger man. Although this is the second book in the Second Sons Inquiry Agency mysteries, it actually features Vance as the investigator, rather than Knighton Gaunt, although Gaunt does help.

The murderer leaves a rose, the "Lady Banks" rose, and a taunting note behind after killing Lady Banks, and although Sir Edward is a rather ill-tempered man, Vance is sure he's innocent. When a second rose and note are delivered to the Second Sons agency, the race is on to identify the rose and try to stop the killer.

In his efforts to stop the tragedy, Vance hooks up with a lady rosarian, Ariadne Wellfleet. She's got her own problems, not the least of which is the fact that she may lose her home and business to her father's partner. But she gamely tries to help Vance identify the roses to stop the killer.

I don't want to say much more about the plot because I don't want to include any spoilers. In many ways, this reminds me a lot of classic mysteries by authors like Victoria Holt, Amanda Quick, and Agatha Christie. The author has a good feel for the period and the problems faced by women like Ariadne who are expected to conform to more "suitable" roles of wives and mothers, rather than live independently and pursue their own interests.

The plot was intriguing to me (particularly since I love roses) and well-executed, and it turned out to be a great "beach read" when I took a few days off to relax. I'm looking forward to the next one!

Really enjoyed this historical murder mystery. It started out a little slow for me. Great characters and storyline once you get into the book a little further. Murder investigation keeps you guessing at "who done it". I received a free copy of this book to review.

This book was a good read.It was hard to put down once started.The story was plausible as were the Characters. However, as I was reading about the desperate bad guys I was sure hoping there weren't actually people like that around.I kept hoping either Charles would grab her up or Ariadne would smack Mr. Phillips up side his head. No such luck. As this story was set in different locations from most books I have read, it was good to learn of new places as I read along. The same old stuff is boring. Please try this book. I can't wait to read more from this author. I received this book in return for a review.

I received this book free in exchange for my review.

I enjoyed this book very much! It's a good mystery and a bit of a love story. The roses were something different in a mystery, and it was interesting to learn a little bit about them as I read. This book kept my interest all through the story and I would recommend it to all mystery readers.

I really enjoy good murder mysteries and entertaining Regency romances. "A Rose Before Dying" hit both marks for me. Can't wait to go back and read the first installment in the"Second Sons Mystery" series.

In "A Rose Before Dying" Sir Edward's mistress is murdered and all signs point to him as the murderer. His nephew, Charles Vance, wants to prove his innocence. The murderer leaves roses as clues, so Charles must find an expert to help him solve the riddles. The beautiful Ariadne Wellfleet agrees to help and the story progresses....

It was fun learning a few facts about roses and something of the social mores of the time.(I did find myself yelling at Ariadne a few times, but you will need to read the story to find out why!)

The book was fast paced and kept my interest with assorted surprises along the way.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in order to review it.

"A Rose Before Dying" is a good mystery very much in the "classic" British mystery vein. And like other books in these genres, it starts out a little slow. But, stick with it! It is well worth reading!

It had great character development and the characters all fit into the story well.

The mystery kept me guessing til the very end and I loved the way everything tied together at the end and all questions raised during the story were eventually answered.

If you haven't read these kinds of mysteries before "A Rose Before Dying" would be a great one to start with.

I received a free copy of this book in order to review it.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of reviewing it. I'm not a big van of British mysteries but must say I did enjoy this book.

Charles Vance's uncle has been accused of murder and all of the evidence seems to point to his guilt. Charles doesn't feel the Agency his uncle has hired to look into the matter is as unbiased as they could be or doing enough be so takes over the investigation. During the investigation more people are murdered and the evidence always seem to point to his uncle, Sir Edward. The murderer always leaves a rose and cryptic note which leads Charles to a lady rosarian, Ariadne Wellfleet, to identify the rose in hopes it will help solve the mystery.

There were enough twists and turns to keep my interest and I liked a lot of the characters. It's not an extremely long book so is great for those times when you want to lose yourself in a book but not spend a long time getting to the end of it.

I really like a good mystery and this one pleases without the blood and action found in most. It has the same sedate style as Agatha Christie or even Sherlock Holmes. Not enough to horrify, but enough action to keep you intrigued.

The characters are engaging and the time period was done very well. All in all a great read.

I received a free copy of this book to review. I have no personal knowledge of the author.

A good solid little mystery, quaint with just the right amount of secrets and a mixture of characters. I must admit I though I guessed who it was after his first scene, then the writer threw in a red herring (rather a good one) and I got taken off track, so I ended up being surprised by the villains identity. Personally I thought Mr Gaunt was totally suspect also. Lord Castlemoor has a cantankerous uncle who seems to be the main suspect for multiple murders. Whilst investigating he not only picks up an orphan, but fobs her off on the next unsuspecting female. The story is an interesting view into the position of females and/or lower classes in that era. The book is also an interesting guide into the topic of roses. I wonder if the writer picked that specifically or whether it is a love of hers. I enjoyed the read. I received a free copy of this book for my review.

...which may account for why my review is far less favorable than those who received a free copy in exchange for their publicity---er, I mean, their unbiased input. ;) I actually enjoyed the first "Second Sons" book quite a lot, and had moderate but realistic hopes for this one. I didn't expect or even want a Pulitzer candidate; just an engaging, entertaining novel. Sadly, this book failed to live up to even those modest expectations. The editing (or lack thereof) was truly some of the most sloppy and unprofessional I've ever come across: at times, even the characters' names were incorrect! When addressing his Uncle Edward, the character named Charles refers to his uncle as---you guessed it---Charles! Yes, he calls his uncle by his OWN name instead. A few times, in fact. And similarly careless, egregious errors pop up throughout the novel, distracting from a story that isn't nearly compelling enough to compensate for these embarrassingly amateurish mistakes. Did anyone even bother to read this over before publishing it?! The dialogue, characterizations and the mystery itself are all stilted and flat. Again, this is coming from someone who was impressed by the first entry of this series and was predisposed to enjoy this one as well. A few vaguely interesting and amusing scenes convinced me to give this book two stars instead of one, but honestly, even for the relatively low price of $2.99, readers in search of historical mysteries and/or romance can do FAR better!