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Capable of Murder

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CAPABLE OF MURDER- REVIEW

Expatriate Belinda Lawrence returns to England after an adolescence spent in Australia. She visits her Great Aunt Jane in a tiny village near Bath and receives a chilly welcome. After that visit, her great-aunt and she have minimal contact,just exchanging cards at Christmas time.

Years pass then Belinda is surprised to receive a note from Great Aunt Jane asking her to visit. Again Belinda takes the train to Bath and the little village where her reclusive great-aunt lives. En route, a fellow passenger bothers her.

At her great-aunt's dismal stone residence, Belinda thinks the house's deserted until she stumbles over Aunt Jane's body at the foot of the stairs. The police coroner informs the shocked Belinda that her relative has been dead for days. The ruling by the court is "accidental death."

A few days later,Belinda receives a letter from her great-aunt's solicitor asking her to visit his office at her convenience. She again takes the train from London to the village and this time hears quite pleasant news, her great-aunt has left her the house and property plus a sizable sum of money.

The pleasant woman who lives next door with her sibling befriends Belinda. The woman's younger brother surprisingly turns out to be Belinda's troublesome fellow traveler on the train. He is a landscape gardener who is most interested in restoring Aunt Jane's garden. For some reason Aunt Jane would never let him.

Tired of city life, Belinda decides to move to the village and live in the house her great-aunt has left her.

The great-aunt's death has been a shock, but Belinda's not prepared for what is coming. Danger encircles her and she senses she's threatened but has no idea why or who wants to harm her.

With interesting characters,Brian Kavanagh's well-crafted, seductive tale,Capable of Murder lulls the reader into a false sense of security then attacks when least expected. There are many twists and turns as the story winds its way toward its startling conclusion.

This is a must-read book. It is definitely recommended.

Review by Nancy Madison,author of Clues to Love, Never Love a Stranger and What the World Needs Now. ([...])

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A spellbinding mystery that held me from the first page. Set in a small English village it has a cast of characters, each of whom are well drawn and each is under suspicion of being a murderer. That is the dilemma facing Belinda Lawrence when she inherits her aunt's cottage. Written visually, Capable of Murder leads the reader along with Belinda as she encounters each new danger. There is humour and the title itself is a clue. Highly recommended for those who enjoy a well-written and entertaining puzzle.

Belinda Lawrence discovers the body of her reclusive great aunt on the floor of her home and becomes an heiress as the old lady's death is labeled an accident by the police. But Belinda can't stop the niggling doubt at the back of her mind. The problem was who would kill an old woman and why. There seemed to be nothing missing in the house.

Belinda learns there are great differences from living in the lights of the city and the darkness that descends on the unlighted streets of the village once she claims her inheritance with the intention of living in the house.

It isn't long before an antiques dealer turns up looking for old furniture and a realtor wants to sell the house for her. The only people who seem friendly are her closest neighbors.

A break in at the house, another murder in the house keep the action in this well crafted story moving forward as Belinda has to decide who to trust among the people who have taken an interest in her new home. Why did the lawyer who wrote her aunt's will disappear? Why does the neighbor feel so strongly about the overgrown garden?

These and other questions will keep the reader turning pages as they try to identify the villain of the tale and solve the mystery before Belinda does. Recommended as a fun read written by talented author Brian Kavanagh who introduces us to a cast of characters not soon forgotten. A story with a surprise in store for the reader.

I am pleased to recommend this book to any mystery fan. Enjoy. I did.

A new author whose first mystery captured my attention. Highly recommended for those who enjoy a mystery that has a touch of the thriller and a smidgen of romance. Well developed characters and an intriguing plot. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.

Belinda Lawrence is summoned to England by her great aunt Jane. Leaving her home in Australia behind, Belinda heads to the small English village but she is shocked beyond belief to discover her aunt's dead body. The police insist it was an accident, but Belinda isn't buying it. She's convinced someone murdered her aunt and she intends to find out who that person is.

When Belinda learns she is the sole heir to Jane's home and belongings, she suddenly finds herself in danger. First, the home she inherits from her aunt is broken into and vandalized, then her own life is threatened. She also finds herself involved with two very handsome men, but she doubts their motives. Are they truly interested in her or are they more interested in her inheritance?

This is the perfect cozy mystery. It has everything from a curious heroine, to a small English village, to a mysterious old house and two men trying to be heroes to our heroine. This is the first Belinda Lawrence and hopefully there are many more to come. Three others have already been written and I will eventually be reviewing those as well.

I loved that this was set in a small English village. It's been a long time since I read one with this setting and it made me feel like I was right there in that village. It was a warm, cozy feeling.

The author gave us an amazing cast of characters. Belinda is the type of heroine that will be beloved and leave readers wondering what's happening to her next. I know I will be.

This book had the feel of a mystery along the lines of Agatha Christie. There were many twists and turns leaving readers guessing right along with Belinda. It was fast-paced leaving me wanting more.

Belinda Lawrence has had very little contact with her great aunt, so she was a bit surprised to receive a note requesting that she come by for a visit. Unfortunately, the visit was a bit too late as Belinda discovered her aunts body days dead on the floor at the bottom of the stairs.

Though called an accident by the police, Belinda sees things a little differently especially since the letter requesting the visit had been mailed after her aunts supposed accident.

With some quirky and other eerie characters, the author weaves a tale that has the reading turning the pages even though you think you have it figured out, you still want to see if Kavanagh was only teasing the reader or if there really was something afoot in this very dark village far away from the city light with overgrown gardens and mystery chambers.

Brian Kavanagh has spent years in the Australian film industry as a writer, editor, producer, and director. He has received awards from the Australian Film Editors Guild and the Australian Film Institute for editing FROG DREAMING, as well as an AFI award for his first feature film, A CITY'S CHILD, which also won the Gold Southern Cross Advertiser Award for Best Australian Film.

Australian Belinda Lawrence receives a cryptic note from her great aunt Jane, who is a bit of a recluse. She can't think what it's about, as Aunt Jane wasn't particularly friendly at their first meeting. But she is totally unprepared for her aunt's body lying in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. She is amazed even further to discover that she is the heiress in her aunt's will, bequeathing an ancient cottage and rundown garden on the outskirts of Bath, England. Belinda settles in, but it seems that everyone she encounters has a hidden agenda, making her wonder if her aunt's death was an accident:

"'It seems my aunt had been asking around Bath for old maps. She even called personally at a bookshop and specified that she wanted a map that showed this village.'

Hazel walked to the window and looked down into the derelict garden.

'Which book shop?'

'Can't remember the name, but it's in Pierrepont Street, near the bus station. A strange place and an even stranger owner.'

Hazel turned back into the room. 'You mean JACK THE RIPPER?'

'Do I?' Belinda looked at Hazel in alarm."

There's nothing like a good old fashioned English cottage owned by a reclusive woman to arouse the interest of the reader. Add a few British rainstorms, a mysterious and handsome neighbor with something to hide, a few real estate agents and lawyers with ulterior motives and it all wraps up into a perfectly packaged mystery that makes the reader shiver with delight.

Hopefully this Belinda Lawrence mystery is the first of a series, and that Brian Kavanagh's first foray into mystery writing produces a good many more books.

Shelley Glodowski
Senior Reviewer

Capable of Murder
By Brian Kavanagh

Capable of Murder is the first book in a new mystery series. Readers will meet Belinda Lawrence, who ends up inheriting a cottage and garden near Bath, England when her Aunt Jane dies by falling down the stairs. Belinda then finds a hidden room and hears that her aunt was looking for a map. She begins to wonder if her aunt really fell down the stairs after all . . . or if she was pushed. Seems that Belinda's garden might be worth enough to kill for. Belinda begins to investigate while meeting her neighbors Rosemary and Jacob and a somewhat pushy real estate agent named Mark. She also meets Hazel, an antique dealer. At the end of the book, Belinda and Hazel make a deal where they enter into a partnership.

This was a good mystery and a good introduction to some interesting characters. This was a quick read. I do wish that some of the supporting characters, namely Mark and Hazel, were developed more but I am hoping that they do so in later books. I will gladly continue this series.

Reviewed by Melissa A. Palmer
Melissaenglish72@yahoo.com
July 13, 2008

When Belinda Lawrence receives a letter from her great aunt in England asking her to visit, she leaves Australia with to see her last remaining relative. Her aunt hadn't been overly welcoming to her on a visit years earlier and Belinda was curious as to the reason for her aunt's request.

Arriving in Milford, outside of Bath, Belinda finds her aunt's house open and dark. Thinking that perhaps her aunt was ill in bed, Belinda walks to the stairway and stumbles, literally, over her aunt's body at the foot of the stairs.

Belinda finds that she is the sole heir of her aunt's estate and now has the decision of staying in England or selling the cottage and returning to Australia. She meets Mark, a real estate agent, and Hazel, an antiques dealer. both of whom seem very interested in her aunt's home and possessions. Her next door neighbors, Rosemary and Jacob welcome her to the village and things seem propitious for staying. Jacob is a landscape gardener and it turns out that Belinda's new home may have one of the few small gardens created by a very famous landscape gardner, Lancelot Brown.

The characters in this books are wonderfully defined. They all behave in a sinister manner at one time or another. The descriptions of the gardens and cottage are quite vivid. Historical information interspersed with the story is wonderful. I very much enjoyed learning about the gardens and their various incarnations.

When Belinda Lawrence's Aunt Jane dies suddenly, Belinda is stunned to learn that she's inherited Jane's cottage in a village outside Bath. She'd only visited her aunt once before and the taciturn Jane hadn't made Belinda feel particularly welcome. The official cause of Jane's death was a fall down the stairs, but a visit to the cottage and encounters with the locals, among other things, force Belinda to think otherwise. Add an intense interest in her aunt's property from two handsome strangers and ominous events, and you've got the making of a great curl-up-with-a-blanket cozy.

Capable of Murder is a short 184 page whodunit that zips along at a pretty quick pace because there aren't any of those pesky subplots to weave through the main story. Thing is, I love subplots. They add depth to a mystery and help flesh out characters, which is partly why I feel something was missing in this book. Also, I would have welcomed a few more suspects to make the puzzle trickier. Most readers will figure out who the killer is quite quickly. Still, those who love cozies that incorporate gardening into the story, not to mention a little romantic suspense, will enjoy the book.