Miss Tibbles Investigates [Paperback]

April Kihlstrom (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 12, 2000

Pamela Kendall is in love with her childhood friend Julian, who pines for an altogether different girl. But as luck would have it, her mother's former governess, Miss Tibbles, is visiting--and she knows the best way to avert a disaster of the heart....

"A master of the genre."--Mary Kingsley

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Signet (June 12, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451200403
• ISBN-13: 978-0451200402
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #147,262 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Now that my children are grown, I live in Texas with my dog Sophy. Having a son on the east coast and a daughter on the west coast gives me a good excuse to travel.

I love writing about men and women who try to live their lives with honor and courage and concern for those around them. I've had challenges in my own life and yet I still believe in happy endings and the ability of each of us to rise above the past and find or make some kind of good come out of every challenge.

I hope my books inspire readers to see the possibilities in their own lives.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A miss, but still a good read, October 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Miss Tibbles Investigates (Paperback)

This novel blends Regency romance with the English house party murder mystery. Mrs Merriweather, formerly the governess Miss Tibbles, is called to help one of her former pupils sort out the mysterious happenings in her family's country residence. Bodies show up and the local magistrate is called. Colonel Merriweather makes another appearance and lends a hand in the investigation.

While an enjoyable read, the book could have used more careful editing. The changing family relationships of the "poor relation" secondary family to the primary characters created confusion. While the mystery is well-plotted and the actions of the characters understandable in the context, the relationships issue detracted from my enjoyment. It is almost as if their were two stories patched together to make one novel.

However, I did enjoy this novel very much and hope that Ms Kihlstrom further expands the story line in this direction.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Miss Tibbles Investigates, August 22, 2000

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Miss Tibbles Investigates (Paperback)

Miss Tibbles, former governess, now happily married to Col. Merriweather, is back!!

At the request of a former charge, Lady Fairchild, Mrs. Merriweather goes to Kendall Hall for a visit. Almost as soon as she arrives, she senses that all is not well. There is an air of unease and secrecy at Kendall Hall. And everyone seems to have something to hide! Lady Fairchild is afraid that her husband may be having an affair; Lord Fairchild is receiving threatening letters; Pamela Fairchild must hide her love for her childhood playmate, Julian Deerwood, and welcome the woman he loves, Catherine Winley. And what is Catherine Winley hiding? And then on the night of the ball, a man who could pass for Lord Fairchild's twin is found murdered.

Adding to all, Mrs. Merriweather also has to contend with the snobbish behaviour of the inhabitants of Kendall Hall, both above and below stairs, because of her former profession as a governess. Things are definitely not easy for formerly formidible Miss Tibbles this time! Nonetheless, she does manage to solve the mystery and untangle all the romantic entanglements.

A fun read, and the fact that it was easy to figure out the murderer and his motives does not detract at all. But too much happpened all at once. Everything tied together nicely in the end, but if there had been fewer secrets, it might have made a little easier reading.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A mystery shouldn't be fluff, even if it is a Regency, November 26, 2000

By 

Carol A. Strickland (NC, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Miss Tibbles Investigates (Paperback)

I prefer my books with a little action, a little characterization. I want to read books where the characters change from beginning to end. I like my mysteries to be mysteries and not obvious enough to be guessed in the first third of the book. Miss Tibbles doesn't even solve this mystery herself. Though it would appear that she might have, we never saw it, and thus this reader was left completely unsatisfied. One character in the book does solve the mystery... on an extremely flimsy remark. I certainly didn't believe it.

Oh, the prose of the book is nice enough, but nice doesn't stretch any boundaries. It doesn't make me think. If the author truly likes this character, I hope that her next book lets Marian (and please settle on how the reader is presented with her name!) flesh out a bit and entertain some bolder, perhaps even flamboyant characters whose lives, manners and viewpoints are changed by their circumstances. Just because the Regency era was so constrained doesn't mean that a 21st Century reader must be similarly constrained.