Customer Reviews

No Clue at the Inn

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I don't usually comment on reviews of my books. I consider it everyone's right to form an opinion. Indeed, I am always most grateful that someone has taken the time to write a review... even if it's vitriolic, such as the one by "Bess from Lebanon, NH." I'm sorry she didn't enjoy the book, but then I can't please everyone. I must however, correct one glaring error in her statements. The lady states that I mentioned King George VI in my Edwardian novel. The page she was referring to is #61. At the bottom of the page it states quites clearly that it was George Fifth who was a barrister. Since it is plainly spelled out, I would suggest that Bess from Lebanon acquire spectacles.

In response to A reader from the East Coast below
THIS IS NOT AWFUL!!!! The characters are NOT shallow or full of cliches and they are NOT full of contradictions!!The marriage of Baxter and Cecily is very real. Reminds me of many marriages I know of today, so I do not think it is unreal. The historical detail is NOT sloppily researched. How would the reader from the East Coast know, did he/she live in 1912 England. How much did he/she research it to know it is sloppily researched? Probably none. And if the plot is transparent and contrived then I must be an idiot because Ms. Kingsbury fooled me. So I guess I am not as smart as the reader from the East Coast. Who I doubt is very smart at all, to say such awful words to someone she has never read before. I am a Kate Kingsbury fan, and I have read ALL the books something that I know reader from the East Coast hasn't and he/she has no right to judge anyone so harshly based on the reading of ONE book. He/she from the East Coast is way out of line and has no credibility in judging anything. This author has almost 20 mysteries in print so she must be doing something right. Or are the publishers who published her book idiots too? Disappoinment is one thing, awful is another. What is AWFUL is the reader from the East Coast's review.

A Kate Kingsbury fan

I enjoyed this book, as I have all of Kingsbury's works. The reviewers who condemn Ms. Kingsbury, are inaccurate at best. This book is not sloppily written, or poorly researched. I wouild suggest that before they pick up their poison pen to write a review, that they do a little "research" on their own, and print the facts. Bravo, to Ms. Kingsbury, for her delicious rebuttal!

Having read all of the Pennyfoot mysteries, I was happy to discover this addition to the series. The series, much like the "Mrs. Jefferies" books, is both a series of stand alone murder mysteries and an elongated novel, featuring characters whose lives and times provide a background for the mysteries. The growth of the characters and their relationships is almost as entertaining as the mysteries. This book is a fitting addition to an excellent series. Thank you Ms. Kingsbury.

I totally disagree with Disappointed from the East Coast. I found the book entirely enjoyable. I did not find any problem with the characters, I thought they were quite charming. And the story was very well executed. This is a very good book from a very good author. I wonder how many books the other person reviewing this has written where he/she seems to know everything about everybody but Ms Kingsbury has a large following of satisfied readers and one person who does not know what he/she is talking about, will not change Ms. Kingsbury's credibility. Go out and buy the book, don't critique it, read it and enjoy and be happy.

Cecily and Hugh Baxter are called upon by Uncle Edward to return to the Pennyfoot Hotel, now the Pennyfoot Country Club, to run things over the holidays. Cecily owned it and Hugh ran it before they were married. It seems Edward's current manager has fallen down a well and Edward is out of the country on business.

The authorities believe Barry Wortham's death is an accident. Cecily wonders otherwise, especially once they arrive at the Pennyfoot. All the staff is talking about how they don't believe it was an accident. Then Mrs. Wrotham asks Cecily to look into Barry's death.

Cecily invites her friends and former employees, Mrs. Chubb and Gertie as well as their families, to come and join them for the holidays. She also sets out to have a pantomime prepared for the holidays by her friend Phoebe and her dance troupe. This usually spells disaster. Her friend, Madeline, will help decorate the Pennyfoot for the Christmas holidays.

Many things happen to Cecily while she is investigating. Hugh is quite perturbed, because he explicitly asked her not to do anything without consulting him first. She keeps forgetting.

Then there's a definite murder. Cecily steps up her investigating and ends up putting herself in danger as well.

The four barristers and their wives staying at the Pennyfoot are real characters and really add to this story. I like books set in Inns and find it makes it easier to keep everyone together and accounted for.

This was the first book I've read in this series, and I can truly say I am looking forward to the next. Rarely do I like books set back in time, but this series is truly enchanting. The staff, current and former, are enjoyable characters and really add character.

I highly recommend you read this book.

I liked the book. It was full of suspense. It had a lot of murders though.
Cecily and Hugh Baxter are going to manage the Pennyfoot Country Club over the Christmas holiday. When she gets there she finds out that the x-manager had been found dead in a well. When not working Cicely tries to find out if it was an accident or a murder. Then one of the maids Jeanette goes missing. A while later Girtie finds her in a shed her throat slit open and a bloody butchers knife. Everyone goes crazy and wants to leave but in the end stays. The next day Roger Peebels car goes of a cliff and he dies. Was this an accident or a murder? Who is behind it?
The type of person who would like this book is someone who likes murder mysteries. It's kind of scary though. I also wouldn't recommend it to someone with a weak stomach.

OK, I didn't enjoy this book as much as earlier entries in the Pennyfoot Hotel series, but maybe I've just moved in a different direction in the meantime. The book opens as Cecily and hubby Baxter are at the breakfast table discussing a just-delivered letter; their multi-syllabic conversation seemed stilted and Baxter sounded like a pompous jerk.

Things picked up a bit after that scene. And to give Kingsbury her due, the dialogue provided is more believable for the period than if the two had been sitting there chatting in 21st Century American (or Brit) vernacular!

Although I didn't love this book, I don't think the more savage of the reviews posted here are warranted. I like Kingsbury's books overall, they are usually a good escapist read - rollicking good tales and some fun characters along the way.

This historical novel take places in the England of 1912, at the end of the Edwardian period. Mr and Mrs (Cecily) Hugh Baxter were the proprietors/owners of the Pennyfoot Hotel at Badgers End before they sold it to Edward Sandringham, the cousin of Mrs Baxter's first husband. (As an aside, the author Kate Kingsbury was born in England, and is also twice married. Perhaps the author has placed a bit of herself into Cecily's character). Edward had converted it into the Pennyfoot Country Club. Edward needs to leave urgently for South Africa so he writes the Baxter's to see if they can manage the Country Club during the Christmas season until he returns.

At Pennyfoot they learn from one of the more garrulous housemaids, Jenny, that Barry Wrothan, the previous manger, had been widely disliked. From the stable manager they hear that Wrothan's death was likely not an accident. Mrs. Baxter's friend Madeline tells Cecily that she is in grave danger if she involves herself with the death of the previous manager. Of course, this does not stop Cecily.

This is a enjoyable and pleasantly written cozy mystery, but with more story telling than mystery. It is longer than necessary to establish the plot and relatively modest mystery. The author appears to capture the social milieu of the time, with a husband who knows he has the right to 'manage his wife, hired help that needs to know their place, a clear class system, staff poised between servants and employees (e.g., Jenny is 'ordered' rather than asked to bring coffee), and derogatory comments about women in management. Viewed through today's prism, Mr. Baxter might appear as an overbearing misogynist, making the novel less enjoyable for some. However, viewed in the novel's historical context he is probably just about right. The plot's solution was not obvious to me, perhaps because it appeared to come somewhat "out-of-the-blue", with its primary "clues" established relatively late in the novel.

Bottom-line: Quite enjoyable cozy with characters you'll care about with a modest denouement, but the story is mostly an excellently written "set" piece. The small mystery and its solution could easily have been written as a short story. Most of the book is a description of human interactions, attitudes, and physical settings, often only marginally related to the mystery. Read it more for its delightful characters and setting than its mystery.

Let's go back a few years in time. It's 2003. Mother Teresa is beatified, Europe has a heat wave, the United States goes to war, and Kate Kingsbury decides to put the band back together. I mean, the cast. Specifically, the cast of her charming and well-received Pennyfoot Hotel books, a series of mysteries set in Edwardian England and furnished like a much-loved house with interesting and lively characters.

Now let's go further back. It's 1912. Cecily Sinclair Baxter and her husband Hugh sold the Pennyfoot to a cousin three years ago, but Cecily's hankering to go home. A letter from said cousin provides the perfect excuse: he asks her to manage the Pennyfoot during the Christmas season while he's away. Naturally, once Cecily and Baxter arrive back in the sleepy little village of Badgers End, they find themselves dealing with a murder at the Pennyfoot. The last one, of course, happened right before they left three years ago. Poor Cecily. One wants to tell her that correlation does not equal causation, but it'd be a hard sell.

No matter. The game's afoot. Our heroine is once more in pursuit of a killer, putting herself in danger while she cleverly pieces together some very unlikely clues. It's been three years since the last murder, but for Cecily, sleuthing is like riding a bicycle: you never forget, once you've learned how. And everything builds up to a roaring climax.

Obviously I enjoyed the original series tremendously. I have a few reservations about the first sequel (which has been followed by a new Pennyfoot Christmas book every year). Other reviewers have accurately pointed out how obnoxious Baxter's character became; he was one of my favorite characters in the original series, but unfortunately he is my least favorite of them all during the sequel, and makes some passages downright painful to read. It seems to take Cecily's character a while to find her footing as well, but once she does, she's back in fine form, and it's good fun to follow along with her. And longtime fans can greet with unalloyed pleasure the return of secondary characters like Colonel Fortescue, his wife Phoebe, Mrs. Chubb, Dr. Prestwick, and, of course Gertie Brown McBride, who has always been Cecily's best and cleverest foil (playing the "Downstairs" to Cecily's "Upstairs").

The strength of the Pennyfoot series has always lain in its characters, and that shows. In fact, the novel contorts in some unlikely ways in an effort to get everyone to reunite nice and tidy, clearly setting the stage for the next Christmas book. The ending strains the reader's credulity, but who cares? Tickets to reunion tours always cost a mint. Welcome back to the Pennyfoot.