Customer Reviews

Too Soon for Flowers

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4 star:		(1)
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In this second of Margaret Miles' mysteries set in the New England village of Bracebridge, the characters gather "Decameron"-style to escape an outbreak of smallpox in Boston. In addition to the sensible Charlotte Willett and her neighbor Richard Longfellow, who were featured in "A Wicked Way to Burn," readers are treated to increased exposure to Richard's sister Diana. A shrewdly flirtatious vixen worthy of Jane Austen, she has agreed, after much cajoling, to travel to Bracebridge to receive and recuperate from a state-of-the-art smallpox inoculation. Her letters home to her Boston friends about the privations of such a dreary backwater sparkle with hilarious and revealing observations.

Not so humorous are the suicide and murder that arise from the confluence of these and other characters, including a down-at-the-heels doctor, a young woman from Concord affianced to a local lad, and a flamboyant adventurer with a secretive past. The stalwart English Captain Edmund Montague makes a return appearance, as do the Reverend Christian Rowe and a number of other colorful villagers. As if getting to know these characters were not pleasure enough, Ms. Miles provides a sterlingly-plotted mystery and rich historical context on the state of medicine, marriage, and the mores of 18th-century New England. This delightful combination of entertainment and erudition is sure to put Bracebridge on every mystery-lover's map.

Karen Lyon

In 1764, a smallpox epidemic spreads throughout the Massachusetts Bay Colony, especially in Boston. In the village of Bracebridge, Richard Longfellow arranges for two females (his sisters Diana and Phoebe Morris) and a male (Lem Wainwright) to be inoculated by Dr. Benjamin Tucker. When he was in Europe, Richard was inoculated for the disease.

Like many Bostonians of wealth, David Pelham flees the city for a nearby village. In his case, he comes to Bracebridge where he obviously knows Benjamin and the two female patients. While the trio recovers from a milder form of the illness, someone murders Phoebe. Richard's neighbor Charlotte begins to investigate the killing. She quickly links Phoebe to David, but has no concrete evidence that he killed the victim. However, her suspicions of David rise further when Benjamin commits suicide. Still, proof is needed and David appears too clever to leave any shred of it around for Charlotte and Richard to find.

TOO SOON FOR FLOWERS, the second novel in the Bracebridge historical mystery series, is a superb Colonial who-done-it. The wealth of detail that makes the decade before the revolution seem so vivid to the reader. Like the previous novel, A WICKED WAY TO BURN, the murder mystery is entertaining, but the illumination on 1760's America makes the novel shine. The lead characters are fun to peruse as their relationship slowly forms. Sub-genre fans will go the extra mile to read the two novels of this series as Margaret Miles will become a household name.

Harriet Klausner

Ms. Miles' second Bracebridge Mystery is that rarest of items, a follow up that meets or exceeds the quality of the original novel. As before, her research is impeccable, and the depiction of Colonial Massachusetts rings absolutely true. I was fascinated by the descriptions of early practices of inoculation that are central to this story. Additionally, I believe Ms. Miles' prose to be among the best in the genre. It flows with an elegance and balance that is joy to read - and which contributes significantly to the experience of the language and conversation of the period. As before, the characters are well drawn and engaging. This author deserves to be far more widely read. Pick up this series, you will be glad that you did.

I had never heard of this author but was intrigued by the cover art and the book's synopsis. Now I can't wait to read her other book "A wicked Way to Burn". This book kept me interested the whole way through up to the very last page.Definetly would recommend this/

I'm not sure how to rate this book. It had some good moments. I like the characters and I like the way Ms. Miles dips into her period. The setting is New England (Bracebridge) in the spring of 1764. In the book we see the earlier attempts at innoculating against small pox. We also see murder and mayhem in this little New England town.
Charlotte Willett knows in her heart that when one of the young girls in quarantine for a small pox vaccination dies, it's murder, but she appears to be the only one that thinks so. She must investigate further and discovers an old love story that is at the root of the problem. I found the plot predictable, and there wasn't that much suspense to my mind. In truth, I had trouble getting through the book. I will read the rest of the series because I like Ms. Miles writing and especially her character portrayals.