Cathy Ace, the author of the Cait Morgan Mysteries, is back with an exciting new series!
The Blurb
Meet the Women of the WISE Enquiries Agency. The first in a new series.
Henry Twyst, eighteenth Duke of Chellingworth, is convinced his mother is losing her marbles. She claims to have seen a corpse on the dining-room floor, but all she has to prove it is a bloodied bobble hat.
Worried enough to retain the women of the WISE Enquiries Agency — one is Welsh, one Irish, one Scottish and one English — Henry wants the strange matter explained away. But the truth of what happened at the Chellingworth Estate, set in the rolling Welsh countryside near the quaint village of Anwen by Wye, is more complex, dangerous, and deadly, than anyone could have foreseen . . .
The Case of the Dotty Dowager by Cathy Ace
Series: A WISE Enquiries Agency Mystery, #1
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Publication Date (US): July 1, 2015
Hardcover: 224 pages
Hardcover: 224 pages
ISBN-10: 0727884956
ISBN-13: 978-0727884954
ISBN-13: 978-0727884954
E-Book File Size: 1708 KB
The Review
I just read an amazing book recently, y'all — The Case of the Dotty Dowager: A cosy mystery set in Wales by Cathy Ace. Let me tell you a little about it.
The Case of the Dotty Dowager is the first book in a new series, the WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries. WISE is an acronym for the nationalities of the four Enquiry Agents — Welsh, Irish, Scots, and English. By the way, for those of y'all unfamiliar with the term, my Kindle's trusty Oxford Dictionary of English informs me that Enquiry Agent is a British term for private detective. [This Kindle dictionary has come in handy when I read books set in the UK and Australia, so I can translate English to US English!]
From the very first page of The Case of the Dotty Dowager, I was immediately caught up in the mystery and couldn't stop turning the pages. The story is told in third person from multiple points of view, which I enjoyed and found to be an interesting technique for keeping my attention.
I really like the four women of WISE. They are different ages (20s, 30s, 50s, 60s), nationalities and ethnicities, are from different backgrounds, and have different work experiences prior to forming WISE. They work very well together despite, or perhaps because of, these differences.
I also really like the allegedly dotty dowager, Lady Althea. She is a Monty Python fan with a great sense of humor. (Her son Henry, and her Lady's Maid Aide, not so much.)
'She hasn't always been a maid, have you, Jennifer?' said Althea quietly.
'You mean aide, Your Grace,' replied Jennifer.
'Do I?' responded the dowager.
Henry had never understood his mother's love for, and fascination with, the entire canon of those Monty Python chaps. He didn't think they were even slightly amusing. Whenever he dared to mention this fact, his mother would tell him he'd been given a sense of humor bypass immediately after she'd given birth to him....
I like Henry anyway, despite his lack of appreciation for all things Monty.
I think you'll like Henry also, and his mother Althea, and the WISE women — Carol, Christine, Mavis, and Annie — and all the other characters (except the despicable evil-doers, of course) created by Author Cathy Ace in her wonderful new cozy mystery The Case of the Dotty Dowager: A cosy mystery set in Wales. The second book in the series, The Case of the Missing Morris Dancer: A cosy mystery set in Wales , is available for pre-order from Amazon US and will be released on February 1, 2016.
Five out of five kitties
Note: I received a complimentary copy of The Case of the Dotty Dowager in exchange for my honest review.
All opinions shared are 100% my own.
All opinions shared are 100% my own.
The Author
About Cathy Ace
Ace’s new series is set in her native Wales: The WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries feature four female professional investigators, one of whom is Welsh, one Irish, one Scottish and one English. They tackle quirky British cases from their base at a Welsh stately home — the ancient seat of the Twyst family, the Dukes of Chellingworth, set in the rolling countryside of the Wye Valley in Powys, near the picturesque village of Anwen-by-Wye.
Cathy now lives in Beautiful British Columbia, where her ever-supportive husband, and two chocolate Labradors, make sure she’s able to work full-time as an author, and enjoy her other passion — gardening.
Bestselling author Ace is the 2015 winner of the Bony Blithe Award for Best Canadian Light Mystery (for The Corpse with the Platinum Hair).
The Giveaway
Cathy will award one print copy of The Case of the Dotty Dowager
to a randomly drawn winner
via rafflecopter during the tour.
to a randomly drawn winner
via rafflecopter during the tour.
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