Rating: Very Good
Source: NetGalley
Description: Mrs. Laetitia Rodd, aged fifty-two, is the widow of an archdeacon. Living in Hampstead with her confidante and landlady, Mrs. Benson, who once let rooms to John Keats, Laetitia makes her living as a highly discreet private investigator.
Her brother, Frederick Tyson, is a criminal barrister living in the neighboring village of Highgate with his wife and ten children. Frederick finds the cases, and Laetitia solves them using her arch intelligence, her iron discretion, and her immaculate cover as an unsuspecting widow. When Frederick brings to her attention a case involving the son of the well-respected, highly connected Sir James Calderstone, Laetitia sets off for Lincolnshire to take up a position as the family’s new governess—quickly making herself indispensable.
But the seemingly simple case—looking into young Charles Calderstone’s “inappropriate” love interest—soon takes a rather unpleasant turn. And as the family’s secrets begin to unfold, Laetitia discovers the Calderstones have more to hide than most.
Genre: Mystery
Why I Picked This Book: The cover caught my eye and I like a good mystery so this one sounded appealing.
My Impression: I don't think it's a secret that I'm a big fan of Agatha Christie and the lesser known but just as great, Patricia Wentworth. They are my comfort reads and picking up their books is always a treat. While I love and read quite a lot of modern mysteries I haven't found many that have that same feel as the classics but The Secrets of Wishtide just earned it's place on that shelf!
I loved Laetitia Rodd from page one and with each page I liked her more. She exudes common sense and is so wonderfully practical but at the same time unfailingly kind and compassionate. I loved her relationship with her landlord/friend/confidante Mrs. Benson and how she is always trying to make Mrs. Benson take care of herself when Mrs. Rodd is away. I loved how she talks about her late husband and her interactions with her brother was quite entertaining as they come off as very much an actual brother and sister who at times drive each other crazy.
The mystery is a little faster paced than Wentworth and Christie tended to be and much busier. The mystery itself starts out very simple but as more and more secrets are revealed and the body count rises things get more and more complicated. I had no idea how Mrs. Rodd was going to solve the mystery but I had complete and total faith that she would. I thoroughly enjoyed going along with her as she unraveled the mystery. It was a treat every time I was able to pick up this book and spend a little more time with Mrs. Rodd, Mrs. Benson and the rest of the characters. I noticed that this is listed as Laetitia Rodd Mystery #1 so I'm hoping that there will be more mysteries in this series coming soon. This is a world I'm very much looking forward to revisiting.
Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Absolutely! I will be checking regularly for news of the 2nd book in this series!
Would I Recommend this Book?: Definitely! If you enjoy more classic style mysteries do not pass this up!
This one sounds good, Katherine! I'll have to watch for it. It has a nice vintage look to it, but I'll keep in mind your words about 'fast paced'.
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome that you loved this one. I love when the heroine of a novel is just full of common sense. Also, the cover is lovely.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds nice. I like mysteries with a body count ha ha and the whole taking a governess position to learn the ins and outs is great. I can see this one being a lot of fun. Did you ever read Death of a Dishonorable gentleman? That was good too.
ReplyDeleteI'm also a Christie fan and enjoy Wentworth, so this is right up my alley!
ReplyDeleteNever heard of it but it sounds interesting. :)
ReplyDeleteI like the old world charm of this!
ReplyDeleteI love the sound of Laetitia, a perfect sleuth character! She'd be good on TV too I bet.
ReplyDeleteThat cover is very eye-catching for some reason and although I don't go in for mysteries, this one sounds good to me. Hmmm... I might add to my pile. :)
ReplyDeleteThis cover caught my eye too when I had it in my feed you were reading it.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it awesome when you are so looking forward to getting back to the book because you love the characters? I love when a book does that to me. Great review!
ReplyDeleteOh that sounds really good! I can understand it catching your eye. I'm thinking my mom needs to know about this one :) Thanks!
ReplyDelete