Source: Publisher
Description: Jessica Fletcher has dinner with her old pal Harry McGraw and gets pulled into a puzzling murder case.
Invited to deliver a lecture at the Boston Public Library, Jessica Fletcher excitedly makes plans to see local friends. Naturally that includes dinner at Gilhooley’s with PI Harry McGraw. Harry excitedly talks about his latest client, the CEO of Cure All Pharmaceuticals, who’s received anonymous blackmail demands and wants Harry to identify the culprit. Cookie, Gilhooley’s longtime bartender, also has something he wants to tell he asked Harry to investigate his daughter Aileen’s boyfriend, who Cookie thinks is too slick by half, but now Harry is too wrapped up in this new case. While Jessica wonders how best to approach Aileen, the young woman stumbles into Gilhooley’s covered in blood. She just discovered her boyfriend’s corpse -- and quickly becomes the chief suspect in his murder!
Genre: Mystery - Cozy
Why I Picked This Book: I really enjoy this series and was thrilled to see Harry McGraw gets some page time.
My Impression: This may be the most reliably cozy mystery series in existence. I love the original show though to be honest I'm at best a casual watcher. I've watched enough to be familiar with the characters, the setting and the premise but I have in no way watched every episode - or probably even half of them. I am an enormous Angela Lansbury fan and a Jerry Orbach fan who plays PI Harry McGraw in the show (and in my head while reading this book).
Why I Picked This Book: I really enjoy this series and was thrilled to see Harry McGraw gets some page time.
My Impression: This may be the most reliably cozy mystery series in existence. I love the original show though to be honest I'm at best a casual watcher. I've watched enough to be familiar with the characters, the setting and the premise but I have in no way watched every episode - or probably even half of them. I am an enormous Angela Lansbury fan and a Jerry Orbach fan who plays PI Harry McGraw in the show (and in my head while reading this book).
Jessica is heading to Boston to give a talk at a library and Seth is thrilled (well thrilled for Seth) to tag along so he can attend a talk given by an old friend from medical school. While there Jessica has to catch up with old friend Harry whose current client is connected to the medical industry which Seth quickly gets pulled into. I did thoroughly enjoy the friendship between Harry and Seth. Then they're all pulled into the investigation of the murder of the boyfriend of a friend's daughter.
The investigation is enjoyable and is mostly on Jessica's shoulder. I liked all the side characters - especially the taxi driver Mahmood. There is some fairly long descriptive passages about Boston itself which I enjoyed but if you are just wanting the mystery might get a bit slow. As well, the ending felt a bit rushed. However, getting there was enjoyable enough that I'm willing to let that go.
If you are wanting a fun cozy mystery with a trip to Boston added in this is a fun and quick read.
Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Absolutely! I really want to read the whole series at some point.
Would I Recommend this Book? If you like cozy mysteries I really recommend this series. While it is ridiculously long running you really can jump in anywhere.
* I received this book in exchange for an honest review. As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *
Would I Recommend this Book? If you like cozy mysteries I really recommend this series. While it is ridiculously long running you really can jump in anywhere.
* I received this book in exchange for an honest review. As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *
I loved the original show and watched a few recently and they are dated. They did seem to have a famous guest star on every episode though. Are the books better or worse than the show? The books are usually better in other series I have seen.
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