Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Deadly Director's Cut - Cozy Mystery Review

Goodreads: Deadly Director's Cut (A Catskill Summer Resort Mystery #2) by Vicki Delany

Rating: Really Liked It
Source:   Publisher

Description:  Daring resort manager Elizabeth Grady will need to think fast to bring a killer into the limelight in this charming 1950s set cozy mystery series.

Famous director Elias Theropodous has chosen Haggerman’s Catskills Resort as a shooting location for his next film. It sounds glamorous to much of the staff, but resort manager Elizabeth Grady is less satisfied. Dealing with the ridiculous demands of the antagonistic director is bad enough, and his attempts to walk all over Elizabeth are making her feel like her position at the resort has been changed into a bit part.

But when Elias is poisoned during a dinner at the resort, the future of the film and the resort itself are on the line. Between an aging movie star, a harried producer, and former victims of the deceased director’s wrath, Elizabeth has a full cast of suspects to examine, and she’ll need to investigate every lead to catch a killer.

Genre: Mystery - Cozy

Why I Picked This Book:  I have enjoyed a number of books by this author and I really liked the first book in this series.  

My Impression:  I really enjoyed the first book in the series but got annoyed by the nemesis type characters in the rival resort owner and the police chief.  I'm so glad to see in this book that both of those have been realistically dealt with but the best part of the premise is still very much present.  Elizabeth is a likable main character.  She's smart, hard working and a capable manager.  She feels overwhelmed sometimes and can be a smidge impulsive but it makes her very easy to connect to.

The mystery really kept me guessing.  There's no shortage of motives for killing Elias but both law enforcement and Elizabeth have to sort out which who was finally pushed to their limit and how they did it.  This had me guessing until the reveal and I loved how the reveal was done.  There's some character development with Elizabeth, Velvet and Olivia which I enjoyed and I loved seeing the behind the scenes at Haggerman's Catskill Resort.

This latest entry into what I hope is a long running series was entertaining with interesting characters, a gorgeous setting, and a well plotted mystery.  I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops and spending more time at Haggerman's with Elizabeth, Velvet, Oliva and everyone else.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?  Definitely!  This author is an auto-buy for me.

Would I Recommend this Book?  If you enjoy mysteries I think you would enjoy this series.

* I received this book in exchange for an honest review.  As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *

6 comments:

  1. Terrific review, I love a mystery that is difficult to solve.

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  2. Glad you enjoyed this one. I need to catch up on this author.

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  3. This sounds really good. I love it when a mystery keeps me guessing.

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  4. It's definitely on my list to read. I loved the first one.

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  5. Can't wait to read these, going to buddy read these with some friends later in the year!

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  6. Sounds like a good series and what I have read from Vicki Delany makes me want to read it at some point.

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