Description
Sweetfern Harbor Bed and Breakfast Cozy Mysteries can be enjoyed in one to two hours. It is perfect for those moments when you are waiting at an appointment or want to enjoy a quick listen.
Brenda Sheffield is thrilled to host the East Coast Acting Troupe in her inn set above the Atlantic Ocean. Excitement permeates the Sheffield Bed and Breakfast and injects new life in the small town of Sweetfern Harbor. Ellen Teague, the famous actress, will be given a large suite on the second floor. From the adjoining room, she will have access to her assistant, Chester Boyd. Chester caters to her every whim. Ellen is demanding and narcissistic. She is liked by very few members of the troupe who are there to perform “The Rich Game”.
After the first performance at Harbor Park, Edward Graham pulls Brenda aside and tells her he has serious business to discuss with her. The lawyer informs her that Ellen Teague states she is the rightful owner of Sheffield Bed and Breakfast, not Brenda. Brenda argues her uncle’s will states she is the heir to his property. Ellen argues she and Randolph Sheffield signed an agreement that the bed and breakfast would be hers.
When Brenda confronts Ellen late at night, a loud argument ensues. Brenda’s raised voice awakens the cast members who were sound asleep. Brenda doesn’t think about this and goes to her apartment seething in anger. The next morning, she becomes fully alert when one of the cast members informs her that Ellen Teague is dead in her bed. As if this discovery isn’t shocking enough, Brenda is dismayed when Detective Mac Rivers narrows her down as his prime suspect and states she has the strongest motive for killing the star who demanded her rights to the bed and breakfast. Brenda and Mac are in love with one another, or at least that is what he told her when he gave her the promise ring the day before. The estrangement leaves Brenda to solve the murder case as soon as possible or Mac plans to serve the warrant for her arrest.
This will be no easy task, since at times all of the actors argued with Ellen. Combined with the fact that none of them cared for her egotistical behavior, they also had individual motives for wanting her dead. Brenda knows she is on her own. Will the 48 hours the detective gave her be enough to prove who the killer really is? It is the only way Brenda will avoid prison for the rest of her life, and she realizes time is of essence.
Julie Howard –
This is a fun quick easy to listen to cozy. This is book two and you don’t need to listen to them in order because they are stand alone books. I think I prefer this book to book one, as there was to many characters introduced in a short space of time but with this book I already knew the characters so it was easier to follow along. It is on the shorter side, great if you only have a few hours to kill and the book was nearly over before the murder occurred but I think it might have been better being a long book because then it could have built up the prospects of others suspects having a better motive as I did know who the killer was and why, so from that point of view it was disappointing but the characters are likeable enough that I will give book three ago.
It is acting week in the town of Sweetfern harbour and Brenda has closed down the bed and breakfast so just the cast can stay there. Including her idol Ellen Teague. The super star is a favourite with the audience for playing sweet innocent characters but the star herself is very different from the characters she plays. She is demanding and disagreeable and no body in the cast seems to like her. But that is no reason for one of them to kill her. Brenda herself had a reason to kill her, as she was contesting the ownership of the b&b and they had a big shouting match the night before she died and Brenda’s own boyfriend, the police detective starts to look at her funny. Can Brenda workout who had the biggest reason to kill the hated star?
The narrator was okay when you speed up the listening speed of the book but that meant the story ended quickly.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request from audiobooksunleashed and have voluntarily left this review.
Benita Dilley –
The series picks up speed and charm as our heroine become a suspect when an actress turns up dead at the B&B, in this well narrated seaside cozy mystery.