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The Widow's Vow by Rachel Brimble #Review #PublicationDay

  Today's historical fiction takes us to Victorian England and Bath. Published by Boldwood  today on December 16th, A Widow's Vow is the first in the Ladies of Carson Street saga series by Rachel Brimble.   From grieving widow... 1851. After her merchant husband saved her from a life of prostitution, Louisa Hill was briefly happy as a housewife in Bristol. But then a constable arrives at her door. Her husband has been found hanged in a Bath hotel room, a note and a key to a property in Bath the only things she has left of him. And now the debt collectors will come calling. To a new life as a madam. Forced to leave everything she knows behind, Louisa finds more painful betrayals waiting for her in the house in Bath. Left with no means of income, Louisa knows she has nothing to turn to but her old way of life. But this time, she'll do it on her own terms – by turning her home into a brothel for upper class gentleman. And she's determined to spare the girls she sa...
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A Messy Affair by Elizabeth Mundy #Review


 Today, I am featuring the latest standalone novel in Elizabeth Mundy's Lena Szarka Mysteries Series, A Messy Affair. It is the third in the series and was published on 2nd January by Constable Little,Brown.

The only way is murder…



Lena Szarka, a Hungarian cleaner working in London, is forced to brush up on her detective skills for a third time when her cousin Sarika is plunged into danger.



Sarika and her reality TV star boyfriend Terry both receive threatening notes.  When Terry stops calling, Lena assumes he’s lost interest. Until he turns up. Dead. Lena knows she must act fast to keep her cousin from the same fate.



Scrubbing her way through the grubby world of reality television, online dating and betrayed lovers, Lena finds it harder than she thought to discern what’s real – and what’s just for the cameras.



My Thoughts

I haven't read any of the earlier books in this series, but that didn't seem to matter. I was able to enjoy it just the same. Lena proved to be a feisty and determined sleuth with the perfect cover for her investigating activities- that of a cleaner. Able to go about unremarked on, she can watch and listen, swallowed up in the background to people's lives. 

    Lena's strong sense of family draws her into this mystery. References to Reality Television and multicultural life gives this cosy crime a slight edge which feels current. I also enjoyed the lightness of touch in the writing. It was light-hearted and never gruesome. The plot however turned out to be quite dense with some twists and turns along the way. In all, it is well worth a read.

In short: A satisfying cosy crime with an up to date edge. 
 
About the Author



Elizabeth Mundy’s grandmother was a Hungarian immigrant to America who raised five children on a chicken farm in Indiana. Elizabeth is a marketing director for an investment firm and lives in London with her messy husband and two young children. She writes the Lena Szarka Mysteries, featuring a Hungarian cleaner as detective.  

You can follow Elizabeth here: Twitter  |  Facebook   |  Instagram 
                                                |  Website 

Book links: Amazon UK   |  Amazon US

Thanks to Elizabeth Mundy, Constable Little,Brown and Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources  for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.


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