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May Flowers at the Three Coins Inn by Kimberly Sullivan #Review

May Flowers at the Three Coins Inn  by Kimberly Sullivan was published on May 8th and feels just right for the season. After a successful seasonal opening in April, friends Emma and Annarita are eager to welcome a new set of guests to their Umbrian inn during the full bloom of May. Upstate New Yorker Lisa needs an escape from betrayal and the prying eyes of her smalltown neighbors. Elderly, reclusive artist Antonio hopes leaving Milan for a country sojourn will spark his long dormant creative muse. Manhattan socialite mother Sharon grudgingly embarks on a country holiday with her young son, Josh, with whom she shares few interests. Roman author Margherita prefers time spent alone, but her career may depend on a stay in bucolic Todi among fellow guests. And Emma and Annarita are anxious to embrace their close friend Tiffany on her brief stay in the heart of Umbria. The swallows may have returned and colorful petals now dot the countryside, but will the inn’s atmosphere allow hu...

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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