Death by a Cornish Cove

There's just something about a cozy mystery set in the 1920s that I find delightfully appealing. Verity Bright, Ann Sutton, Fliss Chester, I love them all. This, the second in Chester's Cressida Fawcett series, carries on in fine fashion.

Here we find Cressida off to a country house on the Cornish coast for a fancy-dress ball, along with her friend Dotty and her pug Ruby. The lady of the house, Lady Trevelyan, has asked Cressida to lend some decorating expertise while she's there, so Cressy is expecting nothing more than drinks and dancing, and maybe some time spent discussing design ideas and color schemes. What she doesn't expect is that Randolph, who once proposed marriage to Cressy and whose engagement to Selina Trevelyan is cause for celebration, won't survive the weekend.

Fliss Chester does a wonderful job of creating a setting I'd love to just step into! I've never been to Cornwall, but her descriptions of it certainly make me want to visit. And I do love her characters. Cressida may be an independent young woman, but she's got a good heart. She cares more for her friends and doing the right thing than abiding by what social niceties might expect of her.

Ruby the pug is a treat. I love stories with animal sidekicks, and Ruby snuffles around in adorable pug fashion. Here she has a couple of run-ins with the Trevelyans' Siamese cat, and she literally pokes her nose into things that give Cressida some insights into the crime she's investigating.

DCI Andrews and his sergeant from Scotland Yard are on the scene, so Cressy isn't fending for herself against an unknown killer. I appreciate that Andrews is conducting a proper police investigation, while acknowledging that Cressida may have access to conversations that people wouldn't have with the police. He doesn't just hand the investigation over to a civilian, but he does allow for some assistance to come from someone outside the force.

And there's no shortage of suspects for Cressida to investigate. From Trevelyan cousin Jago Trengrouse, to Roscoe the gardener, to maid (and another Trevelyan cousin) Morwenna, to someone else looking to make a name in the antiquities trade, to Selina Trevelyan herself, everyone seems to have had a spat with Randolph on the day he died. Cressida is kept busy chasing down one lead after another.

There's a bit of romance here, too. In the first book, Dotty's relationship with Basil ended badly, and her heart was broken. Here there's a glimmer that perhaps all hope on the romance front is not lost. And Dotty's brother Alfred knows that Cressida values her independence, but he may carry a bit of a torch for her anyway. Will a romance blossom for Cressida and Alfred in later books? We'll see!

So we've got Bright Young Things, a fancy-dress ball, an unexpected death involving the upper crust of society. Is it maybe a tiny bit formulaic? Sure. Does that matter? Not at all. Cressida Fawcett is a charming heroine, her friendship with Dotty is true, and the mystery is engaging. It's a lovely, light, escapist read that transports me to a time and place outside of my daily life, and that's what a good story does! Five stars for pure, unadulterated fun.