Murder at the Priory Hotel

Merryn Allingham has another winner with Murder at the Priory Hotel! Here, Flora, Jack, and everyone in Abbeymead is gathering to celebrate the grand re-opening of the Priory Hotel. Sally Jenner has bought it and has big plans. But those plans grind to a halt when Beverly Russo, the lead singer of the band brought in for the big day, drops dead on stage. Heart attack? Poison? Electrocution?

Flora and Jack are once again in the thick of things when police progress is painfully slow. This time, they're both aware of their growing feelings for each other, and so aren't as quick to jump in to help. But when Sally asks Flora for help, fearing that she will lose the hotel, Flora can't say no.

Once again, there's no shortage of suspects! At one point Flora wonders whether Sally herself could have done the deed. It turns out many people have connections to Beverly, and most of those connected to her have a reason to hate her. Even Dominic, on whom Sally is sweet, has ties to Beverly (and he may not be who he purports to be, either). Who acted on that passion and ended her life?

The most frustrating thing about this book for me was the efforts both Jack and Flora made to keep themselves away from each other. Clearly they have feelings for each other. Why, then, the dance to keep those at bay? I like the characters. I want them to be happy. It seems to me like they would be happy together (and then they could open a detective agency, and wouldn't that be fun?!).

This is a light, clean read with enough twists and turns to keep the story moving. No extreme gore or adult situations here. It's the kind of book you can just lose yourself in and forget about life for a while! I think that may be just what we need in this crazy world. Five stars from me!

Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy of this book from Bookouture and NetGalley. All opinions are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.