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World Hotels - High Marks for Murder: A Bellehaven House Mystery
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List Price: $6.99
Our Price: $6.99
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Berkley
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780425222041
ISBN: 0425222047
Label: Berkley
Manufacturer: Berkley
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 208
Publication Date: 2008-06-03
Publisher: Berkley
Studio: Berkley
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Editorial Reviews:
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Meet Headmistress—and sometime sleuth—Meredith Llewellyn of Bellehaven House, a finishing school for girls.
It’s the height of elegance, the seat of sophistication, the scene of…murder?
Teacher Kathleen Duncan was killed in the school garden at night. Judging by a bloody branch, Miss Meredith Llewellyn assumes it was an accident, until she learns that the limb didn’t break off—it was neatly sawn.
But as she searches for a killer, Meredith wonders if her eyes are playing tricks on her. How else can she explain her foggy images of Kathleen pointing to the flowerbeds? Without the help of the lazy constable or her petrified teachers, Meredith will have to find a link between flowers and the killing, take heed of her own safety, and get an education—in murder.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Low marks for this mystery
Comment: "High marks for murder" is both a mystery and a ghost story that takes place at a finishing school for debutantes in Edwardian England. This fact pertaining to the setting of the novel would have escaped me, had the very pretty cover of the book not pointed it out. The truth is, I expected a novel that would transport me to Edwardian, turn of the last century England within the British Cotswolds, but instead I found a rather boring story, not much different than those that any parent would tell their children at bed time, and with no sense of ambience at all.
The sleuth with paranormal abilities is Meredith Llewellyn, headmistress of Bellehaven Academy. She is disturbed one Sunday when her friend and fellow professor Kathleen Duncan does not make it to Church. As it will become evident quite soon, the reason Kathleen did not attend the services was because, quite simply, she's dead - murdered. After having apparitions of the dead woman's ghost, Meredith takes it upon herself to inquire after her friend's demise, along with her two other friends and fellow professors, tomboy Felicity and primadonna Essie.
The most important element in a mystery of this kind are the descriptions of historical setting, which in "High marks for murder" are simply lacking. There are no period words to describe the vehicle of transport of the time, i.e. the horse and carriage, such as the "fiacre", or the "plangent tones of the evensong" when attending mass. Moreover, the dialogue is dull, with the exception of one scene close to the end of the novel; and the set up for the sequel at the end of the novel is also dull and uninteresting. I would also have appreciated more detailed descriptions of the school and the mechanics of the classes, etc, as I find mysteries should be not only entertaining but enlightening as well.
Customer Rating:
Summary: High Marks
Comment: When the gardener at Bellehaven Finishing School finds the body of Home Management teacher Kathleen Duncan, the police and headmistress Meredith Llewellyn initially think it was a tragic accident. But Meredith soon discovers that the tree limb that hit Kathleen on the head did not accidentally fall off the tree - it was sawed off and Meredith thinks it may have been used as a murder weapon. The police still say it was an accident so Meredith decides to investigate Kathleen's death without their help. But she won't be alone - Kathleen's ghost is eager to help her.
"High Marks for Murder" is the delightful first mystery in the new Bellehaven House cozy mystery series. Author Rebecca Kent previously wrote two cozy mystery series under the name Kate Kingsbury and this book is as good as any of the Kingsbury books. The mystery is set in England in 1905 and Meredith will reminder readers of a typical Kingsbury heroine - a feminist who struggles to conform to the times. Kent does a good job of capturing that period of time, especially with the students and the maids who aren't as willing as their elders to give in to the constrictions of that time. The book is filled with great characters including Meredith and her fellow teachers Felicity and Essie; Tom, the elderly gardener; Mrs. Wilkins the cook; and maids Grace and Olivia. The ghost of Kathleen added a nice supernatural atmosphere to the book that I really enjoyed and I also liked the gentle sense of humor throughout the book. The mystery elements were well done, although I felt a bit let down when the killer was revealed. I also didn't care for the romance that is hinted at between Kathleen and Stuart Hamilton, owner of Bellehaven, but perhaps it will grow on me in further books.
"High Marks for Murder" is a good cozy mystery and I look forward to reading more in this series.
Customer Rating:
Summary: English cozy mystery
Comment: I was anticipating this new book by Kate Kingsbury as I have enjoyed her Pennyfoot Hotel series and also her World War I series, however, this story left me wanting. It just wasn't up to her usual quality. So, I was disappointed. But, that would not stop me from hoping for another sequel or the other series, or a new more interesting one. The characters were not that interesting and just didn't hold my interest.
Customer Rating:
Summary: high marks for murder
Comment: "High Marks for Murder" is written by Rebecca Kent (a.k.a. Kate Kingsbury) who also writes the Pennyfoot Hotel mysteries. While I never enjoyed the Kingsbury series, I will definitely be reading the second book of this new series, the Bellehaven House Mysteries. The lead character, Meredith, has many layers that we have yet to see. She obviously has some sort of past, but not much is given away in this first book.
I loved the setting of an Edwardian girls school in the midst of the suffrage movement. Many of the secondary characters, teachers & servants, had strong opinions on women's suffrage. The secondary characters alone could actually make the book. I was also excited that the book had a supernatural twist when the ghost of the murder victim visits Meredith. Apparently, Meredith has a knack for seeing ghosts, & this idea seems to be the premise for future books.
Customer Rating:
Summary: very atmospheric paranormal amateur sleuth historical
Comment: In 1965 in the remote English village of Grickling Green in the Cotswolds, the suffragette movement has caught the interest of the ladies enrolled in Bellehaven Finishing School. The Headmistress Meredith Llewellyn is in St. Edmunds' church when she sees an evanescent image that coalesces into a female ghost. She becomes worried because home management teacher Kathleen Duncan is not attending the services and she never misses them.
When she leaves the church, Tom the gardener is visibly upset and takes Meredith and the other instructors to the body of Kathleen. Besides the corpse is a broken branch that was sawed off. It has blood on it so Meredith knows that her friend was murdered. As Kathleen keeps appearing Meredith vows to find her killer, but she does not understand the clues the ghost is presenting to her. Unless she can interpret what Kathleen is communicating to her when the ghost points at flowers, the killer will remain free.
This is a very atmospheric paranormal amateur sleuth historical mystery. The school building, the storms, and the darkness surrounding Bellehaven contribute a gothic feel to Rebecca Kent's fine tale. Meredith is a strong willed person who in some ways a futuristic anachronism as she ignores the rules of society that insist she find a wealthy husband. She is the only one who sees the apparition so her staff insists she is overwrought and imagining things. Readers will give high marks to Ms. Kent for an interesting creative whodunit.
Harriet Klausner
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