A Murderous Season is part of the Admiral Shackleford Mysteries. This is a Cozy Mystery series by Beverley Watts. The books can be read as stand alone stories so it was easy to read book three before books one and two.
The Plot
Admiral Charles Shackleford and his much put upon best friend and former Master At Arms Jimmy Noon have achieved local celebrity status since becoming Dartmouth’s answer to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, although it could arguably be said that they couldn’t have achieved such heady heights without the able assistance of their other halves, Mabel and Emily. And of course Pickles, the springer spaniel…
When Mabel wins a competition for four to stay in a lighthouse on the north Devon coast a week before Christmas, the Admiral is less than enthusiastic. However, as long as Pickles is allowed to come too, he bows to the inevitable and reluctantly agrees to make up a foursome with Jimmy and Emily. With the weather cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey and the steep stairs threatening to give at least one of them a coronary, the Admiral doesn’t anticipate they’ll be staying more than one night anyway.
Until he discovers that a young girl jumped to her death from the very same lighthouse only a couple of weeks earlier. A young girl whose mother has been missing for five years…
The Admiral promptly decides that fate has sent them to uncover the truth. But this time they’re against the clock, and five days isn’t nearly enough time to get to the bottom of the mystery. Operation Lighthouse may well be the first case they can’t crack…
Review
The book was easy to read and quick to finish. This is an ensemble piece although the main character of the series is retired Admiral Shackleford. The Admiral is a pompous figure who sees himself as the group leader. The others in the party are his girlfriend and his former master at arms plus his wife.
The characters in the book have some rum turns of phrase, making it interesting but also seem as if its from another age. It isn’t from another age as it was written in 2020 and references Take That.
The Admiral’s girlfriend has won a mini break in a Lighthouse just before Christmas. Shackleford isn’t keen on going but agrees to make this a group visit with the other couple and the dog. Once they arrive at the coastal town they discover that someone committed suicide from the lighthouse a couple of weeks earlier. Rumour has it that the girl jumped as she missed her mother, who had disappeared years earlier.
And so begins the little groups investigations into….well what? Was it a suicide or was she pushed? What happened to her mother all those years ago? Did someone bump her off too?
There is something decidedly fishing going on in the village. The group soon discover what a kettle of fish they have gotten themselves into when they start to uncover parts of a body…..
A Murderous Season (The Admiral Shackleford Mysteries) is available from Amazon
A Murderous Season (The Admiral Shackleford Mysteries) is available from Amazon
The City Adventurers love reading about mystery, so we’ve started our own book club.