Review: MURDER AT THE BRIGHTWELL, Ashley Weaver

• 
  This edition available from Amazon on Kindle
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00N01TS36
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Allison & Busby (October 23, 2014)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 323 pages
• (Amory Ames Book 1)

Synopsis (Amazon)

1932, Devon. 

Amory Ames is glamorous, wealthy and unhappily married to notoriously charming playboy Milo. She willingly accepts her former fiancé Gil Trent's plea for help in preventing his sister Emmeline from meeting a similar matrimonial fate. Amory accompanies Gil to The Brightwell, the sprawling seaside resort where Emmeline and her fiancé, the impeccably groomed, disreputable cad Rupert Howe are holidaying, along with the other rich and sumptuously-dressed guests.

Champagne flows but the sparkle soon fades as a dark and unresolved history between Gil and Rupert surfaces. After a late night quarrel the luxurious hotel is one guest fewer by morning. When Gil is arrested for murder Amory is determined to defend his innocence. But if she's right, the killer is still in their midst - can she prove it before she, too, becomes a victim? And what of the unexpected arrival of Milo? Extravagance, scoundrels and red-herrings abound as Amory draws closer to discovering the murderer - as well as love.

My Take

It came as a surprise to me to discover that the author of this cosy set in 1932 is an American. The story is set at the British seaside in 1932 amongst a flapper set. I thought she did a good job of creating the ambience of the period, at the same time creating a respectable whodunnit.

My rating: 4.4

About the author

ASHLEY WEAVER is the branch manager at Oberlin, the headquarters branch of the Allen Parish Libraries in Louisiana. Weaver has worked in libraries since she was 14; she was a page and then a clerk before obtaining her MLIS from Louisiana State University. She lives in Oakdale, Louisiana. Murder at the Brightwell is her first novel.