Sophia Rose Reviews: Murder at Blackwater Bend by Clara McKenna

 

Today on Sophia Rose is sharing her views on Clara McKenna's historical mystery, Murder at Blackwater Bend.
Enjoy!

Murder at Blackwater Bend by Clara McKenna, Narrator Sarah Zimmerman

#2 Stella and Lyndy Mystery

Historical Mystery

Publisher:  Highbridge

Published: 6.30.20

Time:  10 hours 10 minutes

Rating: 4.5 stars

Narrator Rating: 5 stars

Format: audio

Source: library borrow

Sellers:  Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads

 

GoodReads Blurb:

Wild-hearted Kentuckian Stella Kendrick cautiously navigates the strict demands of British high society as the future Lady of Morrington Hall. But when petty scandals lead to bloody murder, her outspoken nature could be all that keeps her alive . . .
 
Following a whirlwind engagement to Viscount “Lyndy” Lyndhurst, Stella is finding her footing within an elite social circle in picturesque rural England. Except tea time with refined friends can be more dangerous than etiquette faux pas—especially in the company of Lady Philippa, the woman Lyndy was once set to marry, and her husband, the ostentatious Lord Fairbrother . . . 
               
Outrage erupts and accusations fly after Lord Fairbrother’s pony wins best in breed for the seventh consecutive year. The man has his share of secrets and adversaries, but Stella and Lyndy are in for a brutal shock when they discover his body floating in the river during a quiet morning fishing trip . . .
 
Suddenly unwelcome around hardly-grieving Lady Philippa and Lyndy’s endlessly critical mother, Stella faces the bitter reality that she may always be an outsider—and one of her trusted new acquaintances may be a calculating killer. Now, Stella and her fiancé must fight against the current to catch the culprit, before they’re the next couple torn apart by tragedy.

 

Sophia Rose's Review:

Now that all the introduction to the series has occurred in the previous book set in Edwardian-era England, the Stella and Lyndy series introduces a new murder on the eve of their engagement party and the middle of the local county engagements like the New Forest Pony Show.  Local turmoil and Stella’s own challenges made for a new fervor of excitement in this next engaging entry of the series.

 

Murder at Blackwater Bend is book two in a series that works best read/listened to in order.

 

Stella’s up against the demands of social decorum led by Lyndy’s mother who has decided Lyndy’s old flame, Lady Philippa would make a better daughter in law.  This wouldn’t be so bad if she knew for sure that Lyndy didn’t secretly agree.  There is a celebrity explorer come to visit the neighborhood and he seems chummy with Lady Philippa.   Meanwhile, her father has brought in a nosy female journalist who may be more than she seems and Lyndy’s father is excavating a local dig with a fellow American paleontologist.  Philippa’s husband is involved in nocturnal clandestine activities that involve exchanges of money out by the Blackwater where the ‘Snakecatcher’, a local hermit and one of Stella’s eccentric bevy of friends notices, but goes about his own business.  So much comings and goings.

 

I love how the characters and relationships continued to grow and develop as the new mystery and the stir having Philippa around causes.  Stella really had to find her inner steel and I was glad this didn’t dissolve into an unwelcome romance triangle because Lyndy made it clear that Philippa was a past mistake and he was well and over her.  Thank goodness because that woman was a witch and not just to Stella.  If she’d been the murder victim, it would have been tough not to sympathize with the perpetrator.  But, alas, she was not and the mystery had a good array of possibilities to keep me guessing along with Inspector Brown, Stella and Lyndy.  Stella doubts she’s got what it takes to be a future countess, but Lyndy sees her much better than she sees herself.  She knows how to draw people to her, American eccentricities and all, she is genuine and honest, and she draws out the best in Lyndy, too.

 

Sarah Zimmerman is entertaining as a narrator and fabulous with voicing the broad range of characters from Stella’s wizened old Kentucky drawling great-aunt to the snobbish tones of the countess.

 

Murder at Blackwater Bend was a thoroughly satisfying mystery and I appreciated the attention to historical setting as well as character development.  I’m eager to press forward with the series and urge other historical cozy mystery fans to give this series a whirl.

 

Author Bio:

Clara writes the historical Stella & Lyndy Mystery series, about an unlikely couple who mix love, murder and horse racing in Edwardian England. Murder at Morrington Hall kicks off series.  As a student at Wells College in Aurora, NY, she published several poems in the college's literary magazine. She graduated with a B.A. in biology. She graduated from McGill University with a Masters in Library and Information Studies.  Besides her current series, Clara had penned five novels in a mystery series set in 19th century America. She is the founding member of Sleuths in Time, a cooperative group of historical mystery writers who encourage and promote each other's work, as well as a member of Sisters In Crime. With an incurable case of wanderlust, she travels every chance she gets, England being a favorite destination. When she can't get to England, she's happy to write about it from her home in Iowa.

 

Sophia’s Bio:

Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.

As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.

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