Vows and Villainy by Elizabeth Penney

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

American-born Molly has really found a home in Cambridge.  Her family owns a centuries-old bookshop and Molly has made a host of friends, including Daisy and Tim who are getting married with a Shakespearean themed wedding at Hazelhurst House. This is the home of the noble Scott family, which includes Molly’s boyfriend Kiernan. The wedding is going to be quite the event, and will include performances by a troupe of Shakespearean actors who are putting on a series of plays over the summer.

But when one of the lead actors is found floating in the moat, those plans go awry—especially since members of the wedding party are among the suspects.

This is the fifth in The Cambridge Bookshop series, and Penney has built up a solid cast of characters. Molly and her friends take center stage, but I have to admit I really like some of the older member of the supporting cast, especially Molly’s Aunt Violet and her beau, Sir Jon, who are planning a wedding of their own—if Sir Jon’s ninety-five year old mother will just give her consent.

Penney is a veteran cozy author with several series to her credit and has contributed to several more.  She knows her way around all the expected mystery conventions, and Cambridge provides a marvelous setting.  While the series doesn’t have to be read in order, the various romances and weddings are possibly better enjoyed if one has some background.  I appreciated all the Shakespeare references and quotations, and that added to my enjoyment but your mileage may vary!

Other books in the series are:

Chapter and Curse

A Treacherous Tale

The Fatal Folio

Madrigals and Mayhem

The Fatal Folio by Elizabeth Penney

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

American Molly Kimball loves living in Cambridge, England.  She helps manage the family bookstore, the centuries old Thomas Marlowe, and is dating Kieran Scott, a handsome bike shop owner who is also the son of a titled family.  In fact, Molly has been hired to inventory the Scott family library, an incredible collection of rare books, the crown jewel of which is an eighteenth century manuscript of The Fatal Folio authored by “Selwyn Scott.” It was a popular book in its day and still interests gothic scholars, including Kieran’s cousin Oliver who teaches at a nearby college.  Oliver is hoping to get a promotion, but his chances are dimmed when a student files a complaint against him—and then the student ends up dead.  While the police are investigating, it’s Molly who may be able to pull all the clues together to expose the killer.

This is the third in the Cambridge Bookshop Mystery series, but it can be read as a standalone title.  I think it’s the best in the series so far, since the author has firmly established her characters and location which means there’s not a lot of time wasted explaining things.  Molly is comfortable, and this makes the reader comfortable.  There’s some romance, great settings well described (I want to visit that library!), and of course an intriguing mystery.  Actually, there’s more than one and I found them all interesting.

Part of one mystery is the authorship of the “Selwyn Scott” book, since the name was a pseudonym for a member of the family.  Molly reads a copy of The Fatal Folio during the course of the book, searching for clues to the author’s identity, so the reader has a story within a story.  I have to say that in some books I have found this annoying, but Penney made the gothic novel entertaining and also helped with the overall atmosphere of the modern story.

I did figure out whodunit before the denouement, but I was enjoying the other elements so much that didn’t bother me. 

I’ve read the previous two books in the series and enjoyed them. In order they are:

Chapter and Curse

A Treacherous Tale

The Fatal Folio

Madrigals and Mayhem (due out November 2024)