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Murder in the Mystery Suite
Murder in the Mystery Suite
Murder in the Mystery Suite
Audiobook8 hours

Murder in the Mystery Suite

Written by Ellery Adams

Narrated by Johanna Parker

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

Tucked away in the rolling hills of rural western Virginia lies the storybook resort of Storyton Hall, catering to book lovers who want to get away from it all. To increase her number of bookings, resort manager Jane Steward has decided to host a Murder and Mayhem week so that fans of the mystery genre can gather together for some role-playing and fantasy crime solving.


But when the winner of the scavenger hunt, Felix Hampden, is found dead in the Mystery Suite, and the valuable book that he won is missing, Jane realizes that one of her guests is an actual murderer. Amid a resort full of fake detectives, Jane is bound and determined to find a real-life killer. There's no room for error as Jane tries to unlock this mystery before another vacancy opens up . . .
LanguageEnglish
Release dateDec 23, 2014
ISBN9781494578305
Murder in the Mystery Suite
Author

Ellery Adams

Ellery Adams is a New York Times bestselling author who has written over thirty novels. A native New Yorker, she has had a lifelong love affair with stories, food, rescue animals, and large bodies of water. When not working on a novel, she bakes, gardens, spoils her cats, and wastes time on Pinterest. She lives with her husband and two children in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she can't imagine spending a day away from her keyboard.

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Reviews for Murder in the Mystery Suite

Rating: 3.8852040918367345 out of 5 stars
4/5

196 ratings21 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I would love to go to a resort like Storyton Hall especially if there will be a Resort Manager like Jane Steward, a Butler like Mr. Butterworth, a Head Librarian like Mr. Sinclair, a Head Chef like Mrs. Hubbard,a wonderful friend like Jane has found in Eloise, and please let me meet relatives like Aunt Octavia and Uncle Aloysius and I especially want to meet Muffet Cat. The only ones I'm afraid to meet are the twins as they seemingly have way too much energy for me but they surely add to the amusement within this novel.This novel is simply a delight at every turn of the page from the names of the local places in town to the name of the ladies book club that meets on a bi-monthly basis. Another charming element of the novel is the description of the fun gardens of the local places and the delicious concoctions as the ladies in the book club treat one another to festive refreshments dependent on the title of the book they are reading. I'm also so happy the ladies shared an upcoming title they're planning to read as it added a new author and title to my wish list.I love the idea of a Murder and Mayhem Week for mystery reader fans and the descriptions of the events added to the joy of visiting Storyton Hall all the while having a true crime scene and an even more interesting detective than we could have first imagined when Jane Steward as Resort Manager was first introduced in the opening pages.Reading this book is being invited into a very special setting as careful thought was given to each element of the story and each detail shared with the reader. It's a cozy mystery that is at times amusing, at times enchanting, and always charming. I'm so glad that this novel was advertised as "First in a Series" as I'm already looking forward to more visits with these characters and to accompany their next adventures.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    It was a charming mystery with very intriguing characters.

    I love the octogenarian sleuth.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This was such a cozy mystery novel perfect for lovers of the mystery genre. I loved all the references to books and characters. And the narrator, Johanna Parker, was amazing as always.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Storyton Hall, in rural Virginia, is a resort where readers enjoy reading. The widowed Jane Steward runs the place for her great aunt and uncle, Octavia and Aloysius, and it’s a big job. The building itself was relocated brick-by-brick from its original location in England and it’s always a struggle to maintain it. To bring in some extra income, Jane plans a mystery week with all kinds of activities, all of which center on reading and books.When one of the guests is found dead after the costume ball, poisoned in his room, Jane goes into super-protection mode – shielding guests from the law-enforcement activities going on while, at the same time, helping the cops find the person who did it. Is it one of the guests or one of the staff? At the same time, Jane is looking for a book that was mistakenly handed out as a prize in a contest held as part of mystery week. In the course of the story, Jane learns secrets about Storyton Hall and about the role she is expected to take on protecting it. Turns out there’s more than meets the eye! Murder in the Mystery Suite is the first book in the series and it was a fast and fun read. The author was kind enough to include a cast of characters – including the staff at Storyton and the shop-keepers in the idyllic little town where Storyton is located. Jane is a great heroine and her twin six-year-old sons add a bit of comic relief. Anyone who loves books and reading will love Murder in the Mystery Suite.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This series is a bit too squeaky clean for my taste. Found it hard to get through.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a very surprising title for me, I enjoy a good cozy mystery especially if it somehow deals with books, so I was looking forward to reading it but halfway through the story took a strange for a cozy turn. This turn actually made the book even more enjoyable for me.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I think I'm going to really like this Cozy series. It has a little more meat to it than some others.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Interesting new series. It's not quite up to the speed of the Books By the Bay series but it's not bad, and this was only the first book. I'm sure it will continue to improve as the character development grows.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Digital audio read by Johanna Parker.Book number one in the Book Retreat Mystery series introduces the reader to Storyton Hall and the Guardians. Jane Steward is the manager of the mansion turned boutique hotel set in the mountains of Virginia. A widow with two small boys, she’s come to live at the manor with her great aunt Octavia and great uncle Aloysius. The property has suffered from neglect, however. Jane is inspired by the extensive libraries to host a special Halloween event – a Murder and Mayhem Mystery Week, including scavenger hunts and a costume ball. Guests clamor for reservations and all is going well until the winner of the scavenger hunt is found dead – murdered – in his room. Storyton Hall is crawling with detectives – but they are mostly fakes – and it’s up to Jane and the Guardians to solve the case.This was a delightful cozy mystery. The premise is a bit outlandish … a library so secret that family members are sworn to secrecy and a team of former CIA operatives serve as butler, chauffer, etc in order to guard the precious resources. But what the heck, it makes for a colorful cast of characters and I love all the literary references. Johanna Parker does a fine job narrating the audiobook. She’s a talented voice artist and she capably handles the very large cast of characters.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I have no idea how to review this without spoiling it horribly, because there is a monster twist about a third of the way through that turned it into an entirely different book than I started. But if you like the premise (even if not the execution) of the tv film series "The Librarian" or Warehouse 13, and your favourite character in Batman is Alfred, you'll love this.
    Anyway I really liked it, and I think I'll probably keep an eye out for the next in the series. The characters are believable (well, they act in character at least :), the small town feel is beautifully done, and the mystery is nicely twisty and turny. And the setting is fantastic: A resort for book lovers, in a town called Storyton, with books and literary references namedropped at every turn, but always appropriately. As a tentative first foray into the cosy mystery genre, I think I totally picked a winner.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This new series start with Jane Steward, the manager of Storyton Hall, trying to devise a way to increase bookings at their book resort so that she can make some much needed repairs. Her idea is to sponsor a Murder and Mayhem week and the response is great.As their guests start to arrive (in costume as literary detectives), everyone is prepared for a scavenger hunt which every one anxious to win because the prize is a first edition about a well-known mystery author and her history.After the hunt and the presentation of the prize, Jane is distracted when her aunt falls ill, very upset because the wrong book was awarded. When Jane attempts to exchange the book, she finds the winner dead. Notifying the police of the death and the mix-up, the book remains missing and when Aunt Octavia passes the mantle of Guardian of Storyton Hall, revelations of a hidden world aid in he apprehension of the murderer and accomplices.Great new series, my only wish is that Storyton Hall was a real place!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I would love to go to a resort like Storyton Hall especially if there will be a Resort Manager like Jane Steward, a Butler like Mr. Butterworth, a Head Librarian like Mr. Sinclair, a Head Chef like Mrs. Hubbard,a wonderful friend like Jane has found in Eloise, and please let me meet relatives like Aunt Octavia and Uncle Aloysius and I especially want to meet Muffet Cat. The only ones I'm afraid to meet are the twins as they seemingly have way too much energy for me but they surely add to the amusement within this novel.This novel is simply a delight at every turn of the page from the names of the local places in town to the name of the ladies book club that meets on a bi-monthly basis. Another charming element of the novel is the description of the fun gardens of the local places and the delicious concoctions as the ladies in the book club treat one another to festive refreshments dependent on the title of the book they are reading. I'm also so happy the ladies shared an upcoming title they're planning to read as it added a new author and title to my wish list.I love the idea of a Murder and Mayhem Week for mystery reader fans and the descriptions of the events added to the joy of visiting Storyton Hall all the while having a true crime scene and an even more interesting detective than we could have first imagined when Jane Steward as Resort Manager was first introduced in the opening pages.Reading this book is being invited into a very special setting as careful thought was given to each element of the story and each detail shared with the reader. It's a cozy mystery that is at times amusing, at times enchanting, and always charming. I'm so glad that this novel was advertised as "First in a Series" as I'm already looking forward to more visits with these characters and to accompany their next adventures.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I've enjoyed every book I've read by Ellery Adams but this one tops them all. Set in a country manor house in Virginia, Storyton Hall is set up as a resort with book themed rooms and a library to die for, which, unfortunately, happens.While hosting the first Murder and Mayhem Week Jane Stewart and her family are faced with a couple of huge obstacles, Aunt Octavia suffers a stroke and leaves Jane in charge, and one of the guests is murdered.There are plenty of twists and turns to the mystery and the whole background on the family home and the family history is wonderful.Will have to wait until summer of 2015 for the next book but I'll be getting my copy!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Storyton Hall, hidden away in the hills of Virginia, is a family run resort catering to book lovers. Jane Steward, niece to the present owners, comes up with a Murder and Mayhem week to help drive interest in the resort. From Jane's twin boys (Fitz and Hem) to the staff, townspeople and businesses, there is a heavy nod to books, in particular, mysteries. For instance, Mrs. Hubbard is the on site chef and the Isak Dinesen room, full of taxidermy. At times, I almost found it distracting, but fun to try to guess what literary piece would be highlighted next. As far as cozies go, there was a lot of information, but long on the mystery part, so the book arrived at a satisfying conclusion. It's the first in a new series by this accomplished author, and I'll definitely look for the next one to arrives next summer.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great start for a new series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Jane's ancestors moved the family estate from England to Virginia in the 1830's. Jane is now running the home as an inn. Needing to raise more money to keep the house she decides to hold week-long theme events. The first is a murder mystery. Unfortunately murder becomes a guest during the week. It is up to Jane to find the murderer so her inn is not lost.This starts slow but gets better as Jane looks for the murderer. I love her twins. They are funny and make the story. It is an interesting group of people who inhabit the inn as employees and guests. I look forward to the next book in the series
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I'd heard some contradictory thoughts about this book from my book buddies online, so I wasn't as excited to read it when I received it in the mail as I was when I ordered it. But Krazy Kiwi wrote an excellent review of it the other day - enough to intrigue me without giving anything away - and I moved it up the list so I could find out for myself. I really enjoyed this one! I thought it was an excellent first book for a new series. Well-written with a curious and likeable cast of characters. Even the twin boys and I'm not normally a fan of kids in my murder mysteries. I had some difficulty keeping a couple of the characters straight in my head: Mr. Sinclair and Mr. Sterling, both members of the staff, have names that are too similar. I thought the inclusion of book references was well-balanced and not at all over done; I could discover a few new authors of all genres as this series goes on. Kudos to the publisher for not giving away what is going to make this series interesting by blurting it out or hinting at it in the cover synopsis/story summary. I'm not going to give it away here either; it was fun discovering it as I read and I don't want to ruin that for anyone else. But it's clever and feels fresh in the cozy arena. I've often imagined the same scenario myself and it was great fun to read the author's version of the same vision. It also, as Krazy Kiwi mentioned, gives the series a plausible reason for repeated crimes and the MC a plausible reason to solve them. First books in a mystery series always benefit from being first books: the characters are all new to the reader so it's not painfully obvious when a throw-away character that's likely the murderer has been introduced. I think this book is not an exception; looking back on my reading, the ultimate culprit and their interactions with the MC might have stood out more in a book with more established characters. But maybe not. Either way, I didn't see the solution to the crime until the MC did and it was an entertaining puzzle. No TSTL moments or heroine-in-peril situations and I found that refreshing. I didn't award the 5th star for a couple of reasons. The first being that the characters, although likeable, don't feel very fleshed out to me. But the author has a track record in previous series' of developing her characters wonderfully over time, so I don't think this is going to be a problem. The second reason: She's setting up a love triangle. Gah!!! Overall, I'm quite pleased with this first and I'm looking forward to the next book. This has the potential to be both a really fun series with a cool premise and a well-written collection of mysteries. Stupid love triangle or not.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I think Adams' Books By the Bay novels are some of the very best cozies being written today. I love them, so I was excited to learn that she was writing a new series, and I bought a copy as soon as it arrived at my local bookstore. From the first paragraph, I was in heaven. Storyton Hall is any serious book lover's perfect world, and the countryside and village outside its walls complete the dream scenario. There are times when I read that I want to be drawn into the type of world that should exist but doesn't outside of my imagination. This is the sort of world that Ellery Adams has created in her first Book Retreat mystery. I was enchanted. Jane's aunt and uncle are still deeply in love after decades of marriage. Jane deals with the public the way everyone wants to be treated. Her twin sons Hem and Fitz (Hemingway and Fitzgerald) are a pair of typical, high energy, ornery six-year-old boys. The staff working at Storyton Hall and even the small business owners in the nearby village are lovingly drawn individuals. Jane and her sons bicycle back and forth to the village. It was plain to see that the pages of this book were liberally sprinkled with fairy dust.There are touches of humor throughout the book as well, but the scene that literally made me laugh out loud was the description of the garden in front of the Cheshire Cat Pub and what would happen some evenings when the pub patrons and local felines would gather together. The mystery was a good one, keeping me guessing all along the way, but something happened in Murder in a Mystery Suite that just didn't set well with me. Problem is, I can't talk about it without screaming SPOILER ALERT in fluorescent pink flashing neon ten feet high. Spoiler alerts in reviews just aren't my style, so suffice it to say that the suspension bridge of my disbelief collapsed like "Galloping Gertie" did in 1940. The only other thing I will say on the subject is that your enjoyment of the book will depend in large part on how well you like fantasy.I may have just scared some of you away from reading this book, but don't forget that mileage can certainly vary when it comes to reading books. Your suspension bridge may be much more stable than mine, so don't be afraid to give this book a try. If you're still feeling nervous, then head on over to Ellery Adams' Books By the Bay series. It's marvelous.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Jane Steward loves working for her aunt and uncle at the Storyton Hall Resort which caters to book lovers. However, money is tight and the resort needs repairs so Jane decides to host a Murder and Mayhem Week with guests dressing up as fictional detectives and playing games to win prizes. The week is a big hit but Jane doesn't realize that one of the prizes is so valuable that someone is willing to commit murder to get the prize and isn't afraid to kill more than once. As Jane investigates the murders she discovers that Storyton Hall is full of secrets - secrets that will change her life forever.“Murder in the Mystery Suite” is the very nicely done first book in Ellery Adams’ new Book Retreat cozy mystery series. Adams has created a unique world in Storyton Hall and Storyton Village - a world that feels old-fashioned but people use cell phones; a world that feels very British but the book is set in Virginia. Storyton Hall is one of those fictional places you wish really existed so you could stay there. Adams has a gift with words that shows in all of her books and especially shows in this one with her characters’ names - Mr. Butterworth, Mrs. Pimpernel, and Mrs. Hubbard among others - and places in Storyton Village - the Cheshire Cat Pub, the Pickled Pig Market (run by the Hogg brothers!) and Geppetto's Toyshop. As for the mystery itself, there is a twist halfway through the book that not only involves the mystery in this book but presumably future books in the series. I won't say anything about this plot twist except to say it would be the dream of many a book lover.I love all of Ellery Adams’ books and “Murder in the Mystery Suite” is no exception. I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next book in the series.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I'm always in for a treat when I read a mystery by Ellery Adams. In MURDER IN THE MYSTERY SUITE, the first book in the Book Retreat Mystery series, Ms. Adams has skillfully crafted a fantastical world for bibliophiles, as well as a puzzling cozy mystery.Storyton Hall is a secluded retreat for literary lovers in the hills of Virginia. To stir up interest in the resort, manager Jane Steward is hosting a "Murder and Mayhem" event dedicated to mystery fans. The fabulous week she has planned for her guests is interrupted when the winner of the scavenger hunt is murdered, and the priceless book he won from Storyton Hall's collection goes missing.There was so much I enjoyed about this book. Storyton Hall was amazing. I'd love to spend a week (or more) at a place that catered to readers, with access to a magnificent library, gorgeous views, delicious food, and a quaint village to explore. The fun thing about this book was that there was so much more than meets the eye with Storyton. Even the protagonist Jane is shocked to learn its secrets and how she fits in. The murder mystery and the revelations about Storyton are seamlessly woven together. I enjoyed meeting the intriguing and quirky cast of characters, including Jane's devoted staff and the members of The Cover Girls book club.MURDER IN THE MYSTERY SUITE was a fabulous start to a new series, and I'd definitely recommend it to readers who love book-themed mysteries.Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    MUDER IN THE MYSTERY SUITEby Ellery AdamsBook One in the Book Retreat Mystery seriesA few chapters into this first book in the Book Retreat Mystery series, I was already enjoying what I thought to be another sweet, cozy mystery series. By chapter five I had the feeling of reading a Nancy Drew story in which Nancy was now a grown woman. This of course thrilled me to no end. However, it felt as though I was also in a modern day Agatha Christie novel. Until chapter eight when Nancy and Agatha combined with Ian Fleming and my mind was blown!Do you know how wonderful a book has to be to be compared to those three greats? Indeed, Ms. Adams has turned the modern day cozy into the very best of mysteries past, present, and I dare say future. There is so much I want to say about this book, but have to hold myself back from doing so in order not to ruin the joy of discovery for other readers. What I can say is, Ellery Adams has delivered a story with delightful characters, beautiful surroundings, as well mystery and intrigue unlike anything I’ve ever read. She has insured that this first book will morph into a long running series.That being said, do yourself the biggest favor of the year and read MURDER IN THE MYSTERY SUITE. Purchase a few extra copies (e-readers, get yourself a print copy), two for yourself and a few for your friends. You’re going to want to keep a mint copy of this first edition hidden away so in the next twenty years or so people will be jealous of your treasure!MURDER IN THE MYSTERY SUITE well release on August 5th. Don’t wait…Pre-order your copy/copies now!Note: The copy I read was an Advanced Reader’s Copy (ARC) they I was lucky enough to win from the author. The best prize I’ve won all year! (Since it was a prize in a giveaway, I had no obligation to leave a review. But there was no way I wasn’t going to share my love of this story!) I will still be pre-ordering copies for myself in order to have both wonderful editions!