Book Review: A Plot Most Perilous

About A Plot Most Perilous

Synopsis:

Join Cassie Gwynne—bookworm, cat lover and super sleuth—as she gets herself entangled in a brand-new murder mystery!

America 1883: Cassie Gwynne feels like she’s finally found where she belongs, settling into her new life in Florida with her aunt and her mischievous kitten Esy. When a traveling theater group arrives in town Cassie can’t resist signing up for the chorus. But the production goes awry from the start and soon death takes center stage…

With costumes going missing and strange voices heard coming from the dressing room, the cast are convinced they are cursed. And when the lead actor, William Gage, has a fatal accident, Cassie is certain someone is deliberately targeting the play. Off-stage Mr. Gage was known as a notorious flirt, so could a jilted lover be out for revenge?

Determined that the show must go on, Cassie launches her own investigation into the peculiar events. She quickly discovers an expensive, embroidered handkerchief stashed away on the lighting platform. This part of the theater is supposed to be out of bounds, so could the cagey chorus girl or the uppity understudy have something to hide?

When she returns at night to look around, Cassie is almost flattened as the wooden scenery crashes to the stage. Is this just the latest in a long line of catastrophes or is somebody out to stop Cassie learning the truth?

Can Cassie solve the mystery and make it to opening night or will it be curtains for her too?

Perfect for fans of Deanna Raybourn, C.J. Archer and Verity Bright! This is a totally charming cozy mystery full of murder, intrigue, and a cast of characters you’ll adore.

Review From The Plain Spoken Pen:

Reposted with permission. Originally posted on The Plain Spoken Pen.

This was a thoroughly delightful read! Cassie is staying in Florida with her aunt Flora, at least for now. She is persuaded to join the chorus of a traveling theater troupe that promotes itself as donating all their profits to needy children. But when the star of the production meets an untimely end upon the stage, Cassie can’t help but do some digging. Is the troupe as altruistic as Mr. Gage made them out to be? Who, really, is Prince Richard Montgomery, and why doesn’t Flora seem to like him? So many questions!

A Plot Most Perilous is a quick read, set in the 1880s in Florida. (I love that it’s set in Fernandina, as I have a friend that lives there.) It’s clean, with hints of possible extramarital shenanigans but no overt adult content, and no strong language. It was just fun to read.

Cassie is smart and generous and kind. She and Hughes are adorable, as they both seem to be trying to figure out what the other feels about them. I hope to see their relationship develop in future books. And I absolutely love Flora and Jake! Once they move to a more official “relationship” status, they both struggle with communication and expectations of how they “should” act instead of how they’re accustomed to interacting with each other. Flora has to sort out how to maintain both her relationship and the independence she’s developed and nurtured for so long. Very believably written, as all of the characters seem to be.

And the end of this book, y’all. It made me smile, and made me want to read the next one RIGHT NOW.

If you’re looking for a clean, well plotted cozy mystery to take along on vacation or to curl up with on a Saturday afternoon, I highly recommend A Plot Most Perilous.

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book from Bookouture and NetGalley. All opinions here are mine, and I don’t say nice things about books I don’t actually like.

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