Death of a Cozy Writer

A St. Just Mystery

By: G. M. Malliet

Narrated by: Davina Porter

From deep in the heart of his 18th century English manor, millionaire Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk writes mystery novels and torments his four spoiled children with threats of disinheritance. Gathering them all together for a family dinner, he announces his latest blow - a secret elopement. Within hours, eldest son and appointed heir Ruthven is found cleaved to death by a medieval mace. And soon Sir Adrian himself is found slumped over his writing desk - an ornate knife thrust into his heart.

Trapped amid leering gargoyles and stone walls, every member of the family is a likely suspect. Using a little Cornish brusqueness and brawn, can St. Just find the killer before the next-in-line to the family fortune ends up dead?

©2008 G.M. Malliet (P)2012 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Critic reviews

"Malliet's debut combines devices from Christie and Clue to keep you guessing until the dramatic denouement." ( Kirkus Reviews)

"Fans of English detective work will welcome Malliet's droll debut, the first in a new series." ( Publishers Weekly)

"In her series debut, Malliet, who won a Malice Domestic Grant to write this novel, lays the foundation for an Agatha Christie-like murder mystery." ( Library Journal)

Ok story

Davina Porter has to be the best narrator I've ever listened to. The story was pretty good but she made it great.

Good writing, narration not so much

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The book as authored by Malliet was very enjoyable.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Davina Porter has a talent for rendering different voices and dialects, but she reads with an emotive, overemphasized style that detracts from the story by drawing attention too much to herself. She would be a great narrator if she could tone it down.

A Cozy about a Cozy Writer

Published in 2008, Death of a Cozy Writer is the first in a series featuring Detective Chief Inspector St. Just. All of the elements of a classic golden age mystery are present: a large country mansion, a gathering of all the members of a wealthy family, servants with varying degrees of loyalty to their employers, seething rancor and hatred among family members, a patriarch who is cruel and hatedul to all, and finally, murder. DCI St. Just and his Constable arrive toi nvestigate.

This is a well -written mystery, with well developed characters, an intriguing twist or two in the plot, and the atmosphere of a golden age detective story spiced by a few 21st century devices. In St. Just, Malliet has created a likeable and capable investigator with a sense of humor as well as common sense. All in all, a very enjoyable read, although I must say that I prefer Malliet's other series, the Max Tudor mysteries.

Delightful light who dunnit

What made the experience of listening to Death of a Cozy Writer the most enjoyable?

Anything by G. M. Malliet is generally a treat. She's cornered the market at instilling a modern sensibility on the standard cozy. Enter greed, sex, and old wounds revisited, and well, who doesn't like a dysfunctional family to make all ours seem perfectly normal...

What about Davina Porter’s performance did you like?

Ms. Porter shines! She pulls out the stops, and even the over-the-top seems just quite right after all.

Any additional comments?

If you like a well done mystery in a cozy setting, with a sense of the sublimely satiric thrown in, this should definitely please.

Narrator and enjoyable story.

By the the end of 2nd chapter I was hooked. But 1st chapter in audio book took me 2 tries. I think the print version benefited from the character introductions. Davina Porter can bring gravitas and empathy to any work. #DavinaFan
The clues were there. I could kick myself for actually catching the clue and talking myself out of it!