Murder Mansion

The Painted Lady Inn Mysteries, Volume 1

By: M K Scott

Narrated by: Ginger Cucolo

Donna's dream of running a Victorian bed and breakfast is almost a reality. Her lack of inn keeping expertise, a shabby house in need of dire renovation and lack of money has slowed her down a bit. The murdered man in the upstairs parlor is her biggest obstacle. Less determined people might give up, but not Donna. No killer is going to stop her from serving apple crumb cake to high paying guests. Her natural skill at the Clue board game, along with the grudging assistance of veteran detective Mark Taber, an overweight Puggle, and a chatty octogenarian neighbor should help her sniff out the killer unless she's snuffed out first.

©2015 M Carole Stamm (P)2016 M Carole Stamm

Ok but not great

This first book in the Painted Lady Inn Mystery series is enjoyable. Donna is around fifty and has a successful career as a nurse. She decides to open a B & B  It's somewhat questionable if she has the personality to run one. After buying a vacant house with eight bedrooms and baths, she is faced with a complete restoration. But before she can do anything, she finds a dead bod inside. She decides before her business can continue she needs to find the killer. However most the book had little to do with solving the mystery. Too rambling.

Great cozy

What a fun and interesting story.the characters are multi faceted and made for a good mystery.

I couldn't get past the voice of the narrator.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A better narrator. This one sounded like she was reading in a monotone. There was no visual from hearing the words.

Has Murder Mansion turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, I just won't use this person to narrate. I think it might be a good work but I couldn't stand the sound of her voice. I don't mean that unkindly. It just didn't work for me.

Would you be willing to try another one of Ginger Cucolo’s performances?

no

What character would you cut from Murder Mansion?

don't kow

Any additional comments?

no

A Clean Cozy Mystery

You have a nurse Donna Tollhouse who is a nurse who decides to open a bed and breakfast (BB). She runs into problems as the building needs a lot of restoration and secondly she finds a dead body in the BB. Donna isn't a likeable person, she is a matter of fact type. I find it funny she wants to open a successful BB. That in itself makes for an interesting story itself. You have a well defined storyline with believable and interesting characters. You have the interaction between Detective Tabor and Donna. He likes and respects her. MK has a way to describe characters which adds to this story. This humorous storyline will keep your interest. She is good at not giving clues as you can't figure out whodunnit till the end of the book. I enjoyed this book.