Tag: Cosy Mystery

Mistletoe and Mayhem

There’s not just kisses under the Mistletoe this holiday season, dun-dun-dun!

You don’t have to wait for the festive fun.  Open the grand doors of a manor and experience Mistletoe and Mayhem.  Author, Veronica Cline Barton, invited her readers to celebrations.  But beware of mysterious events in this cosy/cozy mystery.

Dear Readers,

I am delighted to present Mistletoe and Mayhem, Yuletide at Castlewood Manor.

Rumor has it a Castlewood Manor feature film will be made to highlight the fan favorite period drama on the big screen. As Gemma and her family and friends prepare for the celebrity filled holiday celebrations, which includes television broadcasts, a visit by the queen to Cherrywood Hall, wedding planning frenzy and plenty of mystery, family drama and intrigue, you can bet that the tinsel will be in a deadly tangle in the stately halls of Cherrywood. Father Christmas has his hands full as revenge, mur-dah, sabotage, and bridezilla wannabes threaten to bring this ‘Tis the Season’ to a fiery and disastrous end.

Mistletoe and Mayhem is a delightful guilty pleasure read for the holidays with romance, mystery, family drama and tons of royal surprises—snuggle up by the fire with your favorite libation and enjoy!

Happy Christmas and Best to You in the New Year! Cheers!

Veronica

Veronica’s Extract

“Why you little darling, it’s about time you called me. We have a wedding to plan!”

I laughed at Max’s dramatic tone. I knew there was no way he was not going to be involved in choreographing my wedding, he was on a mission. “It’s been a bit busy here, Max. Mama said you have someone in mind that you’d like to introduce me to, a Mr. Reginald Gerard?”

The royal garden view that inspired the setting.

“Oh darling, Reggie is absolutely the best there is. He just got back from Denmark you know. He and I go way back to our university days. We both majored in interior design. Reggie branched out years ago to get in the wedding and party planning event business. Queen Annelyce and Lady Adela adore him. He did the queen’s last dinner party, you know.”

“Yes, yes, I’ve heard that. I must tell you Max, that Kyle and I have really not had a chance to discuss any plans yet, not with everything that has gone on with Evan.”

“Oh, I know, darling. It’s been so awful. That’s why I thought you could just let me and Reggie, get started planning all the details for you. We’ll take care of everything. You won’t have to lift a finger…”

Reviews

‘The fourth book in this well written series has everything you desire for a perfect holiday: Romance, a cozy mystery, British royals and a heart-warming, Christmas miracle.’ Star Traveler

‘I love this cozy murder, it has everything I could ever want in one book, including a lovely little dog.’ Mark Schultz

‘You will truly feel that you are living like the almost-royals at the family home. The story moves along and is vivid, entertaining and interesting and the ending is truly a “wow!”. Full curtsey to author Veronica Cline Barton!” – Jena C. Henry

Gemma’s favorite place to stroll at Hampton Court Palace.

Final word from Veronica

This book was a complete joy for me at the end. We go through a lot with Gemma’s family issues and changes, and of course the ‘mur-dah’ and mayhem, LOL. I think the ending with the slight change in course for the series will keep things fresh and give some new perspectives for the characters and storyline. I love getting together with my characters when I’m writing—this story was particularly fun being set during the holidays, and a few of the scenes actually take place at my favorite royal abode, Hampton Court Palace. It’s been Christmas at my house for all of 2019!

I love all things cozy mystery–in addition to the My American Almost Royal Cousin series books, I’m currently starting a new cozy mystery series titled An American Hygge & Bisous Mysteries, set for release in 2020.

Meet the author, Veronica Cline Barton

More about Mistletoe and Mayhem

There’s not just kisses under the Mistletoe this holiday season, dun-dun-dun!

A family’s legacy, a mother’s heartbreak, a highly anticipated feature film announcement, and bridezilla wannabes are set to rendezvous around the Christmas tree this Yuletide season. History is about to change by royal decree, impacting forever the life of American heiress Gemma Lancaster Phillips and the man she loves as she takes the reins of the family peerage and title—a move that places the British/American Lancaster family relations at risk.

 

Please see all my Book Extracts and Book Excerpts and also my website and blog at JessieCahalin.com.

A copy of my novel is available here.

British Review of The Crown for Castlewood Manor

Veronica posting the letter

I reviewed a novel set in Britain and written by an American Anglophile.  Think Downton Abbey, crowns, manors, glamour and Midsomer Murders.

Crack open a bottle of the very best bubbly and slip inside the pages of The Crown for Castlewood Manor.  Let’s raise our glasses ‘to love and lust, past, present and future.’

Veronica is an Agatha Christie adoring fan (Miss Jane Marple is my heroine); lover of all things royal (especially those crowns!)

Do you fancy being a VIP at some glamorous parties attended by royalty?  Dust off your best bib and tucker and prepare yourself for glamour, opulence and a right royal story.  However, this invitation comes with a health warning.  Please take care and beware of the murderer!  There are shadows hiding beneath the glitz and sparkle.  Don’t be tempted to go into the woods or too near the edge of the cliff.  I did warn you!

This is the book I placed in my handbag

Follow Dr Gemma Phillips, with her brains and beauty, on her journey of discovery into the ancestry of Cherrywood Hall.  Can she help her cousin to secure a deal to use the manor as a filming location for the latest period drama- Castlewood Manor?  As other lords and ladies compete for the coveted title mysterious evens begin to occur, and the murder mystery element had me completely hooked.  This was unadulterated escapism into another world.  It was fun to recognise: the influence of British murder mystery conventions, celebrity rom coms and Downton Abbey. I also played Guess Who? with the cast of royal characters.   Visiting eccentric British aristocratic world from an American perspective is a joy to behold.

I kept thinking about the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon’s decision to allow a period drama series to be filmed at their estate—would you allow cameras and production settings at your home?

Veronica Cline Barton has a bright and breezy style of writing with description of photographic quality.  I was lost in vivid descriptions of houses that resonated with my visit to various National Trust stately homes and palaces.  I meandered down the secret corridors, peered into the hidden rooms and learnt about some past scandals haunting these families.  Wow!  The author has woven a tangle web, and I was ensnared in this narrative trap until I uncovered the resolution.  And, of course, there is a smoldering romance to add flames to the fire, and a friendly ghost to send a shiver down your spine

This novel has it all and is a fun reading retreat. A light-hearted, entertaining and fun read – a darn good yarn, darlings!

Having read the book, I asked Veronica Cline Barton to send me a guest post from California.  I wanted to know more about the inspiration behind the fun.

Tell us about Veronica…

Meet the fabulous Veronica Cline Barton

Agatha Christie adoring fan (Miss Jane Marple is my heroine); lover of all things royal (especially those crowns!); Anglophile (according to ‘23andMe’ I’m 60% English/Irish from the DNA profile); Downton Abbey devotee; reader (love the Indie writers on Twitter); cozy mystery writer (began in 2016); blogger (myamericanalmostroyalcousinseries.com); traveler (especially to the UK—love those castles and palaces); wife; mother; grannie; owned by two cats—Daisy and Ebbie. Whew!

To me, there’s nothing better than a British cozy mystery series. In my cozy reader’s mind, I enjoy traveling to a great manor house, tending a lovely garden, walking the grounds in my wellies in the rain, and sipping tea and sherry by a roaring fire to ponder the day’s events and ‘mur-dahs’ (things I don’t get to do very often in hot, dry, congested southern California). I love getting to know the fictional characters (at least the surviving ones—perils of being a cozy mystery character, LOL) and watch them develop and grow over the years.

Tell us about your My American Almost Royal Cousin series

This is the latest book.

When season six of Downton Abbey ended, my life changed. I couldn’t wait for the opening scenes highlighting the beautiful Highclere Castle. I kept thinking about the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon’s decision to allow a period drama series to be filmed at their estate—would you allow cameras and production settings at your home? This question went through my mind, over and over again, and so…

My series starts when American heiress Gemma Lancaster Philips, PhD, travels to the UK to assist her cousin, Evan Lancaster, 8th Marquess of Kentshire and his estate, Cherrywood Hall, compete in a contest for the set location of the highly anticipated period drama series, Castlewood Manor (my fictional version of Downton Abbey).

The stakes are high, and the competition deadly. Throw in ambitious actors, jealous ex’s, a little romance (Kyle Williams, the Cherrywood Hall estate manager catches Gemma’s eye), royals (my royals are fictionalized out of respect to the British royal family), a beloved ancestral ghost, and more than a few ne’er do wells who attend the glamorous red-carpet events and voila! Cozy British mystery with some very unexpected twists. What could possibly go wrong?

  • The Crown for Castlewood Manor: American heiress Gemma Lancaster Philips helps her British cousin’s ancestral estate win selection for an English TV series, only to discover that the other contenders are killing off the competition.
  • Cast, Crew, & Carnage; the Filming of Castlewood Manor: The lines between fiction and fact become blurred when a television production comes to Cherrywood Hall. Can Gemma stop a killer before the show and countless lives are ruined?
  • Deadly Receptions; the Debut of Castlewood Manor: The global premiere of the highly anticipated period drama series Castlewood Manor, the Telly Tiara awards show, and hosting the royal wedding of the season at the newly opened wedding pavilion at Cherrywood Hall is keeping Gemma busy to say the least.

 

Please see all my guests’ posts at Mail from the Creative Community and my website and blog at JessieCahalin.com

My novel can be found here.