Aunt Bessie Assumes by Diana Xarissa

Aunt Bessie Assumes (Isle of Man #1) 
by Diana Xarissa (Goodreads Author)

Reviewed by

Sandy *The world could end while I was reading and I would never notice* Jones

Jul 01, 2017  

really liked it

bookshelves: 2017, 4-star, netgalley-arc, new-to-me-author, sandy-s-ng-nirvana, sandy-s-reading-retreat, cosy-mystery, murder-mystery

 

EXCERPT: Elizabeth Cubbon, known as Bessie to her friends, rubbed her eyes and checked the clock by her bed. It was 6:06, which meant her internal alarm was a few minutes off today. She frowned as she sat up in bed and pushed back her warm duvet. Slippers in place, she padded over to the window and looked out. The glow from the nearest street lamp gave her just enough light to see the sheets of rain that were falling. She would definitely have the beach to herself this morning.

Half an hour later she was dressed and waiting impatiently for the sky to lighten up a bit. Sunrise, this early in March, was still half an hour away. As rainy and overcast as it was, the sun wasn’t going to make much difference, but she waited for it anyway. A hot cup of tea and toast with honey and homemade strawberry jam helped to pass the time as she watched out the window for the sun to come up.

THE BLURB: Aunt Bessie assumes that she’ll have the beach all to herself on a cold, wet, and windy March morning just after sunrise, then she stumbles (almost literally) over a dead body.

Elizabeth (Bessie) Cubbon, aged somewhere between free bus pass (60) and telegram from the Queen (100), has lived her entire adult life in a small cottage on Laxey beach. For most of those years, she’s been in the habit of taking a brisk morning walk along the beach. Dead men have never been part of the scenery before.

Aunt Bessie assumes that the dead man died of natural causes, then the police find the knife in his chest.

Try as she might, Bessie just can’t find anything to like about the young widow that she provides tea and sympathy to in the immediate aftermath of finding the body. There isn’t much to like about the rest of the victim’s family either.

Aunt Bessie assumes that the police will have the case wrapped up in no time at all, then she finds a second body.

Can Bessie and her friends find the killer before she ends up as the next victim?

MY THOUGHTS: I have never been a great fan of the ‘cosy’, but every now and then I stumble across one that whets my appetite, and Aunt Bessie Assumes certainly did that. So much so, that I went straight on to read the second book in the series, Aunt Bessie Believes.

Xarissa’s Aunt Bessie is a warm hearted, independent woman who has spent the majority of her life on the Isle of Man where this series is set. She is a great fan of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple and in the enviable position of knowing everyone and everything about them. But if, as they say, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, then does having a lot of knowledge place her in even more danger?

The writing is very descriptive, which I enjoyed, and the characters a mixed bunch. I gave up trying to figure out who dunnit early on, and just went along for the very enjoyable ride.

If you are looking for a start to reading ‘cosy’ mystery series, I can recommend the Aunt Bessie series. I have the rest of the series on my TBR list.

I read the Kindle edition of Aunt Bessie Assumes by Diana Xarissa. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions. Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the ‘about’ page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my Goodreads.com page https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2045821289