Cozy Review: Tell Me No Lies

 

 
Title: Tell Me No Lies
Author: Shelley Noble
Publication Info: November 5, 2019, Forge Books. 368 pages.
Source: ARC provided through Great Escapes blog tours

Publisher's Blurb:
Rise and shine, Countess, you're about to have a visitor.

Lady Dunbridge was not about to let a little thing like the death of her husband ruin her social life. She's come to New York City, ready to take the dazzling world of Gilded Age Manhattan by storm. The social events of the summer have been amusing but Lady Phil is searching for more excitement---and she finds it, when an early morning visitor arrives, begging for her help. After all, Lady Phil has been known to be useful in a crisis. Especially when the crisis involves the untimely death of a handsome young business tycoon.

His death could send another financial panic through Wall Street and beyond.

With the elegant Plaza Hotel, Metropolitan Museum of Art and the opulent mansions of Long Island's Gold Coast as the backdrop, romance, murder, and scandals abound. Someone simply must do something. And Lady Dunbridge is happy to oblige.  




My Review:  
An intriguing mystery with an marvelous historical setting, Tell Me No Lies combines an American setting with the characters and features of an English country-house mystery. But the Dowager Duchess of Dunbridge is no Miss Marple--she's pretty adventurous, both in her personal life and in pursuit of a perp. I liked the characters from the start--not only Phil, but her servants, Lily and Preswick. The latter is all British butler perfection, but the former is a mystery herself, and one that I hope the author sees fit to unravel eventually, along with that of Phil's mysterious "boss."

I did find that the book started a little slowly, though I couldn't put my finger on anything besides my own mood that made me reluctant to engage. But once well into the story, it definitely took off, and as we neared the end I had to push on to see whodunnit, a solution that I felt I should have seen coming more clearly. The author did a good job with the misdirection on that score.

There were a few too many moments when my attention was distracted by a word used incorrectly or an awkward turn of phrase, but those problems didn't ride to the level of disqualifying the book for a positive review. 

My Recommendation:
I always like to read series in order, but there were no issues with reading this book without its predecessor. I would recommend it for anyone who likes mysteries set in the 1920s, or those who enjoy a peek at high society, complete with some lovely gowns.

Shelley Noble is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary women’s fiction. (Beach Colors, Whisper Beach, Lighthouse Beach.) And the author of the Lady Dunbridge Gilded Age  Manhattan mysteries. Tell Me No Lies is the latest of the series.

She has written eighteen amateur sleuth and historical mystery novels and novellas as Shelley Freydont. (The Sudoku Murders,  Celebration Bay mysteries, The Gilded Age Newport mysteries.

A former professional dancer and choreographer, Shelley lives at the Jersey shore where she loves to discover new beaches and indulge her passion for lighthouses, vintage carousels, and the past.

Author Links

Website https://www.shelleynoble.com

FB https://www.facebook.com/ShelleyNobleAuthor

Twitter https://twitter.com/ShelleyNoble3

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/shelleynobleauthor/

Goodreads  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5560617.Shelley_Noble

Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo

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FTC Disclosure: I received an ARC of Tell Me No Lies from Great Escapes Free Book Tours, and received nothing further from the writer or publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."