Hattie Goes to Hollywood

Hattie Mulberry has taken up residence in Hollywood — Hollywood, England, that is. Having inherited a cottage and been recently widowed, she is ready to begin a new phase in her life. Used to being active, life in a Cumbrian village seems tame. When she learns that her neighbor's husband committed suicide, though he had been in good spirits, her curiosity is aroused. It isn't long before she is doing some quiet sleuthing and embarking on a new career as a modern-day Miss Marple. She is not flattered by the comparison, but that does not stop her from nosing around. Two more suicides come to light, along with questionable management practices at a nursing home. Hattie has plenty of threads to follow and she is not about to give up until she reaches the end, uncovering a surprising and disturbing truth that will change village perceptions forever.

British cozy, "Hattie Goes to Hollywood" is a delightful and intriguing debut to a new series by Caroline James! Hattie is a fifty-something, no-nonsense former hotel manager, with a penchant for sniffing out clues. She is a woman comfortable in her own skin, a refreshing entrant in this genre. Trans-Atlantic readers of British mysteries will enjoy the colorful idioms and descriptions of village life. While Hattie's pursuit of the truth lays bare a tangle of relationships and secrets, it loses some of the urgency at the finish when all seems solved. However, a gather-all-suspects ending and big reveal will endear this tale to mystery fans. "Hattie Goes to Hollywood" has the making of a must-buy cozy mystery series that will offer entertaining puzzles to keep everyone guessing until the very end!

Tricia Hill