I struggled with this book. All the ingredients are present for a great read, 1920s era, large country house, diverse cast of characters but I found it slow and difficult to engage with. The last third of the book does gear up for an eventful ending but it’s lacklustre. Not for me.

Thank you Netgalley

I love love a good murder mystery and this absolutely delivered. The writing was great, I felt carried along and even though I had suspicions, I was absolutely surprised by the ending.

I think my favourite part of the story is the murder mystery writer detective 😅

Love!

This is a review of the two novels I read in this series
I assume that Marius is inspired by some of the detective of the Golden Age and he slowly grew on me Bella is a cute, clever and strong characters. I also liked Marius' family and the dog, lovely.
These aren't the first books I read by Benedict Brown and always thoroughly enjoyed his mysteries.
These two books are quite enjoyable and I appreciated the setting and the solid mystery.
I'm not a fan of love triangle and hope there's will be a HEA for the characters.
I look forward to read the next novel
4.5 upped to 5
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This took me a while to get into it but once i did I loved it. I really liked Marius and Bella and the friendship between them. I really hope they do find their way to each other again and Bella moves away from the simpering Gilbert. The NYE setting was grey and I loved the sumptuous splendour of the hall.
This was a great book and I’m so glad I persevered. Thank you NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

First I must say that I loved the cover of this book and it is one of the reasons I wanted to read it. Not just that but the intrigue of a new series (A completely addictive 1920s cozy mystery - A Marius Quin Mystery Book 1) and the historical aspect made me want to read it more. And I do love a good cosy mystery for sure.

This one didn't disappoint. A mystery novelist, an indulgent party and a dead film star. What more could you want. Love the setting and the era of the book and found the characters wonderful. Snowed in and with a murder to solve our main character Marius sets out to solve this mystery with the help of Bella (his childhood sweetheart).

This was such a fun, charming and entertaining book to read. So easy and quick to read as well, it held my interest and had the quirkiness to make it even more enjoyable.

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Mystery writer Marius Quin is invited to a holiday house party at a manor in the British countryside, but the party soon turns to panic when the host is murdered. With the police unable to reach them due to the storm, the invitees look to Quin to solve the mystery.

I love good country house murder story and am a big fan of Agatha Christie and the like. But this book was not a great read---the writing style was dull, the main character unlikeable, and the entire thing felt like a slog. Not recommended.

A stimulating guessing game of whodunnit kept me riveted until the last page. The Murder mystery is a hard one to solve as everyone is under suspicion.

Princess Fuzzypants here; Have you ever read a book where you trundled along enjoying the historical fiction to its denouement only to find yourself feeling unfulfilled and somewhat disappointed. I did with this book but I should have known. There were more twists and turns to come and by the final page, there was a satisfactory resolution.

Marius is a one hit wonder writer who is blocked trying to finish his follow up novel. He has overspent all the money from his first success and it seems his good times are all gone. That is until he meets up with the love of his life whom he left behind when he went off to the trenches of WWI ten years before. Bella invites him to a New Year’s party at the swank estate of a famous film star. It will be a small soirée and when the host is murdered and a blizzard prevents anyone from coming or going from Eversham, it is up to Marius and Bella to unmask the killer and the motive. Since the deceased had caused heartaches for almost everyone there, and the suspect pool was small, everyone, except for our two intrepid amateur detectives, might have committed the crime.

By the time things are resolved, Marius’ writer’s block has vanished and he is able to complete his second mystery and will have plenty of material from which to continue his series. And, clearly, so has the author of the book. Four purrs and two paws up.

This was a historal mystery that reminded me of a locked room Agatha Christie novel. This was so good I enjoyed this very much and loved all the twists and turns. This was such a great book.
I just reviewed Murder at Everham Hall by Benedict Brown. #MurderatEverhamHall #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

A cozy mystery perfect for the Christmas season! I don’t read many books set in this period but I found myself enjoying the vintage feel.

“Murder at Everham Hall” is book 1 in a new, cozy mystery series.

The book centers on Marius Quin, a best-selling mystery writer who finds himself thrust into a real life murder mystery.

Benedict Brown did an excellent job making this story entertaining for readers with plenty of twists and turns.

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for gifting me this advanced copy. I enjoyed it.

Marius Quin has writer’s block, and his editor is not impressed that Marius has blown through his advance, is in his office to ask for more money, and hasn’t written anything for a year for his follow up to his first book.

His editor gives him an ultimatum—for every chapter Marius writes, he'll receive 100 pounds, otherwise, no more money. Knowing his new house and car are in jeopardy (he bought these with his advance), and his mother, uncle and aunt will be without a home, so Marius agrees, obviously.

Marius leaves the office and meets his childhood sweetheart Bella outside, who invites him to join her at a weekend house party.

Marius is thrilled to see Bella again, and looks forward to the party with her, despite his family's advice to guard his heart—they know Marius has been pining after Bella since before he left to the fighting in the War, and has kicked himself for not proposing to her before he left.

The party is hosted by Clifford St-Clair, a well known actor, who inherited the house and wealth from his wife. Clifford is mercurial, rude and difficult, and has planned a mystery party for his guests, who are a variety of people, such as Clifford’s father and his fiancée, a banker and his underling, a fellow actress, and various others. One thing Bella neglected to tell him was that her fiancé is there also (he’s the banker).

The weather is snowy, and the roads are poor and soon impassable, stranding everyone in the house. And Clifford is killed before dinner.

Marius, being a mystery writer, is nominated to find the murderer, and he teams up with Bella. She’s actually the brains of the operation, and moves the investigation along in a positive direction, though Marius does provide some needed insight occasionally.

By the time the police inspector arrives, who is a good chap, the murderer is revealed.

This is a super light mystery, with lots of melodrama and ridiculous situations and behaviour. It felt a bit like a Hollywood 1930s comedy, with fast pacing and broad characterization. Marius was often irritating and I think Bella should have been the main character. And not the focus of Marius’ ardour.

This is a quick read, and light enough to function as a chaser between heavier fare.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Storm Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Thank you for allowing me to review this book. I'm afraid that I found the story to slow and kept losing interest. It felt very like The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie, but lacking the pace and drama.

This is a good weekend read. It was fast paced and an easy read.

I had fun trying to guess who did it and was pleasantly surprised that it was someone else.

Just when I thought I’d get a cozy ending , something happens. I sat right up for the last few pages of the book and ended the last page with a smile.

I’m glad that this is a start of a series. Can’t wait for the next installment.

Murder at Everham Hall is the first book in a new historical cozy series by Benedict Brown. Released 3rd Nov 2023, it's 273 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

This is such a quirky fun cozy read. The characters are very well rendered, with witty repartee and the author does a good job of the closed suspect pool country house mystery format. Odd duck writer Marius is having a spectacularly bad week. On top of writer's block, he's stuck at a posh country house with the woman (out of his league) whom he left behind during the first war. When the host of the party is murdered, it seems like everyone has a motive to have wanted him out of the way permanently.

Really humorous, well written, eminently readable. Pure golden age classic fun. Fans of Sayers, Allingham, and the others will likely find much to enjoy here.

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 7 hours 43 minutes and is capably narrated by George Blagden. He has a classically trained, nuanced tenor voice and manages the varied accents without a stumble. His reading is pleasant to listen to an neutral enough not to be annoying or intrusive. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.

There's a sequel due out in Feb 2024 from the same publisher.

Four stars. Well written and eminently entertaining. Highly recommended for fans of classic golden age British cozy crime with a definite slug of P.G. Wodehouse at his irreverent best in the mix.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

Actual rating: 3,5 stars

Murder at Everham Hall was my first Benedict Brown book. Murder Mystery is not a genre I read often, but I love discovering other authors’ interpretations of Christie’s favourite genre. What first attracted me to this book was the winter atmosphere that emanates from the cover, it was perfectly written and gave all the cosy atmosphere I expected.

As stated above, I don’t read a lot of mysteries, but it was still refreshing to not have a seasoned detective investigating the murder but a mystery author using his writing experience to work on this unexpected case. However, I wasn’t a big fan of Marius as a character.

The plot was solid, and pleasantly lightened with bits of humour, but the resolution was nothing new or groundbreaking. Overall, Murder at Everham Hall was a good cosy mystery with a compelling cast of characters, a well-crafted plot and an atmosphere perfect for the festive season!

Loved this one, very addictive and compelling. A great read in one day book. Wish I could give it more stars as I enjoyed it so much. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

The first book in the Marius Quin historical mystery series contains historical details that perfectly set the scene. Marius is a likeable, if flawed, character who flamboyantly spent his advances and royalties, and now he has writer's block and is afraid he may lose everything. His love for his family and first love endear him to the reader.
The unlikely amateur sleuths immerse the reader into the classic-style murder mystery and make it entertaining. I like characterisation, the historical setting, and sensory imagery, allowing readers to easily imagine the characters, events, and settings.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

A fun country manor murder mystery that definitely pays homage to the great Agatha Christie. It takes place in the 1920s, though outside of a few issues (no cell phones, etc), this could easily be a modern-day setting. New Year's Eve finds an eclectic group gathering for a party at Everham Hall. The owner is promptly murdered and the rest of the party are stranded due to heavy snow.

Marius Quinn - a mystery writer with writer's block decides to tackle the mystery right in front of him. The plot has potential, but there were too many moments that made the story drag.

There are a number of times, when Marius' character bemoans the fact that if it were happening in a book, the author would never write it such a way which only serves to highlight the plot holes and wordy, over-the-top dialogue at times.
"This was hardly the most original metaphor, but not every writer can be as quick off the cuff as Oscar Wilde. I hope I would have done better if I'd written this speech..." is one such passage.

Overall, I found it a bit disappointing. I'll probably read the next in the series (the author has definitely set it up for future novels) before making a final decision.

Firstbtime reading this author. The mystery kept me guessing. I just not sure how I feel about the MC.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review