Saturday, July 16, 2022

Review: Castle Deadly, Castle Deep by Veronica Bond


About the Book


Genre
Cozy Mystery

Format
E-ARC

Publisher
Berkley

Releases Date
July 5, 2022


Synopsis from Goodreads:

After a man dies during a performance at Castle Dark, Nora Blake learns just how hard it is to catch a killer, especially if every suspect is a trained actor, in this exciting new Dinner and a Murder Mystery.

Autumn has arrived at Castle Dark, and Nora Blake has settled into her role as an actor in Derek Corby's castle murder-mystery troupe. She is troubled, however, by the setting of Derek's fall mystery: the catacombs in the depths of the castle. Yes, these catacombs are part of a set, the skeletons and cobwebs mere props, but Nora feels uneasy in the shadowy passages beneath Castle Dark. When a man is killed during one of their first shows, the eerie catacombs become a place of terror.

Joined by her castle companions, Nora attempts to find the motive for killing a seemingly innocent victim. Some of those answers appear to lie with the local community theater, the members of which Nora has come to know because she has joined Derek's latest town production. As Nora practices her lines at Wood Glen's Blue Curtain Theater, she realizes that everyone around her is an actor, and all of her suspects are perfectly capable of convincing others of their innocence. Nora soon discovers that someone else is in danger and that she may also be in the sights of the killer. With the help of her handsome boyfriend, Detective John Dashiell, Nora will have to go off-script to prevent a murderous encore. . . .

My Review

Nora Blake has settled into her career as an actor with the castle murder-mystery troupe at Castle Dark in Wood Glen, Illinois.  She even gets to live in the castle with her three kittens. She's made many friends from the cast and crew in the production company. 

Autumn has arrived and the production’s fall mystery is set in the catacombs within the castle.  When a young man is killed in the catacombs, the castle’s show comes to a halt.

All eyes turn to the cast and crew of the show as the killer.  Nora can’t believe one of her colleagues could be that cruel.  She has become close friends to most of these people and doesn’t want to see anyone go to jail.  So, she starts snooping around to find the killer.  Her detective boyfriend is not thrilled by this at all, especially when she puts her own life in danger.

I do enjoy this series.  I loved the first book and this one is even better.  The cast of characters are filled with off-beat, delightful and fun people who come to life in this story.  Each one is well-written and realistic.

The storyline is a fast-pace, light-hearted mystery.  I was totally caught off guard as to who the real killer turned out to be, but I loved every minute of trying to figure it out.  This series has turned out to be one of my favorite cozy mystery series.  I recommend starting with the first book so you can get to know Nora and how she came to be part of the Castle Dark crew.



For reading challenges:

Literary Escapes Reading Challenge 2022 (Illinois)
Craving for the Cozies Reading Challenge 2022
NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2022


FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a free Advance Reader Copy of this book from Edelweiss and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

1 comment:

  1. Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed this. I'm in love with this series. The setting and characters are just so fun.

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