Review: Murder at North Pond

Murder at North Pond: Book 1 of Frostfall Island Cozy Mysteries by London Lovett

Fiction, Cozy Mystery, 200 pages

5*****
Blurb: When Anna St. James graduated college with a business degree, she never expected to find herself running a boarding house on a small island off the east coast. But life throws a lot of curves and Anna has certainly had her share of them. Now, settled into life as owner and landlady of the Moon River Boarding House on Frostfall Island, Anna couldn’t imagine living anywhere else or without the unique and somewhat eccentric tenants she considers family. Anna would be perfectly content baking and keeping house but Frostfall Island, lovely, remote and somewhat wild, always manages to throw a curve of its own. Most of the time, Frostfall is a charming island with a busy fishing boat harbor and town that attracts summer tourists. But occasionally, quite occasionally, if that’s a phrase, there’s an unexpected murder. Without a dedicated police force, the locals look to Anna to solve crimes. She’s not entirely sure how she landed the role of amateur sleuth but she takes her side job seriously. When a man dies in a pirate battle reenactment, Anna steps into gear. Only this time, she has a parallel mystery to solve. Her newest tenant, Nathaniel Smith, is quite the puzzle, a puzzle who came with a piercing blue gaze and a trove of secrets.

Thoughts: I haven’t read any books by this author before, but I certainly will be looking for more from them. This story takes place on a small island in the Atlantic – Frostfall Island (fictional). There are no police on the island so when something nasty happens, like murder, the townspeople turn to Anna who seems to have a knack for finding out the truth. Anna runs a boarding house filled with quirky characters. I could just picture them when I was reading the story, each one individual.

In this book, the island is the scene for a reenactment between pirates and Spanish conquistadores (circa 1600s). During the “battle” one of the Spaniards is actually killed. When the inept mainland detective botches the case, Anna goes to work.

I really enjoyed the book. The scenery, the story, the characters—all well done. Definitely recommended.