It took a while for me to get into the book. But based on the strength of her other books, I kept at it, and I ended up being very happy by the end. In fact, I’ve already started the second book in the series. Hopefully, the second will be even better and this series hold me over until India and Matt come home or until Sylvia and Gabe stumble across another magical mystery.

I'll admit, this is, I believe, my first ever cosy mystery book! I also admit that I only read this book because it had a purple cover and that was part of a story graph challenge. Honestly, I did not expect it to be a 5 star read at all, so I'm pleasantly surprised and really glad I stumbled across this book! 

I generally avoid detective style books (if I see D.C or D.I on the back of a book, it goes back on the shelf immediately), probably because they take themselves too seriously, the storylines are too samey and they just seem boring to me - I'd much rather read a book about true crime than read about a fictional detective solving a fictional (and probably outlandish) murder! That's why I didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. 

Maybe because I took this story at face value and didn't go into it with a critical eye, that is why I don't really follow the criticisms shared in other reviews. One mentioned that Cleo is Cambridge educated, yet acts naïve and jumps to conclusions, but this is mentioned only a couple of times. Just because someone is well-educated, doesn't mean they can't make mistakes or be naïve to things. I didn't see Cleo as naïve, only passionate about figuring out the mystery.

I loved the tension and banter between Cleo and Harry and I hope it expands in later books. I was hoping something would happen at the end with them, but even though that didn't happen, it was still a satisfying ending that leads into the next book.  All the characters felt so real and alive; they all had their own personalities and I could imagine how they behaved so easily. Archer gives little snippets of information which allows your mind to wander and imagine - nothing's bogged down by too much description which I'm all for! 

The book was so easy to read, everything flowed so well into another. Although the book is 350+ pages, it didn't feel that way at all. Something was always happening and there was never a lull in the story where I felt I was losing interest. It felt almost fast paced, yet because of the length, it could probably still be deemed medium paced. 

I can't think of any moment where I thought, 'that's cringe/weird/doesn't sound right'. It was just a pleasant read from start to finish. No writing/spelling errors either. I can't think of a negative part of the book which is why I had to give it 5 stars!

I absolutely loved this. I was a little iffy at first, but I was drawn into it and I'm excited to read more. I completely love the characters and I'm ready for more murder mysteries!