Review
"I'm definitely a fan an eager for the next in the series. Keep them coming, Gin!" -- Julie Obermiller for Mysterical-E
"Death of a Cozy Writer is a book anyone who cut their teeth on Agatha Christie's mysteries will treasure. I read it once for the story, and plan to read it a second time just to savor the language. It's that good." -- Cozy Library
"A good old fashion whodunit that Agatha Christie would have been pleased to claim as her own." -- Alibi Books
"A house party in a Cambridgeshire mansion with the usual suspects, er, guests -- a sly patriarch, grasping relatives, a butler, and a victim named Ruthven (what else?) -- I haven't had so much fun since Anderson's 'Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy.' Pass the tea and scones, break out sherry, settle down in the library by the fire and enjoy Malliet's delightful tribute to the time-honored tradition of the English country house mystery." -- Marcia Talley, Agatha and Anthony award-winning author of Dead Man Dancing
"Detective Chief Inspector St. Just and Detective Sergeant Fear of the Cambridgeshire constabulary conduct a lively investigation that underscores how the lack and the love of money might be at the root of society's ills." -- Publishers Weekly, May 19, 2008**
"G.M. Malliet's Death of a Cozy Writer is a delightful homage to the great novels of Britian's Golden Age of Mysteries." -- Nancy Pearl, KUOW 94.9 FM
"Malliet's skillful debut demonstrates the sophistication one would expect of a much more established writer. I'm looking forward to her next genre-bender, Death and the Lit Chick." -- Mystery Scene Magazine
"The traditional British cozy is alive and well. Delicious. I was hooked from the first paragraph." -- Rhys Bowen, award-winning author of Her Royal Spyness
"Try Ms. Malliet's prize-winning debut for a classic cozy set in modern times." -- Fresh Fiction, Aug. 26, 2008
Malliet's debut combines devices from Christie and Clue to keep you guessing until the dramatic denouement. -- Kirkus Reviews
"The mystery was complex and satisfying, with several unpredictable twists, and St. Just and Fear are likeable but funny investigators." --"On My Bookshelf" Blog, Sept. 16, 2008
"In the beginning, Death of a Cozy Writer will entertain readers with its characters, setting, and board game-like features, but in the end will captivate them with a compelling denouement in a familiar gathering of the suspects in the drawing room." --Mysterious Reviews, Oct. 6, 2008
"[T]his novel delivers exactly what you hoped it would: a new packaging of the old formula, and a very enjoyable read." --Gumshoe Review, October 2008
Chosen by Kirkus Reviews as a Best Book of 2008. --Kirkus Reviews, Dec. 15, 2008
Death of a Cozy Writer won the 2008 Agatha Award for Best First Novel, was short-listed for the Macavity Award for Best First Mystery, and has been named a semi-finalist for the IPPY awards in the category of Mystery/Suspense/Thriller. --May 2, 2009
Product Description
*Winner of the 2008 Agatha Award for Best First Novel*
From deep in the heart of his eighteenth century English manor, millionaire Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk writes mystery novels and torments his four spoiled children with threats of disinheritance. Tiring of this device, the portly patriarch decides to weave a malicious twist into his well-worn plot. Gathering them all together for a family dinner, he announces his latest blow a secret elopement with the beautiful Violet... who was once suspected of murdering her husband.
Within hours, eldest son and appointed heir Ruthven is found cleaved to death by a medieval mace. Since Ruthven is generally hated, no one seems too surprised or upset least of all his cold-blooded wife Lillian. When Detective Chief Inspector St. Just is brought in to investigate, he meets with a deadly calm that goes beyond the usual English reserve. And soon Sir Adrian himself is found slumped over his writing desk an ornate knife thrust into his heart. Trapped amid leering gargoyles and stone walls, every member of the family is a likely suspect. Using a little Cornish brusqueness and brawn, can St. Just find the killer before the next-in-line to the family fortune ends up dead?
Death of a Cozy Writer was chosen by Kirkus Reviews as a Best Book of 2008, nominated for a Left Coast Crime award (the Hawaii Five-O for best police procedural), short-listed for the Macavity Award for Best First Mystery, nominated for the Anthony Award for Best First Novel and was a finalist for the David G. Sasher, Sr. Award for Best Mystery Novel.
G.M. Malliet's Death of a Cozy Writer won the 2008 Agatha Award for Best First Novel and a silver medal for the IPPY awards in the category of Mystery/Suspense/Thriller.