We know right from the start that Mr. Butler has been hired to take care of someone's dirty work. But what we don't know is who the murder victim is. As we meet all the possible "suspects" each new complication can apply to any one of the women aboard the Beatrice Cenci on this voyage. Babson toys with the reader in masterful fashion, keeping the secret right up until the very end. What a fun read!

This was one of Marian Babson's better non-cat books. It's a good easy read. I like the details about the house and its guests. I thought the ending was a tad obvious but good overall.

When an official at one of her corporate clients is electrocuted, caterer Jean Ainley is dragged into murder. Filled with details about cooking and the dangers of cooking (strawberries are dangerous...who knew?), this little whodunnit is lackluster, but a little bit entertaining.

Jean Ainley, a caterer, while doing her job comes across one murdered man. While trying to make ends meet, listen to sister in law and brother bicker, and teach several young girls how to cater, she begins to find clues to the identity of the killer.

It isn't until the end when another attempted murder and a possible lawsuit brings it all into the open about who the murderer is and the motive.

The end is good. I rated it a four stars because Jean mostly just stumbles on the answer rather than really trying to find the answer to the question: Who is the murderer? In fact, she's not even thinking about the whole thing, nor is she even putting any of the clues she has together. So it really isn't a detective book. It rather a book about a caterer who stumbles across a body and who stumbles across a murderer.

However, it is still an entertaining little book.

Enjoy

I discovered this title by accident, but would recommend it to anyone who likes the "cozy" British-style of mystery story-telling. Doug Perkins, a frustrated PR man in 70s London, is trying to save his sinking PR firm by representing an American "hillbilly" singing/comedy act, Black Bart and the Troupe, abroad. He desperately needs their money to stay afloat, but along with the fees he must also bear the brunt of their constant criticism.

Maw, the ultimate stage mother who makes "Gypsy"'s Mama Rose seem retiring, insists on bringing her daughter to the forefront of the act, while Bart thinks he is the true star. Maw's "accidental" death stalls the troupe's UK debut, but when the show does go on Doug knows the star is also a killer.

The mystery part -- who killed Maw -- is quite easy to solve, but the amusing narrative told from Doug's POV makes this easy to forgive.

A Fool for Murder is a typical English Manor house mystery. The master of the house returns from a lecture tour with a new wife, much to the consternation of his grown up children. Many twists and turns follow to a very satisfactory conclusion. Although the story may seem run of the mill, the characters are marvelous and there is alot of action. The only problem seems to be Babson's difficulty in portraying Americans in her early novels. It is almost as if she never met one. That problem is resolved now, but in her early works she seems to think of us all as characters in Hee Haw.

This was a fair book. Definitely not Marian Babson's best. I like her books that feature cats much better. The story starts out slow. It gets better when Sir Wilmer arrives on the scene. I thought there could have been more detail about the birthday party. I especially like the relationship that the narrator makes with the solicitor. The spoiled older daughter was too spoiled for my taste. The ending did come as a surprise. It is a quick read and overall worth the couple hours it took to read it.

Enjoyable novel, but VERY British in outlook and very first person. Some parts were very abrupt in transition, and some things were left dangling. It felt like the middle of a trilogy.

Whiskers and Smoke that was originally published as "A Trail of Ashes" was renamed and added cover art to take advantage of the popularity of feline sleuths. To be sure, there is a cat, Errol, in the story, but he does not have a major part in moving the plot along like KoKo (The Cat Who... seriers) or Joe Gray and Dulcie (Shirley Rousseau Murphy). Once the reader overcomes his expectations concerning the role of the cat, the story becomes an interesting character study of an English family visiting New Hampshire. The companion book, Paws for Alarm, should be read second. Taken together they are an enjoyable study of an English family visiting America and an American family visiting England.

This is the first book by Marian Babson that I have read, so perhaps someone who has read her other books might appreciate this one more than I do. I don't find any of the characters in this book intriguing or sympathetic. The story is told in the first person by Nancy Harper, a wife and mother who seems to have very little love in her heart for her husband and children. This woman and her scholarly husband swap homes for three months with an English woman whose husband has recently died; the English woman takes their home in New Hampshire and they take her home in a small English town. At this point, the American family then has an "adventure" which consists mainly of someone trying to do away with the husband. If I had the chance, I'd do away with him too. And his grumpy wife. And their annoying twins. The only character I'd spare would be the cat, who only features in a few scenes anyway. Established fans of Marian Babson may like this book quite a bit, but if you're a newcomer to this series, it might be a good idea to start with a different book.

Great book, goes well with the other she wrote.