Sunday, April 3, 2016

{Book Review} "Dressed for Death" by Julianna Deering



Rating: 3.5/5

Dressed for Death is Julianna Deering's newest addition to her Drew Farthering Mysteries series. Drew, his wife, Madeline, and their friends are delighted to be invited to a party at Winteroak Estate. Drew's old friends, the Cummins', are throwing a week long Regency themed party. By Mr. Cummins' rules, nothing newer than a hundred years old is allowed within the gates of the estate for the duration of the party.

The week is comprised of tea times, dancing, croquet and Regency era card games. All seems to be going well until a guest turns up dead on the last night of the party. All of the other guests leave, but Drew and Madeline stay to help. Nick, another old friend, Carrie, Nick's love interest, and Will, Carrie's younger brother, stay behind to lend Drew a hand.

Detectives soon determine that drugs played a role in the guest's death, and a key arrest seems to help lead them to the killer. When the arrest fails to provide answers, Drew works to help detectives. But when another guest is murdered, Drew and the detectives are left without any answers. As the case progresses, more tragedy ensues. Will Drew be able to help the detectives end all of the tragedies surrounding Winteroak? Who else will lose their lives in the process?

Dressed for Death has an intriguing plot, but it starts off very, very slowly. The story doesn't get interest until about a third of the way through the book. Once the plot heats up, it gets good fast. The beginning of the book should be more concise in order to get into the actual mystery part of the book. The characters are developed well and the mystery is well-planned out, which makes for an interesting ending to the story. Overall, Dressed for Death is a nice, clean mystery that fans of Agatha Christie will love. For those that enjoy Jane Austen novels, this book is brimming with quotes from many different Austen stories, which adds to the Regency era feel of the story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for this honest review.


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