Review for Murder a la Christie by Marilyn Levinson

Murder a la Christie

By Marilyn Levinson

Publisher: Dark Oak Mysteries

Release Date: February 4, 2014

Genre: Mystery

Length: 234 Pages

ISBN:  978-1610091350

Buy Link:  Amazon 

About the book:  

Professor Lexie Driscoll is leading a discussion of Agatha Christie’s novels at the first meeting of the Golden Age of Mystery book club, when an old friend is murdered. A free spirit, Lexie finds herself outside her element housesitting in the upscale village of Old Cadfield. As she unravels secret after secret, more members are murdered. Lexie employs Miss Marple’s knowledge of human nature and Hercule Poirot’s cunning to find the killer.

A long time ago, in one of the houses I called home, I fell in love with the mystery genre.  My first childhood reads were Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boy Mysteries, though at some point as I got older I switched to reading books by Agatha Christie.  If, like me, you love reading a good mystery book then let me recommend Murder a La Christie by author Marilyn Levinson.  A well written novel with intriguing characters, good dialogue, multiple victims and a light romance, Ms. Levinson’s book captured my attention from the first page and never let go.  In fact when I reached the end, I kept trying to turn the page on my kindle to try to get more.  Set in an exclusive small town on the East Coast, Ms. Levinson’s book is sure to delight almost any reader.

Looking forward to the first meeting of the Golden Age of Mystery book club, a club her best friend Rosie set up, Professor Lexie Driscoll is all set to share her knowledge of Agatha Christie and her books.  She never imagined one of her oldest friends would die as the meeting is taking place or that she would come to suspect one of the members of the club of being a cold hearted murderer.  Spending the summer living among the members of the mystery book club could be the most dangerous thing Lexxie has ever done.

Ms. Levinson does a wonderful job creating and developing Lexxie’s character from the start; an intelligent, attractive woman, she has an active imagination, the time and desire to obtain justice for her friend,  and the knowledge that people are seldom whom or what they seem.  Plus, there’s the fact that her murdered friend is the owner of the house Lexxie will be housesitting all summer.  As she begins investigating the possible motives and method of her friends death, Lexxie comes to the conclusion that the have as much or more reason, and opportunity,  to commit a crime as anyone.  

The secondary characters in the story are also well developed and I especially liked Rosie, Hal and Ginger, Lexxie’s best friends and their daughter.  Even though they are in completely different social and financial circles, Rosie and Hal have been friends with Lexxie since college, Lexxie even dated Hal for a short period of time, and treat her like an extended member of their family.  I also enjoyed getting to meet Alistair, a wealthy architect, her friends kept fixing her up with.  The mystery is also well written and the police investigation is handled with care, intelligence and time (it’s not solved in an hour like on CSI).  Plus there’s the added benefit; the handsome detective handling the investigation is also attracted to Lexxie.

Believing she can solve the murder using the investigative techniques set forth by Dame Agatha, Lexxie intends to solve her friend’s murder before she becomes the next victim.  Will her knowledge of Agatha Christie and her books help her solve the crime?  Will one or both of her possible romantic relationships pan out? You’ll have to read Murder a La Christie to find out.  I really hope Ms. Levinson has plans to develop this into a series and that we get to read more about Lexxie and her mystery solving skills.

My Rating:  4.5 out of 5 Crowns

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of a book tour in exchange for a fair and honest review.