Book Review: Gone Away by Hazel Holt

Gone Away by Hazel Holt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the first in the Mrs. Mallory mystery series.  It was originally titled Mrs. Mallory Investigates.  Overall, this was a good mystery, though I hated the ending.  It was beyond sad and a little depressing, at least to me.  This is the first time I’ve read a cozy mystery where I actually wanted the killer to be someone else.

Having said that, the reason for the murder also didn’t really make sense.  To me, it kind of came out of nowhere.  And, it didn’t really ring as a motive for murder to me.  I might have been okay with the killer if the reason had been a little different, which was what was hinted at until the “reveal.”

I did like Sheila Mallory.  I liked that she was a retired academic.  I liked her pets.  She seemed to have a nice little life going and didn’t really investigate.  She came across information just interacting with people.  Which she didn’t share with the police because she didn’t think it was her place to.  I’m still not sure what I think of that.

While I enjoyed the mystery and liked Mrs. Mallory, I didn’t really feel like I got to know any of the characters or the community.  I did sort of figure out the killer, but not for the reason that I thought (as mentioned earlier, the true reason came out of the blue).  Even though it was a good read, I don’t think I’ll be reading more in this series.


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