| Title | : | Aunt Bessie Believes (Isle of Man #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 213 |
| Publication | : | First published July 25, 2014 |
Elizabeth Cubbon, (Aunt Bessie to nearly everyone), is somewhere past sixty, and old enough to ignore the rude woman that does her best to ruin the first session of the beginning Manx language class they are both taking. Moirrey's sudden death is harder to ignore.
Aunt Bessie Believes (Isle of Man #2) Reviews
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Aunt Bessie is a comfortable, friendly kind of person who should by rights also be a butterball judging by the quantity and calorific content of the food she eats. I lost count of the pizzas, puddings and cakes she and her friends so happily consumed. As for healthy food I think I remember one apple although I am sure there were lots more in the form of pies eaten with lashings of custard.
Food apart there was an interesting mystery and a murder or two plus a couple of attempts at same. Bessie's best friend Doona was off with a new man to the island and Bessie had to get by with just Hugh and the Inspector to solve the crime. They make a great team.
It is all nicely written and was a pleasant way of passing a few hours. If you like Miss Marple then you will like this too. -
EXCERPT: Bessie never minded not having children of her own. Instead she had happily taken on the role of honorary maiden aunt to just about every child in Laxey. Once those children reached school age, parents could count on every one of them running away to 'Aunt Bessie's' at least once in a while. Bessie usually had biscuits, frequently had cake and usually had a sympathetic ear for children who felt misunderstood or under-appreciated at home.
In all her years of opening her door to the neighborhood children, there had only ever been one child that she had ever asked to leave. Disagreeable and difficult even as a teen, Moirrey Teare had never forgiven Bessie for the slight, a fact that bothered Bessie not even the tiniest bit.
ABOUT THIS BOOK: Aunt Bessie believes that Moirrey Teare is just about the most disagreeable woman she's ever had the misfortune to meet.
Elizabeth Cubbon, (Aunt Bessie to nearly everyone), is somewhere past sixty, and old enough to ignore the rude woman that does her best to ruin the first session of the beginning Manx language class they are both taking. Moirrey's sudden death is harder to ignore.
Aunt Bessie believes that Moirrey's death was the result of the heart condition that Moirrey always complained about.
The police investigation, however, suggests that someone switched some of the dead woman's essential medications for something far more deadly.
Aunt Bessie believes that she and her friends can find the killer.
But with Doona suspended from work and spending all of her time with the dead woman's long-lost brother, Hugh caught up in a brand new romance and Inspector Rockwell chasing after a man that might not even exist, Bessie finds herself believing that someone might just get away with murder.
MY THOUGHTS: I discovered Aunt Bessie last year when I needed an author whose surname began with an X for an Author's Alphabet Challenge. I purchased Aunt Bessie Assumes, and enjoyed it so much that I went straight on to read the second book in the series, Aunt Bessie Believes.
I love the characters of Aunt Bessie and Doona. They are good friends who spend a great deal of time together, but still live their separate lives. They have an insatiable curiosity, great senses of humour and a wonderful appreciation of food. Plus they ascribe to my belief that chocolate makes everything better!
I had the solution to this mystery figured out early on, but only because I thought 'If I was the author, who would I make guilty and how?' I was not always convinced that I was right. . .
3.5 stars. This was actually a 4-star read, but I deducted 0.5 of a star for a technical error. I will be reading more of this delightful series suitable for fans of M. C. Beaton and Christie's Miss Marple.
All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions. Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system.
This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com.
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/... -
The clever, no-nonsense but big-hearted spinster Elizabeth Cubbon — called Aunt Bessie by virtually everyone on the Isle of Man — returns in the second installment of this interesting cozy series. In this novel, the elderly Aunt Bessie and her 40-something friend, police clerk Doona Moore, take a beginner’s class on the Manx language (along with Irish and Scottish, another Gaelic language) alongside the exceedingly sharp-tongued and carping Moirrey Teare. A hypochondriac and hypercritical woman, the disagreeable Moirrey gets so many hackles up that, when she’s, predictably, a murder victim, there is no end of suspects.
Moirrey was overly demanding, overly selfish, and overly pushy, but no one kills someone over being disagreeable — especially on the idyllic Isle of Man. And what of her estranged brother Andrew, who left to go to boarding school and didn’t return for 25 years, until just after his sister’s death — about which he claimed to be ignorant until his arrival? Handsome and debonair, Andrew puts off Aunt Bessie, but he proves terribly attractive to Doona. How does Andrew fit into the puzzle?
Having spent nearly her entire life on the Isle of Man, located in the Irish Sea between England and Ireland, Aunt Bessie uses both her noggin and her connections to virtually everyone on the Isle of Man to track down the killer. Even though I guessed the killer about halfway through, I had such fun with Aunt Bessie — an all-too-human character who can be curmudgeonly and opinionated — that I didn’t care.
Aunt Bessie mysteries provide a breezy read for times when what you need is a cuppa and a good book to soothe what ails you. I’m already looking forward to No. 3 in the series,
Aunt Bessie Considers. -
I said I would return to Aunt Bessie and her tea and shortbread, and so I have. Perhaps it was a family member health crisis and visit to hospital, perhaps it was my own cabin fever due to extended bad weather, but I welcomed a cozy with no mental challenges. Manx language and setting also appeal. I will do another one soon, I'm sure. I do prefer to get my Manx fix from Inspector Littlejohn and his visits to Isle of Man as written by Bellairs....but I believe I have read all of those.
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An enjoyable cozy that kept me guessing. One of the suspects is so obvious that it took me awhile to figure things out. Fun little story and clean!
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3.5⭐️
MUCH better than the first installment.
Aunt Bessie feels much more real.
The cast of characters around her is coming to life.
And the plot was twisty enough to give you glimpses of what was to come, without fully revealing itself.
If you’re looking for a cozy mystery series to try, I can now recommend this one 🙂 -
Well, 2.5 stars. I don't really like the mysteries. It doesn't seem like Aunt Bessie solved much at all - there were a few things that were pretty obvious and if she'd figured them out, you could still have the tense moments with the killer at the end. The killer was also a complete failure - because man why.
Despite all this I like Bessie, and I like that she's nosy and she's the age that can just say I'm nosy so let me pry. I haven't warmed up to anyone else just yet but Bessie is enough to keep me going a couple more books at least. -
Living, as I do, only a few miles from the centre of the action, and having worked for many years in the very heart of Laxey, I do love these books. Even though there are tiny things that make me pause for a couple of seconds (the hospital at the time, was exactly where Diana Xarissa says, however it didn't have a visitors' cafe - but the newer hospital has so in my mind's eye I just moved it!! And I'm not sure there is actually a taxi rank in Ramsey :) ). But how well she has captured the island that this is the only sort of tiny detail that is not perfect.
They are, indeed, cosy mysteries -although not that cosy; people do die. But as in the first book, or possibly even better, the mystery is definitely there and very well crafted. I had a feeling I knew who would turn out to be the 'mystery figure', but even so I had him in collusion with the wrong other person, and missed one of the twists completely even though the clues were there. -
Cute, quick read, even if a tad predictable. There were a few surprising revelations at the end. I beginning to really like Aunt Bessie.
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"Why didn't you go out and get a job?" -Aunt Bessie
"You know what? The thought never even occurred to me!"
"I'm just a con man who never learned to make an honest living" -The Killer -
Aunt Bessie believes that Moirrey Teare is just about the most disagreeable woman she's ever had the misfortune to meet. Elizabeth Cubbon, (Aunt Bessie to nearly everyone), is somewhere past sixty, and old enough to ignore the rude woman that does her best to ruin the first session of the beginning Manx language class they are both taking. Moirrey's sudden death is harder to ignore. Aunt Bessie believes that Moirrey's death was the result of the heart condition that Moirrey always complained about. The police investigation, however, suggests that someone switched some of the dead woman's essential medications for something far more deadly.
This is the second Isle of Man mystery I have read; and I continue to find them clean, easy to read cozies much in the vein of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple books. I love the small town feel of the Isle of Man and how the young people turn to Aunt Bessie for a good listening ear when they are on the outs with their parents. She talks to them straight, lets the parents know where they are at if they wish to spend the night with her, and heads them in the right direction which most of the time is right back home where they belong. She's treasured by the entire community and has an astute, sharp mind as well as a good instincts for reading people. I will definitely be reading more of this quaint series that gives the reader a taste of the lifestyle and speech of the Isle of Man.
FAVORITE QUOTES: "Perhaps she was sorry for a life that could have been lived joyously, but was instead suffered miserably."
"People who are miserable in their own company are never good company for other people, either."
"Parents are so busy doing the job of raising their children that they don't usually have time to listen to them as well." -
I am back on the Isle of Man.
Another good cozy mystery with Aunt Bessie. This time the person murdered is someone who lives on the Island a and is taking a language class with Doona and Bessie
The story is funny at times and keeps you guessing who dun it til the end. I am looking forward to the other Aunt Bessie books I have to read -
Captivating read
I really like Aunt Bessie, good old fashioned common sense and very real in personality. I even know some women just like her. I'm related to a person like the murdered woman. I really appreciated the facet of Aunt Bessie that deals with the young people. Reflect real life for me, which made her even easier to get into. Fun to read and I enjoyed it tremendously. -
Again enjoyed this Aunt Bessie cozy mystery. She and her group solve mysteries while going about life each day.
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I love this series of books! Can't wait to read "Aunt Bessie Considers".
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Love these entertaining mysteries set on the Isle of Man.
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An easy read.
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A cozy mystery set on The Isle of Man. Great characters that I'd like to read about again.
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Aunt Bessie Believes is the second book in the Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Series. There is a whole alphabet of these mysteries featuring Bessie Cubbon, an older lady who lives in the village of Laxey on the Isle of Man. Known as ‘Aunt Bessie’ because of her willingness to lend an ear to any of the town’s children who feel unfairly treated by their parents, Bessie is a mystery fan, and well connected to the town’s grapevine.
Bessie and her friend, Doona, the receptionist at the local constabulary, are taking the class in beginning Manx that they promised themselves at the end of the previous book, Aunt Bessie Assumes, they would take. But their first class is spoiled by an obnoxious classmate, Moirrey Teare.
By the next day, Moirrey is dead.
Almost immediately, Moirrey’s long-lost brother turns up. Everybody assumes that he is now the heir to her family’s fortune. But is it really her brother? Aunt Bessie is suspicious.
There are other potential candidates for the murderer – former servants Moirrey was turning out of their cottages on her estate, a mysterious possible boyfriend nobody else knew about, a lawyer who may have been cheating Moirrey. So, can Aunt Bessie and the police discover the real murderer before the wrong person gets convicted of the crime? -
Real Rating: 3.5* of five
My Review: I didn't care who killed Moirrey, I wanted her dead, and felt as though a wee tiny bit of blind-eye-turning would've improved the story 1000%. I disliked The Twist which wasn't one, and felt completely underwhelmed by The Reveal, which pretty much got telegraphed early on too. A new favorite character gets foregrounded, of course, that's the good bit about cozies, but on the whole I'm glad I've already got 3 & 4 for free or I'd be weighing my options after what I consider to be a lazy piece of plotting marred the many and still fun pleasures of spending Aunt Bessie time.
I will recommend to you that you not read these books while peckish or you'll be the size of a zeppelin before you finish this book. They eat well and often, these characters! -
Bessie didn't really do anything to trigger the big reveal. She was basically stood at a taxi stand when the culprit conveniently turned up to spew a bunch of confessional word-vomit and run off to the most obvious way to get caught. Perhaps it was hubris... okay, that happens and murderers aren't the most mentally stable, to begin with. I just felt this sort of fell apart towards the end and wasn't as satisfying as the first one.
I won't give away the big twists or surprise reveals but I will say, they were all on my short-list near the top of my guesses. So yeah, a bit weak and transparent but the core characters are compelling enough to nudge me in the direction of #3.
