| Title | : | Aunt Bessie Enjoys (Isle of Man #5) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 234 |
| Publication | : | First published April 17, 2015 |
Elizabeth Cubbon is called “Aunt Bessie” by nearly everyone in the small village of Laxey that she calls home. A number of murders have thrown her normally quiet life into turmoil and at her age (just don’t ask her exactly what age that is), she feels like she’s had enough.
Aunt Bessie Enjoys (Isle of Man #5) Reviews
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Number five in the series and still so many left to go! I love that in a series.
In
Aunt Bessie Enjoys she does not enjoy very much really since a number of people she knows quite well die one after another. All their deaths appear to be accidents but the fact that they all belong to the same social group makes it hard to accept this as a coincidence. Aunt Bessie and the police are all stumped.
I thought this was a fun read. There is a lot of social visiting, eating, and day to day activity interspersed every third chapter or so with another death. The dénouement is a classic. I feel I have met with a similar crime before but it did not help me solve this one.
Very cosy and very entertaining. -
In Aunt Bessie Enjoys, the fifth entry in this cozy series set in the Isle of Man, the titular Aunt Bessie — what everyone calls the elderly Elizabeth Cubbon — widowed friends in their 70s begin to drop like flies.
All of them had met as young mothers during World War II and began meeting every Tuesday to make jam, swap child-rearing advice, and complain about their difficult husbands. Dubbed the Raspberry Jam Ladies for one of their favorite activities, their number had already dwindled from seven to five before the murders began.
Who would want to harm some harmless old ladies? But Aunt Bessie soon discovers that the Raspberry Jam Ladies were harboring quite a few terrible secrets.
Aunt Bessie, while no Miss Marple, does prove charming and endearingly flawed, both snoopy and prickly. I never tumbled to the culprit or motive. After the lackluster
Aunt Bessie Decides, author Diana Xarissa scores a nice comeback with Aunt Bessie Enjoys. -
Great book! Very Miss Marple-like (if that's not an adjective, it should be): this one didn't rely on the gang getting together to toss around ideas. In fact, there was comparatively little of Hugh and Rockwell in this one. A well paced plot; although there was a lot to the story, it moved along quickly and kept me turning pages. There were a few red herrings, too. Kept me guessing until the end and I can guarantee you won't guess the ending of this book. Very satisfying conclusion that ended quickly but not abruptly. Truly a well-written mystery and a great series.
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Good one! The crime was ultimately sad but quite clever. I'm sure I've read of this type before but it's apparently been quite a while as I never figured it out. Aunt Bessie is a very comfortable, likable main character, as are the usual secondary characters; all are smart and loyal. I also enjoy the setting of the Isle of Man. I'm already partway through #6 in the series.
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Better than other books in this series, but the sad nature of the ending and plot lowered its star rating. I also wondered--according to the title, Aunt Bessie Enjoys--just exactly what did she enjoy about such a depressing plot?
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Loved this. The Aunt Bessie series is really something pretty great. All of these books have something special going on. Aunt Bessie is a special character, and I am glad to see that this is a series that is going to be continuing...
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This was the most unexpected endings of all the Aunt Bessie books I've read. Didn't see it coming.
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My pretty much annual Aunt Bessie read for my annual challenge for which I need an X author. Aunt Bessie Enjoys is a good read. We've exchanged grinning for hugging. Now everyone is hugging and hugging and hugging. Quick hugs, tight hugs, long hugs, short hugs. Does no one who proofreads or edits for her see things like this? It gets old. But anyway...
A group of women, Aunt Bessie's age, the Raspberry Jam Ladies, attending Tynewald Day, give Bessie a complimentary jar of homemade raspberry jam. The next day one of the group shows up dead, seemingly as a result of indulging in their locally famous jam. Aunt Bessie wants to help but for reasons that remain completely unclear, Inspector John Rockwell holds Bessie at arm's length on this one. The solution seems like a no brainer right from the start but I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. The writing was kind of loosey goosey, lots of characters introduced who had little to do with anything, and I still don't understand why Bessie was locked out of this one and watched like a hawk by Doona who was, for whatever reason, extremely concerned about her boss, John Rockwell, but again, a fun cozy mystery and an X author isn't always easy to come by! -
Time, I thought, to return, with Aunt Bessie, to my home soil!
Aunt Bessie Enjoys herself at Tynwald on Tynwald Day - but from then on things get somewhat darker, as a group of Laxey ladies in their 70s, all known to Bessie, die one after another in a series of unfortunate incidents that may, or may not, be murders.
The ending is really unexpected - and ties a lot of the ends up, whilst leaving a couple of odd bits for the next book which, as real life on the island is very busy at present, I am about to start as another pleasant distraction.
I wonder if Bessie will ever get caught up in the TT Traffic! :) -
When one elderly lady dies from a jar of poisoned jam given to her at the Tynwald Day celebration, Bessie and the police don't know whether she was the intended victim or it was a random poisoning. When two other members of the same social group die under suspicious circumstances within a month, it is definitely beginning to look like more than a coincidence ...
Is there a serial killer in Laxey? And if so, why is he or she seemingly targeting the Raspberry Jam Ladies? -
Aunt Bessie
Another great book in the Aunt Bessie series. When one of a group of older ladies dies the hunt is on for the killer of The Raspberry Jam ladies. As more deaths occur the police and Aunt Bessie are baffled. The book kept me enthralled throughout and the ending was a total surprise. Highly recommend this book and the series. -
Awesome read
This is well written and extremely mysterious. With some of Bessie's friends dying under questionable circumstances, the constabulatory is not letting Bessie learn what is happening. This had a very surprising end. I enjoyed this book immensely. -
I do so love spending time with Bessie and friends, especially when she's making her weekly trip to buy books and then comes home to read them. She takes long walks on the beach, eats a lot, reads, and solves mysteries - what is not to love? This time Bessie and her friends are celebrating Tynwald Day and catching up with fellow neighbors. When one member of a group of friends dies of jam poisoning the next day, Bessie can't help but get involved.
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Very well written, sober tale.
I did't find anything humorous in this book, everyone seemed to be having a hard time with relationships, especially this group of jam-makers. The plot was well executed, well placed, and the ending packed a surprising punch. -
Though I was on the edge of my seat with this mystery- the motive and the solution was quite sad for me.
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Pleasant light read. I enjoy Isle of Man as the setting for this series and Aunt Bessie. They sure to eat a lot of food and dessert.
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An interesting insight into women of our parents’ generation. The mystery has the police department very worried, and it takes Aunt Bessie’s intuition and awareness to solve it.
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This was one of the better ones, the plot was really interesting.
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What the bleep ending is that?! Really!? Well....
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A delightful and curious mystery. Friends keep dying and it all seems natural. But Aunt Bessie fears there is something else going on. Will she figure it out?
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Aunt Bessie Enjoys is the latest in the Isle of Man cozy mysteries by Diana Xarissa. It is a quick and easy book to read on a hot summer day. The climate of the Isle of Man is generally rainy which makes a hot summer day a little cooler. The characters are familiar if you have read the other books in the series which makes them like old friends. However, even friends can get into trouble.
Bessie and her friend Doona attend the festivities that surround Tynwald Day and Tynwald Hill. This is a ceremony wherein they read the laws that have been passed in the previous year in the language of Manx and then give the citizens a chance to ask any questions of the government they choose. The two ladies met up with others to enjoy the food and other activities there. Bessie would go to each table in the tents and speak to those she knew. At the table where the Raspberry Jam Ladies had their booth, Bessie was given a jar of their raspberry jam. Only one box of that had been made that year and it was given only to special people. This group had been around since the 40’s and was composed of five ladies who raised their children here and formed a group around those children. It was their version of a Girls Night group. Their husbands have all died and their children were either dead or lived on the mainland or elsewhere. The ladies would check on each other daily and were basically a “family” themselves. Bessie knew them but because she was neither married nor had children, she had not been invited to the club but stayed friends with them.
The morning after the festivities, Bessie refrained from opening her jam because she had just opened a jar of marmalade. It was a good thing because the police came to get her jar of jam because one of the ladies of the Raspberry Jam club had been poisoned and it was thought to be the jam. Luckily no one else had poisoned jam. However, at this time they do not know that. As they try to figure out where the jam came from and who was the intended victim, another of the members of the club dies in an automobile accident. The police know her brakes failed; but can’t determine if they were tampered with or not.
Who is killing off the Raspberry Jam Ladies? Are their other friends, like Bessie in danger too? What help can Bessie be to the police in solving this case?
I love this series and intend to keep reading them as they come out. -
Just terrific
I love the characters and setting in this series but the author has outdone herself in this one. Seriously, I would rate the plot on this up with some of Agatha Christie's. Can't think of anything that wouldn't be a spoiler...grab yourself some chocolate and curl up with this terrific cozy.
