A Cryptic Clue by Victoria Gilbert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars rounded up**
Recently, after having a terrible reading experience with a SF-Horror novel that shall not be named, I needed a strong palate cleanser very badly if I was to move on.
Cozy Mysteries are go-to stories for me when I need something like that. Something to make me feel comfortable and like all is well with the world.
That’s exactly what I found here within the pages of A Cryptic Clue, the first installment of the all-new Hunter and Clewe mystery series by Victoria Gilbert.
This series follows 60-year old, Jane Hunter, a recently retired university librarian, who has taken on a new assignment creating an inventory for a wealthy man’s vast rare book collection.
Jane’s excited to get to work and on her first day, as she meets her new boss, Cameron Crewe, she’s surprised by how young he is. She expected a much older man, but Cam is in his early-30s; much closer to her own daughter’s age than her own.
Regardless, she’s there to work and is impressed by Crewe’s manor home and collection. This is going to be a big job. She’s anxious to get started.
Jane dives in, meeting other employees and acquaintances of Cam’s along the way. It’s an interesting house, there’s a lot going on, including a spat between Cam and a woman he was dating and has recently blown off, Ashley Allen.
After a charity event held at the property, Ashley’s body is found in the library the next day. She’s dead and Cam is the number one suspect.
Cam asks Jane, along with his assistant, Lauren, to help clear his name. He certainly wasn’t in love with Ashley, but he never would have killed her.
Jane, intrigued by the mystery presented them, gets to work right away and a lovely, classic-feeling amateur sleuth moment ensues.
I had a lot of fun with this. Gilbert delivered exactly what I was hoping for. I really enjoyed Jane as a main character. She’s smart and no-nonsense. You can tell her relationship with Cam is going to flourish as the series progresses.
I also liked Cam. He’s an intriguing leading man, clever, rich and super into books. I’m interested to see how involved he gets in future mysteries. He’s actually a big fan of classic mystery literature, so I feel like that is going to be an influence for him in the books to come.
The mystery itself was simple and easy to follow, which was what I was hoping for. I feel like with many Cozy series, my enjoyment level will increase the more that I become attached to this set of characters.
I feel like in general my ratings for Cozy Mysteries always get stronger as the series progresses. I feel like this series will stay true to that pattern.
We have some nice possibilities for future mysteries that this story already sort of set-up. I’m absolutely planning to continue on with these books as they are released.
I did listen to the audiobook for this one and I loved the narration. I felt like the narrator did a great job capturing Jane’s character and bringing her to life. I would definitely recommend the audio version if you plan to pick this up.
Overall, I think this is a great start to a new Cozy Mystery series. One that I will happily read for as long as they’re published.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Dreamscape Media, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I love getting in on this type of series from the start, so this was such a treat!
