Great Escapes Blog Tour, Review, and Giveaway: A Dream of Death by Connie Berry

 

Today I'm participating in the A Dream of Death Blog Tour.  In this post you will find book and author information along with my review.  And don't forget to enter the giveaway.

About the book . . .

   

 

A Dream of Death (A Kate Hamilton Mystery)

Traditional Mystery
1st in Series
Crooked Lane Books (April 9, 2019)
Hardcover: 320 pages
ISBN-10: 1683319877
ISBN-13: 978-1683319870
Digital ASIN: B07H7P2KTS

Synopsis . . . 

On a remote Scottish island, American antiques dealer Kate Hamilton wrestles with her own past while sleuthing a brutal killing, staged to recreate a two-hundred-year-old unsolved murder.

Autumn has come and gone on Scotland’s Isle of Glenroth, and the islanders gather for the Tartan Ball, the annual end-of-tourist-season gala. Spirits are high. A recently published novel about island history has brought hordes of tourists to the small Hebridean resort community. On the guest list is American antiques dealer Kate Hamilton. Kate returns reluctantly to the island where her husband died, determined to repair her relationship with his sister, proprietor of the island’s luxe country house hotel, famous for its connection with Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Kate has hardly unpacked when the next morning a body is found, murdered in a reenactment of an infamous unsolved murder described in the novel—and the only clue to the killer’s identity lies in a curiously embellished antique casket. The Scottish police discount the historical connection, but when a much-loved local handyman is arrested, Kate teams up with a vacationing detective inspector from Suffolk, England, to unmask a killer determined to rewrite island history—and Kate’s future.

My review . . .Widow Kate Hamilton, an antique shop owner from Ohio, has spent the past three years picking up the pieces of her life following the unexpected death of her husband Bill. When she receives a frantic call for help from her frightened, estranged sister-in-law Elenor Spurgeon, proprietor of the Glenroth House Hotel, Kate returns to the Isle of Glenroth with a heavy heart and much trepidation. It was on this small Hebridean Island that her beloved Bill was both born and died. The isle is also a popular tourist destination, having gained notoriety for its connection to Bonnie Prince Charlie as well as the centuries-old unsolved murders of two young women.  

Kate arrives on the eve of the annual Tartan Ball, amid a flurry of activity and impending major announcements that will affect the future of the community. In the wee hours of the morning following the ball, the body of an islander is discovered in the snow.  Curiously, the murder scene is a recreation of the first long-ago death.  When a second victim turns up a few days later in a restaging of the second long-ago killing, Kate can’t help but wonder if there is a connection between the murders despite them having been committed two centuries apart.

As the police investigate the current crimes, Kate explores clues that might tie the present to the past. In collaboration with hotel guest Tom Mallory, a vacationing detective inspector with Great Britain’s Suffolk Constabulary, Kate unravels the complex history between the islanders and uncovers long-held grievances. What she discovers puts her own safety in jeopardy.  Will the killer be caught before Kate becomes the next victim?  And can the island's residents finally put the past to rest?

A Dream of Death, with its cast of eccentric islanders and remote atmospheric setting, is a captivating story infused with Scottish lore, a budding romance, and the elements of a classic British mystery novel.  Its resilient heroine Kate Hamilton is a woman who has adjusted to great changes in her life.  Will her life change yet again having met Tom Mallory?  There is definitely chemistry between them.  It remains to be seen where their relationship is heading and whether these two souls will find a way to bridge the vast physical distance between the American Midwest and the British Midlands.  For this reason I’m already eagerly awaiting the next book in this series.  

Giveaway . . .  Enter the A Dream of Death giveaway contest to win a signed copy of the book by clicking on this link.



About the author . . .  Like her main character, Connie Berry was raised by charmingly eccentric antique collectors who opened a shop, not because they wanted to sell antiques but because they needed a plausible excuse to keep buying them.

  

Connie adores history, off-season foreign travel, cute animals, and all things British. She lives in Ohio with her husband and adorable Shih Tzu, Millie.


Author links . . . 
Website:  www.connieberry.com
Facebook:  Author@Facebook.com
Twitter: @conniecberry
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18733373.Connie_Berry



Purchase links . . . Amazon    Barnes & Noble   Indiebound 

  

Tour participants . . .

April 15 – The Editing Pen – GUEST POST
April 15 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
April 16 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 16 – I’m All About Books – GUEST POST
April 17 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT*
April 17 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW
April 18 – The Power of Words – REVIEW
April 18 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
April 19 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
April 19 – Book Club Librarian – REVIEW
April 20 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 20 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT
April 21 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
April 22 – Baroness’ Book Trove – REVIEW
April 22 – StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST
April 23 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW
April 23 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 24 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 24 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
April 25 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 26 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
April 26 – My Devotional Thoughts – SPOTLIGHT

Note . . . I received a complimentary copy of Murder Between the Pages from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

 

This Blog Tour, Review, and Giveaway post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com.  It cannot be republished without attribution.  Sharing this original post on Twitter and/or other blogs with appropriate recognition is appreciated.