First Chapter ~ First Paragraph

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . . 

                                                      

 

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, now hosted by Vicki at I'd Rather Be At The Beach, where bloggers post the first paragraph(s) of a book they are currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.   

Today I'm featuring a recent blog tour read, Hazards in Hampshire by Emma Dakin. The excerpt shared is from an eBook version I received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

 

CHAPTER ONE

I had expected my hostess at the tea party to be boring.  I hadn't expected her to be dead.  When I first glimpsed her, I wasn't sure if the body was my hostess.  But she was the only person in the gazebo and she had asked me to meet her there.  This must be Mrs. Paulson.  I swallowed, tired to steady my breathing and looked for someone to ask.  The street was screened by a trellis of roses, preventing me from seeing anyone passing by.  I couldn't hear anyone.  There was no one to accept the responsibility of dealing with this except me.  Mrs. Paulson wasn't a friend of mine.  I didn't even remember her.  She claimed she'd met me at a conference and sent an invitation to tea which arrived just as I was looking for an escape from my house. 

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

The opening is certainly attention grabbing.  This novel, the first book in The British Book Tour Mysteries series, is a delightful read.  It provides armchair travel to a picturesque country village, and is enhanced by its mention of mystery authors and series set in England (which I consider great reading suggestions), and uniquely British phrases.

This First Chapter ~ First Paragraph 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 with appropriate recognition is appreciated.