Friday Focus: The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings

 

It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts with:

• Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.  
• The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an eBook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them. 
  

Today I'm featuring a recent blog tour read, Murder Most Pemberley by Jessica Berg, the first book in the new Eliza Darcy Mysteries Series. The excerpts shared are from an eBook provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Beginning:  Sexy underwear or granny panties and wool socks?

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Page 56:  "You wanted an adventure, didn't you?" His kind eyes smiled down at her.

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My thoughts . . . In Murder Most Pemberley, the first book in the new Eliza Darcy mystery series, American creative writing teacher Eliza accepts an invitation to her first Darcy-Bennet reunion at Pemberley, the family estate in England, excited to visit the place her father Andrew left without explanation twenty-five years earlier, meet her extended family, and distract herself from a recent break up. While Eliza's hope is to learn what caused the estrangement between her father and uncle and facilitate a reconciliation, her focus is diverted to another mystery when a body is found floating in a fountain on the estate. Who is the killer on the loose at Pemberley?

Realizing that a conversation she overheard in the garden may be linked to the murder, Eliza enlists her cousin Joy, Aunt Iris, and handsome new acquaintance Heath Tinley to help her investigate. Eliza has a natural instinct for finding clues and unearthing secrets, which leads her to uncover dastardly deeds and deceptive alliances that others are desperate to protect. Over the next few days, several more assaults and murders occur and Eliza's own safety is threatened as she gets closer to the truth. Who is responsible for the murder and mayhem at Pemberley, what is the connection to the brothers' estrangement, and will Eliza and those she has come to love escape unharmed?

Brimming with cozy appeal, the story incorporates the enduring charm of an English country estate and contemporary characters who bring to mind Austen's own, including the traditional manor staff and a dashing chap who bears a strong resemblance to one of Austen's most well-known male love interests.

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From Goodreads: Eat a crumpet. Check. Say "bloody hell" in an English pub. Check. Solve three murders and fall in love? Definitely not on the list. But when England dishes up murder, even an American girl knows it's time to channel her inner Agatha Christie.

American Eliza Darcy travels to Merry Old England to partake in a Darcy/Bennet family reunion for one reason: to solve the estrangement between her father and uncle. Not long after Eliza's arrival and exploration of the vast estate of her ancestors, a dead body surfaces. Murder and mayhem replace afternoon teas and flirting with her British heartthrob. Eliza has every intention of keeping her snoot out of official Scotland Yard business, but when clues to the murder begin to merge with her investigation into her family's rift, her inner wannabe sleuth self-activates.

With the help of her batty great-aunt and the sexy Heath Tilney, Eliza hurries to untangle the web of lies and secrets. As corpses start to pile up faster than the clues, Eliza fears the estate's family graveyard will swallow another body: hers.

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