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    The Colours of Murder: A Susie Mahl Mystery
    The Colours of Murder: A Susie Mahl Mystery
    The Colours of Murder: A Susie Mahl Mystery
    Ebook341 pages4 hours

    The Colours of Murder: A Susie Mahl Mystery

    By Ali Carter

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    ‘This is a well paced and exciting read. More please!’ Alexander McCall Smith

    ‘It's a rare talent that creates a work that is both whip smart, fast paced and at the same time gloriously genteel. Carter is that talent.’ Amanda Prowse

    The second Susie Mahl Mystery. If only death came with a warning…

    Flirtatious American blonde, Miss Hailey Dune, should never have accepted a summer weekend invitation to Fontaburn Hall. But when the Honourable Archibald Cooke Wellingham’s gentrified house party are woken, in the early hours of Sunday morning, it’s too late: Miss Dune’s blood is on their hands.

    With the aid of well-mannered Detective Chief Inspector Reynolds, intelligent Sergeant Ayari and loyal friend Dr Toby Cropper, Susie Mahl, on a timely commission drawing six racehorses nearby, seizes the opportunity to play detective for a second time. Her inquisitive nature, tenacity for truth and artist’s eye for detail make her ideally suited to the task in hand, but is she getting carried away by her previous triumph - even to the extent of endangering her reputation and her burgeoning relationship with Toby?

    Enriched with candid observations of the British social classes, insights into the artist’s craft, and a strong dose of good humour, The Colours of Murder is a welcome return of Ali Carter’s amateur sleuth.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPoint Blank
    Release dateMay 2, 2019
    ISBN9781786075611
    Author

    Ali Carter

    Ali Carter lives on the Norfolk Broads with her husband, a retired Met. Police Officer who helps ensure the legalities and procedure of a police investigation are correct. Her previous two books in this series are ‘Blood List’, and ‘Dead Girls Don’t Cry’. A fourth, ‘Fire & Ice’, is currently in progress. 

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    Reviews for The Colours of Murder

    3.5/5

    25 ratings11 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This was a nice cozy mystery, and almost felt like it was taking place in the 20's if it wasn't for talk of cell phones and google searches. The place I had the hardest time with was thinking any police officer would be so willing to listen to an amateur detectives theories and whatnot. Other than that, I found it an easy and enjoyable read.
    • 4/5
      I received this book as an Early Reviewer. I enjoy cozy mysteries and this did not disappoint. Artist Susie Mahl is invited to join a weekend house party at Archie Wellingham’s country estate, Fontaburn Hall, along with an interesting mix of Archie’s friends. One of the party, American fun loving party girl Hailey Dune, is murdered during the weekend. Amateur sleuth Susie, who herself says that ‘once something is amiss I can become rather obsessed with working it out,’ sets out to solve the case. I enjoyed this book, which is the second in the series. The setting reminded me of a place I might find Miss Marple, and I was still guessing as to who the guilty party was at the end. I will most likely read the first book after reading this one.
    • 2/5
      I won this book as an Early Reviewer. I enjoy cozy mysteries. I did read this but it was very slow moving. At first I thought the story took place in the 1930’s England. The setting was a country estate with LOTS of alcohol consumption. It reminded me more of an Agatha Christie or Dashiel Hammett novel. The time period was so vague that the only hint to the actual setting were references to Silicon Valley and a private jet. No one had their cell phones out to text or check messages or take photos. If I were spending the weekend at a country estate in Britain, I would be taking many photos. The main character, Susie, was annoying. Her relationship with her male friend was pretty vague. None of the characters were very well developed. The ending was not very believable. I have no interest in reading any more novels in this series.
    • 3/5
      I feel kind of "meh" about this book. It wasn't bad, and at times it held my interest, but at other points I felt I was slogging through a bit. It's sort of a classic British mystery--there's a mysterious death during a weekend party at a manor house. The detective is an amateur who's an artist. She's also at the party and from then on just can't let it go and wants to figure out what happened to the person who died. Meanwhile, there is a bunch of what was to me rather boring relationship stuff, and some drawing of horses. It's all a bit disjointed and the resolution of the mystery is anti-climactic. I was particularly put off by the incredibly wrong and ignorant information related to different kinds of mental illness. The descriptions given were completely incorrect (I'm a psychologist so I'm very familiar with the disorders mentioned) and there's simply no excuse for that--there's lots of information available online, but the it seems that the author didn't want to bother to get it right. The relationship with the DCI was also extremely unrealistic (since when do the police share all of their information with an amateur, especially one who was at the murder scene?) and that was also somewhat off putting. I don't mind having to suspend belief a bit for a good story, but this really strained credulity.So, while I don't feel that this book was terrible by any means, it's also not one I would recommend, and it's unlikely that I will read any other in this series.
    • 3/5
      The book wandered its way through this murder investigation in a rather haphazard fashion. Susie was easily sidetracked and the author seemed intent on educating us on so many subjects that I sometimes wondered if she remembered she was writing a murder mystery. I don't think the romantic relationship added much to the story. That being said I did appreciate the interactions of the characters at Archie's country house and I was intrigued by the way Susie functioned as an artist. The author was adept at keeping the identity of the murderer under wraps until the end.
    • 5/5
      Commissioned to draw race horses, artist Susie Mahl is more than happy to take and attend a house party at Fontaburn Hall. However, her plans for a relaxing weekend are thwarted when a guest, American Hailey Dunn, dies. The police think Hailey’s death was an accident but Susie, who helped solved a murder once before, isn’t so sure, and starts investigating Hailey’s death on her own. Will Susie’s investigating find a killer or ruin her growing relationship with Toby Cropper?“The Colours of Murder” is the delightfully done second book in Ali Carter’s Susie Mahl mystery series (the first book is “A Brush with Death”). Susie is a wonderful character – a talented artist with a penchant for buying fancy underwear who wonders where her relationship with Toby is going (unfortunately, I am not as fond of Toby as I am of Susie – for a few reasons he rubs he the wrong way). The setting of this book – both where Susie is staying to draw the horses and Fontaburn Hall is nicely done. The book is very British – not only the characters and setting but the sense of humor throughout the book. The mystery is well done – the house party setting allows for many suspects.“The Colours of Murder” is a nicely done mystery.
    • 3/5
      I received this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Artist Susie Mahl is invited to a house party thrown by an aristocrat whom she's never met, and while she is there one of the guests dies under suspicious circumstances. When the detective assigned to the case meets her, he recognizes her as "the Susie Mahl" who helped solve another murder and immediately gives her access to all sorts of privileged information. Susie is convinced the guest was murdered but the autopsy causes the police to rule the death occurred from natural causes. Susie isn't content with this determination so she sets out to prove it was murder. While all this is going on, she is also drawing sketches to make portraits of several race horses, dallying with a man whom she likes immensely but can't get up the nerve to say so, and rambling on about the murder. It all comes to a very quick and not-terribly-satisfying conclusion--and that sums up the whole book: it's not very satisfying. There seems to be very little attention given to grammar--sentences change tenses willy-nilly, run-on sentences are rampant, and punctuation is ignored or overused (commas in particular fall prey to overuse). As I read the book, I kept thinking it had been sent to early reviewers without being seen by an editor, but the author thanks her editor in the acknowledgments so that can't be true.I gave it three stars because it has some good moments, but I don't feel it deserves more than that. I was hoping to have discovered a new series I would enjoy, but that was not the case.
    • 4/5
      Basically this is an enjoyable light-weight summer read. However, there were aspects that kept me from enjoying as much as I could have. I'm used to coincidences and unrealistic things in cozy mysteries, but the willingness of the police to allow Susie's interference, listen to her theories, and supply confidential information was just too much for me to set aside. I kept waiting for the DCI to come to his senses and tell Susie to back off. I also was confused about the relationship between Susie and Toby. She calls him her "heartthrob" but it turns out it's really just a friendship that might become more if each person wasn't waiting for the other to make a move. Overall, I think this book could have been a lot more, and that's disappointing.
    • 4/5
      An English country house weekend - what could possible go wrong - famous last words. With her mother's desire for Susie to 'marry well' Susie ends up at the house party with a tenuous familial tie to the host. What happens next - not a spoiler - are the typical 'house party antics - over drinking, suspected bed hopping, etc, etc. And of course the suspicious death -- all in all an enjoyable summer read. Perfect pool or beach read.
    • 4/5
      I received this through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Susie Mahl is an artist who does commissioned portrait work. Her subjects are animals and her clients are from the gentry. This time she is doing horses, out in the country. Through connections of her mother, she has a chance to attend a dinner party at Fontaburn Hall. It seems the Honourable Archibald Wellingham is throwing one of his well known parties!Among the usual upper-crust attendees is also an American blonde, Miss Hailey Dune, who is quite the flirt and loves to party. All is fun and games until she is found dead in her bed in the morning after the party.Susie has successfully solved a previous murder (A Brush With Death) and can't stop herself from wanting to solve this one. She was on the scene and she did see some suspicious things. She is in the area to finish her commission work, but the draw of the mystery is hard to ignore. When Chief Inspector Reynolds finds out who Susie is and about her previously solving another mystery, she is welcomed in to help with her sharp observations and information she is able to obtain from the guest of the house party.I enjoyed reading A Brush With Death, the first book of the series, and I enjoyed this second book. It is a definite cozy mystery with a determined amateur detective. Will keep an eye out for any following books.
    • 4/5
      I want to begin by thanking LibraryThing for selecting me to receive this review copy of this delightful book. Susie Mahl is a delightful character. I am not one who will give you all of the details of the book and its plot(s). Susie is an artist who has been commissioned to do portraits of several horses for the owner. While at the owners stable Susie received an invitation to attend a party (where she know none of the guests). The invitation includes a stay over night. During the night one of the guests dies. The question really is - did the guest die of natural causes or was this murder. This is the main plot of the book. There is a subplot of Susie further establishing a relationship with a you man she fancies. I read this book in three days. I truly enjoyed it and would suggest you give it a try.

    Book preview

    The Colours of Murder - Ali Carter

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