The Tale of Castle Cottage by Susan Wittig Albert

5 stars
R-0

While I'm sad to see this series come to an end, I must say I loved the ending.

It really made me want to go back to the beginning and read them all over again. :)

If you haven't read the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter yet, do so.  Start with The Tale of Hill Top Farm and go from there.  (They are really best read in order.)

This installment is certainly no less delightful than earlier books, though it starts out a little more melancholy.  The characters are entertaining as always, especially the animal residents of the village and surrounding area.  (Well, okay, the rats aren't so charming.)

Overall, just wonderful.

The Tale of Oat Cake Crag by Susan Wittig Albert

5 stars
R-0

Oh how I love these books.  :)


Once again, Susan Wittig Albert's portrayal of Beatrix Potter and her world is a delight.

Lots of marriages, engagements, near-marriages, wished-for marriages, etc in this volume, along with a noisy aeroplane... excuse me, hydroplane, and a return of Thorvaald the dragon.

I absolutely love the tone of these books.  I love the mix of human characters and animal characters. 

If you haven't read them yet, you really should, but I recommend starting at the beginning, with The Tale of Hill Top Farm.

Cozy mysteries-- perfect for curling up with this time of year.  :)

Counts for the Support Your Local Library Challenge.

The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree by Susan Wittig Albert

4 stars
R- 1.5

When I heard about this one, the start of a new series, by Susan Wittig Albert, I was excited.  I love her Victorian mystery series (written with her husband under the name Robin Paige) and I love the Beatrix Potter series.

But then I put off reading it.  It's new characters.  I'm not invested in them yet.  It kept getting buried by other things.... Until the night before it had to go back to the library.  And wasn't renewable.

I started it with the same trepidation-- new characters that I don't "know", a time period I'm not as interested in (1930s), plus the title, which always tangles my tongue.

But I quickly got lost in Albert's quaint conversational style, the interesting and entertaining ladies that make up the Dahlias.  And then, when the book plunges into mystery, I was hooked.

If you like Albert's other series or cozy mysteries in general, you should give this one a try.  Unlike the Beatrix Potter mysteries, this one IS a murder mystery, but it's not gruesome.

Counts for the Support Your Local Library challenge.

The Tale of Applebeck Orchard by Susan Wittig Albert

5 Stars
R-0 (though there are "intimate" encounters, that's intimate in a Victorian sense) :D
6th of The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter

I love these books. Which I'm sure I've mentioned before.

They're just such cute, cozy mysteries. Not in the least bit gruesome, these aren't murder mysteries. They are simply sweet stories of life in the Lake District in the early 1900s.

As always, we have animal narratives and human ones-- from the story of Max the Manx to an unexpected engagement between two well-known characters-- and they're all delightful.

There is maybe a little more of the author addressing the reader directly than in the past books, but I found myself quite enjoying that. It's more like listening to a friend tell a story, and Susan Wittig Albert does it so well that I find nothing to fault in the style.

This time the mysteries (or conundrums) center largely around Applebeck Orchard (naturally). First a fire, then a blocked public path, then another fire.... not to mention the resident ghost and the poor put-upon orphan that's taken up residence as well.

But as always, Miss Potter will soon have it all sorted.

I do very much recommend starting at the beginning with this series, as there are numerous references to previous books. The first is The Tale of Hilltop Farm.

This is really a mystery series even for non-mystery-lovers!

Susan Wittig Albert

A fabulous author, I tell you.
I'm thoroughly enjoying the lastest in her Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter series. These splendid, fanciful mysteries have a wide cast of characters, including Beatrix Potter, William Heelis, Tabitha Twitchet (Senior Village Cat), Rascal the terrier, and Bosworth Badger XVII, who records the History of the Land Between the Lakes. The dialogue is a fabulously woven tapestry of human and animal conversations and the tone of the narration makes you feel like you're there.
Start at the beginning-- The Tale of Hill Top Farm.
You can learn more at http://www.mysterypartners.com/

I also VERY VERY highly recommend the Victorian/Edwardian mysteries she has written with her husband, under the name Robin Paige. Death at Bishop's Keep is the first. There are 12 currently, and while they have no plans at the moment to write more (sadly), the door has been left open. I, for one, am hoping the write a few more. But if not, I suppose I'll just keep rereading them!