A Midsummer Night's Scheme by Harper Kincaid ~ an #Audiobook Review

by Donna Huber

A former womanizer returns to town only to wind up dead from venomous snakes. Is it a jilted lover? Quinn feels more sorry for the cat he left behind but when her brother is the target of a venomous spider attack she and Sister Daria kick the investigation into high gear.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

March 2023; Dreamscape Media; 9781666629835
audio (7h 5m), ebook, print; cozy mystery

I'm always up for trying a new cozy mystery series. A Midsummer Night's Scheme is the second book in the Bookbinding Mystery series. I haven't read book 1 and I actually thought that this was much further in the series than just book 2. There's some back story provided but like I said it felt like I was picking up the 9th or 10th book. I didn't even realize that Quinn was a bookbinder - I'm not sure there were any scenes of her working.

The audiobook was a quick listen. The story moved fast so it all seems like a blur. Also, there was a lot of vivid description - maybe too much description. I kept getting lost in the details and missing the story. This probably wouldn't have been as much of a problem if I had been reading the book as I could have skimmed over some of the words. But when you are listening to a book you pay attention to every word and it was just a lot of stuff to process quickly.

It wasn't until I was re-reading the book summary for this review that I realized the main sleuth was probably supposed to be Quinn (which would make sense as it is the Bookbinding Mystery series and she's the bookbinder), but through the whole book, I thought it was Sister Daria. Apparently, she is the sidekick, but I found her to be an interesting character. She's about to take her vows to the Church and become a nun. The Order she is joining trains therapy dogs which goes nicely with what she had been doing before deciding to join the church - she was a social worker. 

The parts of the story that included Daria were my favorite. I'm not sure she is actually going to become a nun. However, I'm not sure I will stick with this series to find out. It was just an okay cozy mystery for me.

The murder by venomous snakes was a new twist for me and I kind of like that Kincaid is willing to use unconventional murder methods. There are other fun moments throughout the story. And if you like cozy mysteries with pets there are two adorable ones in this one. They even have fun names: the cat is called Cindy Clawford and the dog is RGB - Ruff Barker Ginsburg.

The narrator, Renee Dorian, does a good job with the various characters. They are each unique and easily distinguishable.

Buy A Midsummer Night's Scheme at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour. 

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