Lessons for Suspicious Minds

Lessons for Suspicious Minds (2013) Charlie Cochrane (Cambridge Fellows)

Set in England in 1909.

NOTE: This story goes back in time, probably set after Lessons in Trust (book 7) and is set before the war–and all the changes that caused to the characters and the world.

Jonty and Orlando go with Jonty’s parents to visit Mrs. Stewart’s godmother, who has a mystery she would like resolved. On the way, they come across a separate mystery (their reputation having proceeded them) that soon appears tied into the other mystery, but not in any clear way.

“We can’t leave your mother out. Maybe she could tackle Goode?”

“Mama?” Jonty shrieked. “But . . . but wouldn’t she be a loose cannon?”

“Shall I tell her you said that?”

This is such a fascinating time, the years leading up to The Great War and the years immediately following the war. Society had been slowly changing until the war completely upended everything.

“(T)he brother made it plain that he hadn’t been the marrying type.” Strevens glanced sidelong at Orlando. “Not in that way. No touch of the Oscar Wilde. Rather, one would have described him as a ladies’ man.”

The story is a bit dark, as it deals with suicide and mental illness. It also has (for a cozy) a but of a not completely resolved ending, in that we know everything, but the characters aren’t necessarily happy with the outcome.

I actually like mysteries that do that–give you a complicated situation where there isn’t a good solution.

Publisher: Lume Books

Rating: 7/10

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