A Trace of Poison by Colleen Cambridge Series: Phyllida Bright Mystery #2
Published by Kensington Books on October 25, 2022
Genres: Historical Mystery
Pages: 274
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
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Phyllida Bright, housekeeper for Agatha Christie, must uncover a killer among a throng of crime writers.
In England’s stately manor houses, murder is not generally a topic for polite conversation. Mallowan Hall, home to Agatha Christie and her husband, Max, is the exception. And housekeeper Phyllida Bright delights in discussing gory plot details with her friend and employer . . .
The neighboring village of Listleigh has also become a hub of grisly goings-on, thanks to a Murder Fête organized to benefit a local orphanage. Members of The Detection Club—a group of celebrated authors such as G.K. Chesterton, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Agatha herself—will congregate for charitable events, including a writing contest for aspiring authors. The winner gets an international publishing contract, and entrants have gathered for a cocktail party—managed by the inimitable Phyllida—when murder strikes too close even for her comfort.
A famous writers’ Detection Club comes to a local village to raise funds to repair and orphanage and judge the local Murder Club short story contest only for everyone to be faced with a real murder in need of solution. The second Phyllida Bright mystery builds on the strength of the first one with the engaging characters, wonderful tribute to the real life mystery writers and the historical back drop while showcasing a cunning new murder mystery to solve.
A Trace of Poison is the second book in the series and would work out of order or standalone, but there are introductions to the primary characters and backdrop from book one that made it a good idea to read in order.
I thought it was great fun to see the redoubtable and confident housekeeper right back at it nosing out the answers ahead of the police while famous – and favorite mystery writers- were present. Phyllida was still full of herself to a certain degree and, again, it was fun to see the household chauffeur Bradford get under her skill and show her that she was not the only clever person around.
She was pretty clever compared to the stolid constable and visiting detective inspector and at times, she let sleuthing supersede self-preservation particularly when she created that big scene near the end only because she insisted she was perfectly fine alone and could take care of herself- incidentally, she was not.
This is very much a cozy in tone and pace, but the historical aspect and the Christie element were perfectly balanced and present. Phyllida is something of an enigma- as is Bradford, for that matter- and I was hoping the second book would open up a bit about their individual pasts, but it doesn’t. Maybe next time. Great surprise twist there in the reveal!
All in all, it was a good second entry in the series with a solid mystery. Historical cozy fans should put it on the list. I’m off to nose out book three.
About Colleen Cambridge
Colleen Gleason (aka Colleen Cambridge, C.M. Gleason, and Alex Mandon) is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award-winning author who can’t seem to decide what type of book to write…so she writes a lot of different genres!
So far, Colleen has written everything from vampire hunters to dystopian romance, to steampunk, historical romance, and mysteries with a supernatural flair or a historical setting. One element, however, that appears in all of her stories, is that of partnership…whether it be professional, romantic, or both.
All of Colleen’s books feature strong heroines experiencing fast-paced adventures, danger, mystery, and of course, romance. But at the core of each story is the belief that every woman deserves a partner who accepts her for her strengths as well as her weaknesses—and vice versa.
Colleen lives in the midwest United States with her family and two dogs, and is always working on her next book.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing.Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators.Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance.Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
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The housekeeper and chauffeur sound fun in this.
Oh yeah, he really gets her goat and she gets under his skin, too. 🙂
Can I just say???? I LOVE that cover! So freaking cool!!!!!
This whole series has the most fabulous covers. 🙂
Oh, I recall your review of the first one, too. I’m glad the series stays strong after the second title. I do enjoy historical mysteries!
Yes, this was one of my SIAM challenge series and it was such a good one because I was all anticipation reaching for the next one each time.
I didn’t love the first book in this series but I need to give the series another try. I’m glad to see that overall you enjoyed this one.
It’s been growing on me with each book. 🙂
I do think this is a fun premise! I enjoy historical mysteries and so I’m happy the second book worked out, too!
Yes, having it associated with Agatha Christie and the murder club was a blast.