Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Valued for Murder: A British Cozy Murder Mystery (A Dotty Sayers Antique Mystery) by Victoria Tait . Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
Valued for Murder: A British Cozy Murder Mystery (A Dotty Sayers Antique Mystery)
by Victoria Tait
Valued for Murder: A British Cozy Murder Mystery
(A Dotty Sayers Antique Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Kanga Press (June 10, 2022)
Number of Pages c. 240
An antiques show. A dead diva. For an amateur sleuth the truth is not always crystal clear.
Dotty Sayers is enjoying her job in a Cotswold auction house. When she’s offered a place on an antiques TV show, she nervously agrees to a makeover and is surprised by the admiring glances she receives. Working on set at a historic country hotel, she realises all that glitters is not gold when at the bottom of the circular staircase, one of the experts is found dead.
Was the death accidental or something shadier? Dotty promises to leave the investigation to the police, but as this amateur sleuth appraises the dead woman’s estate, she can’t help unveiling clues. But when she returns from viewing a priceless sculpture, and finds her British blue cat missing, she knows that life does not imitate art.
Can Dotty tell a fake from the real deal and identify the killer?
Book Review
Dotty is back in this delightful second book in the Dotty Sayers Antique Mystery series, Valued for Murder. British cozy mystery books are among my favorites and ones I often seek out. As soon as I finished the first book in this series, Fake Death, I immediately order Valued for Murder and the upcoming Bidding for Revenge. These books have everything I love about cozy mysteries: well-developed and unique characters, a charming setting, and a mystery that’s not too easy to solve.
In book one, we met a meek Dotty who begins to develop into a more confident woman thanks to new friends she meets when she falls into an unexpected job at an antiques auction house. In Valued for Murder, Dotty’s character grows even more confident. More importantly, Dotty finally feels truly happy in life. She’s got her own cottage thanks to a friend she met through her employment, and she’s more comfortable in her own skin. Several of the other main characters (who play major parts in this book) became more like friends to me too. I love that the author includes characters who are full of quirkiness. They add a lot of life to the story.
As I’ve said before, British cozies are really my favorites. I can live vicariously through the books since my dream of living in a quaint English village aren’t going to come true! Ah, if only my ancestors had stayed. This series takes place in the Cotswolds, and through the author’s descriptive writing, I can picture the beautiful village in which Dotty lives. I guess it helps that I watch Agatha Raisin, who lives in a fictional Cotswold village, on Acorn TV. The more I’m writing about the Cotswolds, the more I want to go…so I’d better stop and just say, I love the setting of this series!
If you’ve ever watched Antiques Road Show, you know how exciting it is when someone brings in an item of great value. And sometimes, even when the monetary value isn’t great, the sentimental stories behind the items are of more value than something that’s worth $1000s. The event in which (thanks to her job at the auction house) Dotty participates is along the same lines. The murder that occurs during the first night of filming shocks the participants since they, and the police, think one of them must be the murderer. I really loved following the clues of this uniquely themed murder mystery.
If you’re like I am and love British cozies, you have to add Valued for Murder to your TBR piles! It truly transported me to Dotty’s world in the Cotswolds of England. In addition to its lovely setting, the wonderfully written characters and bewildering mystery make Valued for Murder a hit in my book. It gets 5 big, happy, smiley stars from me!
About Victoria Tait
I was born and raised in Yorkshire, UK, and never expected to travel the world. But I fell for an Army Officer, and I’ve followed him from Northern Ireland, up to the Scottish Highlands, across to Africa and the Kenyan Savannah, back to the British Cotswolds, and we are now living in Sarajevo, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Southern Europe.
I never expected to be an author, but all this moving is not ideal for holding down a job. Instead, I’ve taken the experiences of the places I’ve lived to write vivid and evocative cozy mystery books with determined female sleuths.
I have two fast-growing teenage boys, and together we’ve learnt to ski on the Bosnian mountains. I also enjoy horse riding, mountain biking and I’ve started running as a way to improve my physical fitness, mental wellbeing and shed some excess pounds.
Author Links
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoriataitauthor/
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Purchase Links – Amazon
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Valued for Murder TOUR PARTICIPANTS
June 10 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
June 10 – StoreyBook Reviews – CHARACTER GUEST POST
June 10 – I Read What You Write – SPOTLIGHT
June 11 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 11 – Lady Hawkeye – SPOTLIGHT
June 11 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW
June 12 – Ruff Drafts – GUEST POST
June 12 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT
June 12 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
June 13 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
June 13 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 14 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 14 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
June 14 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
June 15 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
June 15 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW
June 16 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 16 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW
June 16 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT
June 17 – BookishKelly2020 – SPOTLIGHT
June 17 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog – SPOTLIGHT
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Christie, what a wonderful review! Thank you so much. Victoria
You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping by!