Murder at Cottonwood Creek by Clara McKenna

 

Do you prefer standalones or series?  I enjoy both, but always love when I find a new series to enjoy like the Stella and Lyndy Mystery series.

British Lyndy, Viscount Lyndhurst, and his American wife Stella, Lady Lyndhurst, have traveled to Montana to visit Lyndy’s father, Lord Atherly, who is working on a paleontology dig on the horse ranch of Stella’s mother and stepfather.  Soon after their arrival, a death amongst the dig team occurs and things spiral after that.  Will Stella and Lyndy be able to solve this mystery?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This is the seventh book in the series.  It can be read as a standalone, but I recommend reading this delightful series.

·       This is a cozy mystery.

·       I’ve always found paleontology fascinating, and I loved the setting of this story in 1906 Montana during the search for fossils.

·       Stella and Lyndy are a great couple.  It was fun with this new setting in America to have Lyndy out of his element in this book rather than Stella in England.

·       There were a lot of red herrings in this mystery, and I was surprised by the ending.

·       I enjoyed that Stella got to enjoy time with her mother and getting to know her.  Stella was raised by her father and didn’t really know her mother.

·       It was also nice that Lyndy’s abrasive mom was not in America, but she still put the pressure on to have a child from afar.

·       This was a fun read.

·       Interesting author’s note on the end with tidbits and sources on the real history during this time period.

Overall, Murder at Cottonwood Creek by Clara McKenna was a fun cozy historical mystery with great characters.

Book Source:  Thank-you to author Clara McKenna for a review copy of this novel.