A Body in the B&B: Katie Marsh Starts a New Cozy Mystery Series with the Christie Sisters

Katie Marsh is already a familiar name to cozy mystery readers, particularly through her Bad Girls Detective Agency series, but A Body in the B&B sees her starting again with a completely new set of characters.

Marsh originally wrote romantic fiction before moving into crime. Her first novel, My Everything, was selected for World Book Night, and her books have since been published in several languages.

More recently, she has written four Bad Girls Detective Agency mysteries, beginning with How Not to Murder Your Ex, and followed by Murder on the Dancefloor, Murder on the Menu and The Mistletoe Murder Club.

I have previously read those books and enjoyed them, so I was interested to see what Marsh would do with a new series.

A Body in the B&B is the first Christie Sisters Mystery, and it takes us to the Lake District, somewhere the author knows well after spending her childhood summers there.

And on paper, the set-up is exactly the sort of thing I usually love.

Two Sisters, One B&B and a Very Unwelcome Third Owner

Jennifer and Lizzie Christie haven’t spoken properly for around 30 years.

Now both are in their early 50s and find themselves back in the Lake District village of Lupton Water following the death of their Aunt Alice, the woman who helped raise them after they lost their parents.

The funeral is uncomfortable enough given the sisters’ long estrangement, but things become considerably more complicated when the will is read.

Alice has left her rather run-down B&B to Jennifer and Lizzie. Unfortunately, she has also left a share to Declan Moss.

Neither sister really knows who Declan is or why he has managed to become such an important part of their aunt’s final months. What quickly becomes clear is that he isn’t particularly popular.

In fact, as Jennifer and Lizzie begin talking to people around the village, it appears Declan has managed to upset, mislead or take advantage of an impressive number of them.

Then Declan is found dead in the bathtub.

Suddenly, the two sisters who already have quite enough problems of their own are sitting near the top of the suspect list and have little choice but to start asking questions.

What Worked for Me

The murder itself is easily one of the strongest parts of A Body in the B&B.

Declan makes a good cozy mystery victim because there is no shortage of people who might have wanted him gone. The more Jennifer and Lizzie learn about him, the wider the suspect pool becomes.

That gives author Katie Marsh plenty of room for motives, secrets, and false leads without making the investigation feel forced or unbelievable.

I also liked the basic idea of using two sisters who are not exactly living their best lives as the amateur detectives, so Jennifer and Lizzie do feel a little different.

Both have lived whole lives away from Lupton Water. Both have things they would rather not talk about. And both have returned at a point when those lives are starting to fall apart.

The Lake District B&B is another big plus. A slightly crumbling guest house in a small village is almost made for this type of mystery, and it gives the series plenty of room to grow.

Then there are the animals. Jennifer’s cat Clementine and Lizzie’s dog Gizmo have about as much affection for each other as their owners do, and Marsh even gives them occasional chapters of their own. They provide some of the lighter moments in the book and are likely to be a fun part of the series going forward.

Where A Body in the B&B Lost Me

My main problem wasn’t the mystery. It was the mood surrounding it. Almost everybody in this book seems unhappy.

Jennifer and Lizzie haven’t spoken for 30 years and spend a great deal of time thinking back to what happened between them. Both have arrived in Lupton Water with major problems in their present-day lives, although the full reasons behind those problems are held back for much of the story.

Then there are the people around them. Old relationships are still causing anger decades later. Villagers have regrets. People feel cheated, disappointed, or stuck in a rut. Even a teenage relationship that ended more than 30 years ago still produces an extraordinary amount of bitterness.

Taken individually, none of these things bothered me. The problem was that they kept piling up, and all I wanted was one person who was simply quite happy or even mildly content.

More importantly, I wanted a little more comedy to cut through it all. There are funny moments, particularly involving the animals, but they weren’t quite enough for me.

Coming from the Bad Girls Detective Agency books, I expected a little more warmth and fun alongside the murder. Instead, A Body in the B&B often felt more melancholy than cozy.

A Promising Mystery That Won’t Work for Everyone

This is very much a middling book for me. I didn’t dislike it, but nor did I love it.

The central mystery works. Declan is an effective victim, there are plenty of believable suspects, and the B&B itself gives the Christie Sisters Mysteries a very good base for future books.

I also think some readers will enjoy the parts I struggled with. If you like your cozy mysteries to spend plenty of time on family relationships, old wounds, and women trying to rebuild their lives in middle age, Jennifer and Lizzie may really appeal to you.

There is far more going on here than simply finding out who killed Declan Moss.

For readers who prefer their cozy crime with lots of jokes, warm friendships and a generally cheerful cast, it may feel a little heavier than expected. I’m somewhere in the middle.

I liked the mystery enough to want to see what happens next, and I already know Marsh can write very funny crime fiction. With much of Jennifer and Lizzie’s unhappy history now established, I’m hoping the next Christie Sisters Mystery can give them a bit more room to enjoy their new life.

After 30 years of family arguments, failed relationships and old grudges, I think they’ve earned it.