Three Sisters by Helen Smith

BUY-UK
BUY-US

I like mysteries, cozy or otherwise, whether they are short-story ones or full-length novels. So, I was looking forward to this. 

Three Sisters is a short forty-four-page mystery, which introduces us to Emily Castle. She attends a neighbourhood party in a large house inhabited by a rather flamboyant group of people. This is where a murder takes place and Emily dons her sleuthing hat to find the culprit; there are a number of suspects amongst the motley crew of party-goers. 

I found that the story was too short for the plot and characters, both of which were undeveloped. The characters were very colourful, their situation—albeit bizarre—rather interesting and deserved more attention. I really wanted to know more about Emily and how she found herself to be modern-day Miss Marple, and there were many unanswered questions behind the nature of her relationships with the party attendees, as well as between the attendees themselves. Unfortunately, the whole mystery was spoiled by the fact that half way through I realised the title gave away the plot, and I was less motivated to finish the tale. 

Helen’s style is light and easy-going, and this was a story with great potential, but I would like to see it in a full-length novel with more detail and perhaps with a more enigmatic title.