Book Review: Murder at the Brightwell (Amory Ames #1) by Ashley Weaver

Murder at the Brightwell

by Ashley Weaver

🍸🍸🍸🍸 (four stars as rated in classy-ass martinis, darling)

I was given an advanced reader copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ashley Weaver, you evil genius. Giving out free “ARC’s” of the first book in your deliciously bingeable series to get us all hooked? Brilliant! Murder at the Brightwell was SO much fun! I love “locked door” style period mysteries and this one was ab-so-lutely delightful. Not to mention, the thing is classy af. 🎩 A perfect story for fans of Agatha Christie or Jaqueline Winspear and, as a fan of both, I just adored it.

Ashley Weaver’s writing is gorgeous. And I found the mystery to be fantastic. It accomplished everything I seek from this genre without getting overly convoluted. The conclusion came as a surprise to me (a big win) and I really didn’t know who to believe until all was revealed at the end.

As for the love triangle…. siiiiigh. Without giving too much away, let me just say that, honestly, I did not want Amory to end up with either of them. Womp. I needed more discussion about what happened between everyone prior to this story before I could declare that either romance legitimately deserved a second shot. I guess I’m happy with how things ended up? Really, though, I’m hoping for some majorly redemptive romance in the second book. We (and she) are owed that much at least!!

Content Warnings for this book: murder and attempted murder, infidelity, attempted suicide, drowning, dysfunctional relationship, toxic relationship, emotional abuse, bullying, manipulation

I am TERRIBLY behind on my reviewing for the year. Really hoping to play a bit of catch- up in January! Happy New Year Everyone! 🤞

Best,

Sarah