A Death on Corfu is book one in the new Minnie Harper series by Emily Sullivan is a historical cozy mystery set in Greece in 1898.
Minnie Harper is a widow raising 2 teenage children, doing small typing jobs on the side to help with expenses, when she is offered a job as a typist to famous mystery author, Stephen Dorian, who is staying next door while he attempts to finish his latest novel. When a young maid turns up dead nearby, Stephen and Minnie pair up to solve the mystery.
The characters in this book were interesting, in particular Stephen seemed ahead of his time in his treatment of Minnie as an equal in their investigations given the time period.
Throughout the novel there was a hint of attraction between Stephen and Minnie, although they both seemed to be fighting it. Since I’m a lover of romance, I enjoyed this aspect of the story, and the romance was not so prominent that it took over the story, so if you aren’t a romance lover I don’t think it will put you off.
Although I’m not a historian by any means, it felt like the author was knowledgeable about the time period, and the customs of the time. The attitudes of the police and many of Minnie’s neighbours towards the Greek people, especially the people working for them as servants, felt (sadly) realistic and really helped me to picture the time period.
While the main mystery is wrapped up by the end of this novel, there are a few things that are left a bit open-ended, and hint that there may be more to come. I certainly hope so as I would like to see more of Minnie and Stephen.
Emily Sullivan is a new to me author, and I enjoyed her writing style. I understand she has written some historical romance, which is my favourite genre, so I will probably check those out.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
A Death on Corfu will be available on April 29 2025.
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