Death at the Door is book 2 in the Ruby and Cordelia Mysteries by Olivia Blacke, but although it’s the second book in the series it’s easily read as a standalone novel.
Ruby is a young 20 year old, living away from home for the first time. She has moved into the apartment of Cordelia, a middle-aged woman believed to have unalived herself, and whose ghost now haunts her old apartment. Coincidentally, Ruby also has Cordelia’s old job as receptionist at a tech company, TrendCelerate. When a food delivery driver, Marty, is killed in the bathroom after making a delivery to the company, Ruby and Cordelia decide to investigate.
The story is told from two points of view, with chapters alternating between Ruby and Cordelia. Their relationship is an interesting one since Ruby can only see and talk to Cordelia when she’s drunk, otherwise they have to come up with interesting ways to communicate. I enjoyed both characters, Cordelia seemed to have been a bit of a morally grey character in life, which made her even more interesting to me.
In addition to the people who were in the office the day of the murder, the two find several other possible suspects as they find more information about Marty, making the motive and culprit difficult for the reader to determine, and kept me turning the pages.
Although the mystery is wrapped up by the end of the book it does finish on a bit of a cliffhanger, and in addition to that, there were several ends that were left dangling. I am not a fan of cliffhanger endings but to be honest I’m more interested in the other unresolved threads. What is really up with the hot guy across the hall who works for TrendCelerate’s competitor? What really happened to Cordelia? Can all of the people in the office be trusted? And what about Cordelia’s brother, Ian?
I enjoyed Death at the Door, I think it will appeal to lovers of paranormal cozy mysteries that don’t take themselves too seriously. While Death at the Door is not the typical cozy mystery that takes place in a small town with a multitude of quirky characters, Cordelia’s antics made up for the lack of other quirky characters and the office setting served in place of the small town. I would be interested in reading the next book in the series to see if some of the questions I have get answered.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Death at the Door will be available on October 21 2025.
Life, Tea, and Everything 