Strangled in Soho

Cassie Coburn Mysteries, Book 4

By: Samantha Silver

Narrated by: Patricia Santomasso

Sometimes life can feel a bit suffocating....

When a woman is found strangled in the London borough of Soho, the police think it's a suicide, but Violet Despuis knows better, and Cassie knows that if Violet thinks it's murder, it's murder.

The two women find themselves needing to prove not only who committed the crime but also that a crime was committed at all.

As Cassie joins Violet in investigating the crime, they quickly find themselves embroiled in a controversy that lands them on the front page. And just in case that wasn't complicated enough, Jake is being secretive for some reason, and Cassie is pretty sure someone is following them.

Cassie doesn't need to be a brilliant detective like Violet to come to the conclusion that they're in danger. Will they be able to solve the mystery before the next bodies discovered are their own?

The Cassie Coburn Mysteries is a cozy mystery series featuring a Sherlock Holmes-style sleuth. If you want a light, fun, modern mystery featuring a San Francisco girl totally out of her element in London, and a crazy French woman who happens to be very good at noticing things, then this is the series for you.

©2016 Samantha Silver (P)2018 Samantha Silver

Another delightful book

In Strangled in Soho by Samantha Silver, Cassie Coburn wakes up one day to find herself in the hospital. It turns out that she ate some brownies sitting on the shelf of her beat friend, Violet duPris, and passed out, only to wake up in the hospital. Violet had baked them with belladonna, a previously untreatable poison, in order to test her new possible treatment for belladonna. Rushing Cassie to the best, but farther off hospital in London, by calling in a favor and a helicopter, Violet saves Cassie's life with her new treatment.

Then, Cassie gets a roommate in her hospital room, hearing the woman need the defibrillator twice in the first ten minutes. Out of curiosity, Violet goes to the other side of the room to check out the woman and comes back, pushing the nurse call button to demand that the nurse call the police because the woman was the victim of attempted murder, not attempted suicide, as the police have been claiming. When Detective Inspector Carlson comes to the hospital, he is furious to be told by Violet hat he made an inaccurate assumption about the crime and storms out, ordering the private detective] to stay out of his business. Detective Chief Inspector Williams, Cassie's ally, can't help her because he is overwhelmed by a set of diamond thefts that he must solve.

When the woman, Amelia Waters, dies during the night, it becomes a murder case. Upon interviewing Amelia's roommate, her Oxford college advisor, and her best friend, Violet discovers that three of the four members of a math research team have been killed in manners that don't appear to be murders. They must race to locate the murderer before he or she can strike again.

I found the plot of this book to be very compelling, keeping me drawn to the fascinating plot. The storyline passed very cleverly and made me want to keep listening to it straight through without stopping. It kept me attached to the book and made me want to keep listening. The plot was exciting and put interesting feelings together.

The characters make this book especially fun. Violet has a strong nature that makes us appreciate her and all her quirky details. Her arrogance over her superiority to the rest of the world comes across as humorous instead of annoying, as it could be I appreciated a statement of Cassie's to Violet: "It's time for you to sit down and stop annoying people." Cassie as always plays the voice of reason, and both women get along well. We also enjoy getting to see the minor characters, especially their landlady, Mrs. Michaels, whom we've met before but who plays a more significant role in this book. We learn more about the octogenarian who reminds me a lot of the character of Mrs. Hudson as portrayed in the Benedict Cumberbatch version of Sherlock. Mrs. Michaels used to be involved in theft but has reformed and helps Violet in the solution.

Patricia Santomasso does a terrific job of performing this book in its audio version. She really embodies the nature of Cassie, who serves as narrator of the book, and she gets into the characters of Violet and the others highly effectively. She used great voices for each and does a good job of shifting among Cassie's American accent, Violet's French accent, and the irt people's British accents. Santomasso significantly adds to the enjoyment level of experiencing this book.

I have loved all the books in this series, but I found Strangled in Soho to be an especially fun and clever book. It is perfect for when you need a smile and something to take your mind off the groom realities of life. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and give it five stars!

Fantastic Holmes & Watson Like Cozy Mystery Series

This is a modern spin on Sherlock Holmes and Watson, with the Sherlock character as a French woman with his personality and Watson's character is a American woman who moved to the UK after an accident kept her from being a surgeon and is trying to figure out what to do now with her life. These two polar opposite characters have formed a unique friendship and each of their investigations provide so much entertainment, laughter and suspense. I have been listening with my middle school aged daughter and she loves these books as much as I do. The audio book is worth the credit, the narrator is fantastic, her accents and acting skills really are top notch!! As a parent I would place this as PG13 - a middle school read and up. These books have been really pretty clean, very mild language, there is some description on the murders as to be expected in murder mysteries but not in an overly graphic way. The only mild warning is there is a love interest and there is talk of sexuality and attraction but there have been no sex scenes or anything of that nature.

So Enjoying This Series

I only recently discovered this gem of a series, and Book 4 did not disappoint. Cassie and Violet are once again on the trail of a killer, one the police do not believe exists. Cassie is dealing with some personal dilemmas, but that won't interfere with her sleuthing efforts. Violet and her landlady still make me laugh out loud. I fell in love with these characters, including Jake, of course, from book 1; and I am moving on to Book #5 with great delight.

Lots of fun!

I see comments re: negative comments that things aren’t terribly realistic and it’s true. But honestly, how realistic is a character like Violet and a police force so open to letting lay people getting involved in a criminal investigation? (It is however weird that Cassie, a doctor that has finished her residency in the US, would have to apply to medical school in England.)