First off let me say I probably would not have read this book had I known it was a sort of Christian mystery. I generally do not read anything that has the slightest hint of religion in it. Just my personal tastes. And while the book was not chock full of Christian musings, there was enough at the end that almost turned me off from the series. Overall it was a good mystery and a very good plot. I especially liked the male protagonist, Drew and his best friend Nick. I liked them so much, that I felt like the love interest, Madeline, could leave the story at any time. I also felt like the author was rushing the relationship b/w Drew and Madeline a bit. If I do read the next one in the series, I hope there is more Drew and Nick, and less of Madeline. She was too clingy, and too wimpy for my tastes. No backbone whatsoever. As long as my local library gets the next one, I most likely will give it a shot, knowing now what to expect in the way of musings about God and religion.

See my review on my web site sharonhealyyang.com: http://sharonhealyyang.com/favorite-contemporary-mystery-writers/favorite-contemporary-vintage-style-mystery-writers/julianna-deering/

I feel a little duped. I expected the Christian aspect, but I started this thinking it was a mystery, which it was, but the cheesy rather unrealistic romance totally took over and made me roll my eyes.

I had a difficult time rating this book, but eventually settled on 2.5 stars.

Overview:
Rules of Murder is a fun, breezy murder mystery set in the British 1930's. It follows "Detective" Drew Farthering, American Madeline Parker, and laughable Nick Dennison as they race to solve the confounding murder at Farthering Place.

The Good:
The dialogue is superb! The author was able to perfectly capture the aloofness of the era and the quirks of the British dialect. I appreciated how real it was. (Seriously, the dialogue was amazing.) As well, the several red herrings were unexpected and kept me reading. I found the end satisfying in that the culprit wasn't who I expected or who the author lead the reader to believe it would be.

The Bad:
While the characters were a part of the flouncy, we-dont-care-about-seriousness age, they all lacked depth. I didn't connect with any of them and only continued reading to see who had committed the crime. Drew was ... odd. He read as a Hemingway hero, which, in my book, is not a compliment. Nick was the quintessential humorous foil. Madeline has to be one of the flattest female characters I have ever read - excuse my bluntness. I went into the novel expecting her to be a part of the investigation, and I was looking forward to that. Instead, she was constantly shoved aside and rarely did anything but "muddle" Drew's concentration.

I did like how the writing mirrored that of the old mystery novels, but it left much to be desired. I wanted to see into Drew's mind, see how he was affected by certain things, but instead it was the plot-plot-plot and not a lot of character.

I'm glad I received the book for free. I would suggest it if you like simple mysterious but not if you're looking for anything incredible.

An entertaining and cozy mystery. Definitely a new genre for me. It was set in the 1930s England and captures the charm of the country and the time period. It has lots of twists and turns. It is patterned after classical mystery/detective novels of that time. The author sets our to intentionally bend or break the 10 Commandments for Mystery Writers by Ronald Arbuthnott Knox in 1929. There is romance but it is discrete and tasteful. There are faith references that were also tasteful, realistic, and thought provoking. We are asked to consider what really satisfies and where true hope comes from. I look forward to the next in the series. Overall a good and fun read!

Having read two of the author's previous titles (part of a Medieval trilogy) , and as a fan of Marple, Poirot and other classic mysteries I was excited about Rules of Murder the first of a new series by the author. In some ways it didn’t disappoint, with the 1930s setting, details and the aristocratic protagonist reminiscent of the above. Simon Vance, narrator of the audiobook version of this title which I listened did well as (An)drew Fathering, although his American accent, and other regional linguistic variations were not always so convincing. That said, Vance has narrated a number of other titles, so his style of reading and voice was not boring or monotonous and good enough to keep the listener engaged for eight and a half hours.

Drew and Madeleine’s characters were interesting enough, and the notion of them using and works of a 30s mystery writer to guide them in their amateur sleuthing. Yet those of us not familiar with the works of ‘Father Knox’ might find these references obscure. Books set in Britain by American authors can sometimes have their pitfalls, such as stereotyping, and a lack of understanding for cultural or linguistic differences. I think the author pulled it off well for the most part, with the exception perhaps of some of the characters like Inspector Birdsong, who seemed like a stereotypical Londoner (at least his accent in the audiobook made him seem like this) reminiscent of Inspector Japp of Poirot, and only a few notable Americanisms in the character’s speech.

The main issue I had with this story was its complexity. I understand that in a good whodunit it should not be easy to guess the perpetrator, but in this there seemed perhaps to be too many false starts, twists and turns, possible murderers, suspects or red herrings, and sometimes the story just seemed a little hard to follow. Perhaps this was due to the fact that it took me some time to listen to the story, and there was sometimes a gap of several days before resuming it, but though I grasped the basic thread of the story it could seem a little hard to keep up.

Also the later crimes themselves perhaps seemed a little unnecessary, and when the story was concluded there was a particularly gruesome detail which I found off-putting. The Christian content was not always prominent, and consisted mostly of Madeleine discussing spiritual matters with Drew whose religion was mostly ‘cultural’. There was no real gospel message per-se, but the underlying Christian theme was there, and the notion of how Madeleine’s faith helped her deal with some of the pain her character experienced.

Altogether Rules of Murder is generally an original and clean mystery story inhabited by some colourful characters and a pair of unlikely sleuths (though I’m not entirely sure if some of Drew and Madeleine’s public displays of affection would have been deemed acceptable for an unmarried or non-engaged couple of their social status at this time). I wouldn’t call it a ‘cosy’ mystery due to some issues towards the end, and which may be off-putting and render it not according to everyone’s taste.

Would I read the next book in the series? That may be an open question...

To be perfectly honest, if I would have paid a bit more attention to the book details on “Rules of Murder” by Julianna Deering, I probably would not have chosen it. It is published by a religious publisher – which is absolutely fine – but as such – would not normally be my choice.

However, once I received and read this book, the religious element was very minor – it probably only comes up about 5 times – mostly having to do with the death of a loved one – and as such, does not stand out much.

“Rules of Murder” is a pleasant English murder mystery – well written and thought out. I don’t think it would put it to the level of Christie or Sayers – but Deering does include more detail and leaves the reader a bit less flabbergasted at the end of the book than either of those two authors.

I wish the author the best with what looks like the beginning of an interesting mystery series.