Murder in Morocco by Judith Cranswick - Book Review

Murder in Morocco by Judith Cranswick

The Aunt Jessica Mysteries Series #1 (Standalone) 

Genre: Cozy Mystery 

3.5 Stars 

One Liner: Decent first book but tends to read like a travelogue. 

*****

Harry, a 31-year-old lad, is relieved when his favorite Aunt Jessica asks him to accompany her on a trip to Morocco. He is down on his luck and needs something to cheer him up. The trip seems just like a thing to get him back on track. 

But then Aunt Jessica is not only a super talented historian. She is also a force to reckon with. After all, how many 73 years old go around traveling to distant lands with such ease? 

When one of the group members is murdered, the man’s wife is arrested for the crime. Aunt Jessica isn’t convinced, and neither is Harry. The lad does his best to investigate the case only to get deeper into trouble. It’s up to Aunt Jessica to solve the crime and get Harry out safe and sound. 

My Observations: 

• The actual story takes time to start, which is understandable since this is the first book in the series. The first half is slow and focuses more on establishing the characters and the setting. 
• Harry and Aunt Jessica are well-defined, and I’m curious to know more. Harry seems more like a young kid, but it makes sense given the background information. The poor lad has to deal with formidable aunts, after all. 
• There are touches of Brit humor though not much. It worked for me well enough. What took time was to understand the period of the story. It reads like a historical cozy mystery but talks of smartphones. That was a little confusing. 
• The case, as such, is quite simple if you keep track of the details revealed in bits and pieces. Since cozy mysteries don’t have to be complicated, this works well for the story. 
• The murder isn’t committed until almost after 40%, which does dampen the mystery effect. The sooner the crime occurs, the more interesting the book gets. 
• My biggest issue with the book was the overload of the settings. Sure, it’s a different country (considered exotic by the West), but we don’t need so much information. Some of it felt more like a travelogue and didn’t serve any purpose to the plot. 
• Since this is the first book, and the next usually tend to get better, I’m hoping the next ones balance out the elements and put enough focus on the mystery. 

To sum up, Murder in Morocco is a decent first book in the series, but I wouldn’t compare it to Christie. It’s good enough but doesn’t reach the mark. Christie set the standards high. Maybe I’ll change my opinion after reading the other books from the series. 

I received a review copy from the author via Voracious Readers Only in exchange for an honest review.