A Dream of Death: A Kate Hamilton Mystery

A Dream of Death has an interesting premise and setting. Kate travels from Ohio to the Isle of Glenroth. If she had not promised her deceased husband, Bill that she would take care of Elenor if anything ever happened to him (I bet she is regretting it now) she would never set foot on remote island again since it is where her husband died in a sailing accident. Kate owns an antique shop in Jackson Falls, Ohio that her mother is currently watching while she is away. DI Tom Mallory is the only other guest at Elenor’s Glenroth House Hotel and Kate finds herself attracted to him. Elenor’s murder gives the pair the opportunity to spend more time together since Kate is determined to investigate despite being told several times to leave the case to the professionals. I admit to having a hard time liking our main character, but I am hopeful for improvement. Her behavior was off-putting at times as she jumped to conclusions and make sudden decisions based on little evidence or facts. Kate’s behavior reminds me of a younger woman instead of someone in their 40s (now, I am assuming she is in her 40s since she has two children in college. We are never really told her age). There are some lovely secondary characters that I liked, and I felt bad for Bo (such a sweet man). The Isle of Glenroth is a unique and beautiful setting. I loved the descriptions of this Scottish island. I found this sentence compelling “Isle of Glenroth rose before me like Brigadoon materializing in the Highland mist”. The mystery was clever and thought out with misdirection that will send readers down the rabbit hole. There is a lack of clues to help readers in solving the crime. I like how the two hundred year old unsolved murders were worked into the story. It added depth to A Dream of Death. I appreciated that all threads of the whodunit were wrapped up at the end of the book. The paranormal element was miniscule. I wanted more of it and I did not like how Kate wrote it off (disappointing). The “romance” between Kate and Tom was lacking. It needed more development or build up earlier in the book so what happened at the end would make more sense. The author was overly descriptive of food, clothing and mundane details (like washing hair, drying it with towel, combing it behind ears, putting on lotion, etc.). My favorite phrase from A Dream of Death is “don’t let your yesterdays define you”. A Dream of Death is a good beginning to A Kate Hamilton Mystery series. A Dream of Death has an intriguing mystery, quaint Scottish isle, disappearing antiques, a dashing inspector and a determined antiques dealer.

This is my first book by Connie Berry but it sure won't be my last. A Dream of Death is a wonderfully presented balance between the cozy world and that of a modern gothic mystery. In addition to a well plotted mystery, Ms. Berry has given us characters to whom we can attach and for whom we will root. I look forward to seeing how the future plays out for Kate Hamilton and can't wait to see what characters might play a role in her future. The mystery allows us to see history played out in the island in the Scottish Highlands as we watch the American antique dealer try to solve the puzzle of her sister-in-law's death. There are so many people who had good reason to resent the woman that the suspect list is long. While Kate tries to suss out the suspect with the most motive for murder, she develops an ambivalent connection with an English detective on vacation who assists the local police in their investigation. In a world of character versus mystery A Dream of Death falls in to both worlds with fascinating characters and a complex mystery.

A Dream of Death is an engaging mystery, featuring an amiable amateur sleuth, a suitably unlikeable victim and a little middle-aged romance on the side. Its setting in a grand country house hotel off the western Scottish coast, and the intertwining of a long ago crime, add to the intrigue. I'll admit I have an on-again, off-again relationship with the cosy mystery sub-genre, but I found that A Dream of Death fell on the right side of the line for me, with it's balance of Kate's amateur sleuthing set within the context of a genuine police investigation. The intertwining of the historical mystery surrounding Flora Arnott's death added an extra dimension of intrigue and the romantic sub-plot was an enjoyable foil for the criminal investigation, without ever becoming distracting or overly sentimental. Kate makes a feisty and sympathetic heroine, combining curiosity and attention to detail with intuition and a keen sense of human psychology. Berry's descriptions of the western Scottish landscape, in combination with the inclement weather, created an evocatively mysterious and oppressive atmosphere, despite the protagonists' fairly regular ferry trips back and forth to the nearby mainland. I'm pleased to see that this is the first in a series of books featuring Kate Hamilton, and look forward to reading the subsequent books. I'd highly recommend A Dream of Death to any reader who enjoys well-plotted traditional and/or "cosy" mysteries, particularly those with unusual and interesting settings.