[review] Hattie Goes to Hollywood by Caroline James [blog tour]

Hattie Goes to Hollywood is a funny and engaging cozy mystery – the first in a new series by Caroline James. The book features a retired hotel manager, Hattie Mulberry, who has inherited her aunt’s run-down old cottage in the small village of Hollywood in Cumbria. This isn’t exactly the Hollywood I was thinking of when I first saw this title! #HattieGoesToHollywood

Title: Hattie Goes to Hollywood
Author: Caroline James
First Published: February 14, 2020
Publisher: The Publish Hub
Categories: Mystery 
Acquired: The Rachel’s Random Resources book tours

*** Thank you to book tour organiser, Rachel’s Random Resources, and the author, Caroline James, for providing me with an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. ***

While this cozy mystery (and series starter) has a lot of the elements I’ve come to expect (and love) about cozies, there are some nice differences too.

There’s the usual ‘small English village’ setting and the familiar characters – the ‘cute local love interest’, the ‘town gossip’ and the main character, the ‘single woman amateur sleuth’. Every cozy mystery fan knows these are all part of the formula.

But then we have the main character – Hattie Mulberry. Married twice, recently widowed from her second, beloved husband, well-off, in her 50s, sets up as an investigator, has a pet duck… this is not what you would usually expect from the heroine of a cozy mystery. There’s also some light “almost swearing”, lots of sexual insinuations and the main character likes her gin and tonic…at all times of the day. It’s a hilarious combination and makes Hattie incredibly fun and interesting.

One of the quirkiest parts of the book is Drake, the mallard duck. After she fed it some crumbs at a public pond, Hattie finds that she can’t get rid of this duck! It’s hilarious. The duck follows Hattie home, where it fights for food scraps with the the caretaker’s, quacks incessantly and acts so uncanny that Hattie thinks it might be psychic. In the end, she builds the duck a pond and names him Drake.

This mix of traditional setting and untraditional protagonist gives this cozy mystery story a nice twist and a fresh feel. The mystery itself is interesting, even though it takes a bit to get going. And while the pacing is a bit slow at the start, I didn’t feel bored with it. The slow pacing gave time to set up Hattie’s new life and introduce (what I assume will be) some of recurring characters in future books. I’m definitely looking forward to future adventures with Hattie.

Meet the author of Hattie Goes to Hollywood, Caroline James

Best-selling author of women’s fiction, Caroline James has owned and run businesses encompassing all aspects of the hospitality industry, a subject that often features in her novels. She is based in the UK but has a great fondness for travel and escapes whenever she can.

A public speaker, which includes talks and lectures on cruise ships world-wide, Caroline is also a consultant and food writer. She is a member of the Romantic Novelist’s Association, the Society of Women’s Writer’s & Journalists and the Society of Authors and writes articles and short stories, contributing to many publications.

In her spare time, Caroline can be found trekking up a mountain or relaxing with her head in a book and hand in a box of chocolates.

Books by Caroline James:

• Coffee Tea the Gypsy & Me
• Coffee Tea the Chef & Me
• Coffee Tea the Caribbean & Me
• Jungle Rock
• The Best Boomerville
• Hotel Hattie Goes to Hollywood

You can follow Caroline via these links:

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE

Read Hattie Goes to Hollywood for yourself

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AMAZON UK

Giveaway to Win a cuddly Drake toy! (Open INT)

Be in with a chance to win Drake, Hattie’s faithful pet duck!

Tall Drake & Handsome – A gorgeous soft toy who will be your friend for life.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

* Terms and Conditions – Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

Well, that’s another book for my #AtoZCozy2020 Reading Challenge!

Thanks to Caroline James, the letter “J” has been taken care of in this year-long alphabet challenge – only 22 more letters to go!

If you’d like to learn more about the challenge, have some suggestions or want to join in, check out my blog post about it here.