Corpse at Captain's Seat

Secrets and Scrabble, Book 8

By: Josh Lanyon

Narrated by: Matt Haynes

Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

And Then There Were…Some

At long last, the renovations of stately Captain’s Seat are mostly complete!

To celebrate, mystery bookseller and sometimes amateur sleuth Ellery Page decides to throw a house-warming party and invite his New York theater friends to stay for the weekend. When a freak snowstorm leaves the house party cut off from the village of Pirate’s Cove, there’s nothing to do but drink, reminisce, and play games.

Or so Ellery thinks—until he finds himself trapped in a real-life game of Clue.

©2024 Josh Lanyon (P)2024 Josh Lanyon

A little different but enjoyable

I felt like there wasn't much of a mystery in this book. Unlike the rest of the series in which our protagonist snoop around and solve mysteries, the mystery kind of mostly confessed itself here. However, I still enjoyed it.

Good story. Good narration.

Ellery and Jack have been through quite a few adventures already, and I keep looking forward to more. I am continuously impressed with how many different types of mysteries Josh Lanyon covers in this series. I rarely have the mystery solved before the end. Not many authors can keep me guessing. This book did not disappoint. I also enjoyed getting more glimpses into Ellery's past.

I had fun listening to this mystery. I enjoy Matt Haynes' voice, and aside from a few odd pronunciations that I chalk up to regional dialect, the narration performance is smooth. I am looking forward to more of this series.

Yay! Another installment in my favorite series!

I've been anxiously waiting for this volume of Secrets and Scrabble to come out, and it did not disappoint. My only wish is that they would be longer. Matt Haynes does another great job with this one, especially considering there are so many more characters in this book than others. I could listen these books all day and hope more are on their way soon!

Loved it!

Another classic with a great cast of characters. Can’t wait for the next mystery! I did miss the normal cast but this was still fun.

Fun mystery

The narrator’s lack of vocal range was really apparent in this installment. All the characters sound the same. The ending also felt a little rushed.

Cozy mystery with great characters

Like the earlier books in this series, this is an e enjoyable mystery with a strong voice in the smart. sweet Ellery. This is mostly a new set of characters in Ellery's old friends, but they still offer a fun group of potential victims and suspects. Watson the dog is a delight, as is the setting. Captain's Seat is almost a character itself. All in all, another solid story with the only issue the lack of chemistry and believability in the relationship between Ellery and Jack. Actually, the unlikeable Jack's lesser presence in this book is a positive. It's just annoying that we have to listen to Ellery constantly say how great Jack is. I adore Ellery and he deserves so much better than Jack, who has consistently harassed the wrong people and made poor choices throughout the series. Admittedly, he suffers from 'Inspector Lestrade' syndrome - he has to bumble and accuse innocents so Ellery can save the day and solve the case, but he does it so unpleasantly that he is a fail as any kind of love interest. Instead, he functions as more of an adversary. So seeing him really sidelined in this book is a positive. Ellery shines yet again..

I need more!

This is hands down my favorite series! this book is the "dark and stormy night" addition to the series and I'm here for it!

Not Quite Cabot’s Cove

I enjoyed all the books in this series but found this one less interesting. The fun of the characters from previous books was gone. They took their energy with them. The old college friends were poorly conceived and not compelling. Disappointing

Not the best in the series but enjoyable

This entry in the long running series was a bit off the mark for me. There was a lot of time spent getting to know the characters and when the murder finally happens (past the halfway point in the book) it seems to be solved very quickly.
The narrator is once again amazing and brings life to the characters.

A weak entry in the series

There are some good ideas in this book but the overall execution falls short. The biggest problems arise from the fact that this story doesn’t really fit into a cozy series. It would have worked much better as a stand alone book with different lead characters. The few scenes no set at Captain’s Seat and the series regular supporting cameos are inconsequential and feel as though Lanyon was including them in order to check boxes off a list for her idea of what a cozy series requires.

Additionally, all the time spent on building up an escaped mental patient feels wasted because this is a cozy. The reader knows the crazy axe murderer is not going to show up and butcher everyone. That’s simply not how the genre works.

Finally, the titular corpse shows up so late in the story there really is no real mystery at play here.

On the plus side, I really liked the idea of Jack and Ellery having a bit of role reversal in this story. I also enjoyed the book specific characters and would be happy to see one or two of them show up in a future book.