Book Review: Moving is Murder by Nellie H. Steele

 

Short Description

Eleanor Byrne's life is falling apart. With crippling debt, a cold unwelcome home, judgmental neighbors, and an awful soon-to-be ex-husband, she sees no way out of her misfortunes. Until she gets a letter that changes everything; her Aunt Susan has died and has left Ellie the heir to her immense fortune, magnificent manor, and beloved pets. Ellie decides this is her golden ticket out of her miserable town and journeys to Salem Falls Manor, where she meets the pets- Cleo and Lola. As she is only beginning to come to terms with the drastic turn her life has taken, she discovers that her aunt's death may not have been an accident as first believed. Now that her aunt is gone, Ellie is the new target, and the threats come swarming in. Will Ellie uncover the truth before she meets the same end as her aunt? With suspicious townsfolk, chilling letters, and talking animals, what could possibly go wrong?

(Read the official synopsis on Amazon or Goodreads)

Review

First Thoughts

I love everything cozy, so when I read the synopsis for Moving is Murder I just had to pick it up. I'm so glad I did because it's really fun and feels like a warm hug, despite the murder aspect of course. Admittedly I haven't read that many cozy mysteries, but that'll change from now on. I enjoyed reading this book so much and my unsuccessful attempts at identifying the culprit were fun times.

Plot

An exhilarating tale of murder, threats, suspicion, change, friendship, and love. This is the most recent of the few cozy mysteries I have read, and for me to say it was nice is an understatement. I was obsessively turning pages and just loving the sweet cozy atmosphere of Salem Falls. We follow Ellie, whose life is falling apart. She's drowning in debt, and her soon-to-be ex-husband is making unreasonable demands that are tearing away at her sanity. In her time of need, she discovers that her Aunt Susan has died and that she has left everything she owns to Ellie under the condition that she moves to Salem Falls Manor and takes care of her pets (Cleo and Lola). Moving is Murder was a wonderful tale with immeasurable heartwarming moments. The small-town atmosphere felt like the warmest of hugs, and the descriptions of the food left me feeling famished.

Ellie's determination to turn her life around is one of my favorite themes in this book. With her aunt's death, she has the chance to lead a comfortable life and she eagerly makes the move. While in town, she discovers the horrific truth. Her aunt didn't die because of an accident, she was murdered. Ellie is determined to catch whoever killed her. Now, the detective work was perhaps not as thorough or serious as I'm used to, but it was still pretty exciting trying to uncover who had the motive to kill her harmless elderly aunt. Not that I had any idea until the culprit was revealed, but I'm not good at finding the culprit before the character, so maybe that's just me. I wasn't sure whether I should mention this, but the synopsis does so I guess I will too, but the animals can talk! I love anything and everything with talking animals so I was delighted whenever Cleo and Lola would huddle together with Ellie and try to help in catching out the killer. With nearly the whole town on her suspect list, Ellie has her job cut out for her. I loved the feeling of community that seemed threaded throughout this book and how kind and willing to help nearly everyone in the town was. Despite horrific circumstances and dangerous threats, I can't fault Ellie for wanting to move to Salem Falls.

I was worried that the culprit would be obvious and the mystery wouldn't be exciting, but I had no reason to be concerned. I didn't see the ending coming at all, and I can still feel the chill and exhilaration of the moment Ellie realized the truth. Nellie Steele does a phenomenal job at intertwining wholesome and unsettling moments together. This story was a pleasure to read and makes me want to check out some of her other books. 

Characters

Ellie - I loved Ellie. I don't read a lot of stories with middle-aged main characters, but I loved reading about her views and choices that were informed by everything she'd experienced. It was a breath of fresh air after reading about younger protagonists. After living a life riddled with complications, betrayal, and judgmental neighbors, Ellie gets a chance to turn her life around and is determined to take it. Even though I'm nowhere near Ellie's age, her strength, perseverance, dedication, determination, and bravery resonated with me and inspired me to try harder in my own life. She is also so sweet to Lola and Cleo, and every scene with the three of them was an instant favorite and warmed my heart. I loved how kind and confident she was when dealing with strangers and how excited she was about getting a fresh start to turn her life around. 

Cleo - Cleo is my favorite character. I love cats, and a talking cat makes it even better. Cleo is sassy, witty, clever, bossy, and thinks everyone is stupid, which, honestly speaking, is pretty accurate for a cat. She is also very caring to those she loves and is perhaps the most determined to find out who killed Susan. I loved every time Cleo appeared in the book and tried to move the investigation along, albeit in violent ways. She was by far the most entertaining part of this story. 

Lola - Lola is the sweetest and friendliest dog ever. So trusting, kind, excitable, confused, and a little slow, she is the perfect balance to Cleo's clawed chaos. Lola believes that everyone is innocent and that they are good people, which is heartwarming. I loved how Lola and Cleo were the best of friends despite Cleo being a little mean at times. Lola is also the quickest to warm up to Ellie and every scene with the two of them made me smile.

Mac - Another great character. Mac was Susan's friend and lawyer. As such, he is Ellie's introduction to Salem Falls and a great one too. He is reliable, sensible, kind, and always prepared to do whatever he can to help Ellie out. Being a newcomer in a close-knit community is never easy, but Mac tries his best to help Ellie adjust to her new role and the many inheritances given to her by her aunt. Though he trusts everyone in town and is shocked by Susan's death, he doesn't resent Ellie for suspecting the townsfolk and understands Ellie's choices and emotions. He's also kind to Cleo and Lola. What more can you want?

Susan - When I'm in my eighties, I hope I'm as renowned and spry as Susan. A business wiz in every way, Susan was involved in nearly all the town's businesses. While reaping benefits from her choices, she often clashed with her other business partners. She's described as a clever and ambitious woman, and I love that about her. Her love for Cleo and Lola is second to none, and even when she feared for her life, she made sure they would be taken care of. Her thoughtfulness and deep love for her niece Ellie made me emotional, and her kindness in leaving everything to Ellie whom she hadn't seen in years was endearing. Susan used to walk Lola around town all the time, and honestly, she makes me feel like the laziest person ever. 

Mia - Mia is the sweetest friend you can ask for. She's always there for Ellie, even when she doesn't think Ellie is making the right choices. Throughout the book, Mia is Ellie's support system. Ellie feels comfortable sharing with her and Mia responds the way any concerned friend would and I love that. She's also kind to the pets and is a very talented designer. Her insistence that Ellie should reconsider moving to a town where someone wants to harm her is the most sensible and realistic part of this book.

Things I Didn't Like

Firstly, there's not a lot of investigation. I don't know whether that's how cozy mysteries are but I expected more detective work from Ellie. 

Secondly, the police department is a little too lax and useless for my liking. I get that the police not being able to solve the case is what allows the main character in a cozy mystery to show off their skills, but the police should have done better.

In Summation

I enjoyed reading this book a lot. There were so many sweet and calm moments so if you're looking for something heartwarming yet still brimming with mystery, you should certainly pick this book up. If you're looking for a lighthearted funny read, then this book should be on your list. I loved imagining myself sitting in the sunroom with Cleo, Lola, and Ellie as the makeshift trio set about trying to deliver justice and every moment brought a smile to my face.

Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐

Emoji Depiction: 🐈✉🏡

If you haven't read my review of We Free the Stars yet, you can do so here.

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