Agnes Sharp and the Trip of a Lifetime

Leonie Swann's Agnes Sharp and the Trip of a Lifetime (#1,334) is the second in what I hope will be a long-running series.  Originally written in German, her three books so far have been ably translated by Amy Bojang into cottage cozy English.  If you enjoy the Marlow Murder Club series, you should add Ms. Swann's books to your "To Read" list.

Agnes Sharp and the rest of the tenants at Sunset House have been suffering through a long cold spell with the boiler on the fritz.  Space heaters aren't just doing the trick.  And Agnes has decided to defer telling anyone about the body in the church for the time being. Why should it become her responsibility?  So Edwina winning a trip for two to a luxury eco resort on the Cornwall coast is just the ticket to escape.  Everyone (with Charlie's financial help!) will go with Edwina to the iconic Eden resort.  As the house mates explore the luxurious surroundings with spectacular walls of glass overlooking the sea, the bodies start to accumulate.  Edwina is convinced she is on a mission for her old spy masters, and somewhere along the way she has acquired a white boa constrictor as part of it.  It soon becomes clear to Agnes that she is on the unknown hitman's list and that the pile of corpses in cold storage will continue to pile up unless and until she can deduce who the assassin is...

The characters in these books are just so eccentric and delightfully over-the-top that they make the Thursday Murder Club crew look positively average.  And don't get me wrong - I love that series as well!

I can't wait until there's another installment in the Miss Sharp Investigates series.  In the meantime, I have to go back and read the mystery that started it all - Three Bags Full.