You can tell that after weeks of reading spy stories and fantasies, I’m in the mood for something cozy. So I’m delighted that the Christie sisters returned for some more bookshop-based sleuthing in Last Word to the Wise. Like any good cozy + Agatha fan, I had a great time with Dead and Gondola, the first book in the series… which makes me especially excited for this sneak peek. (Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for the gift copy!)

In Last Word to the Wise, Ellie and Meg have settled into life running the Book Chalet. Their entrepreneurial cousin decides to guinea-pig her new matchmaking service on them, and they gamely go for a blind double date. But when Meg’s date turns up dead, Ellie and Meg quickly pivot from dating to detection. Mix that with returning characters and some new ones and you’ve got the recipe for a great cozy follow-up…

Community matters

I’m increasingly coming to the opinion that you can boil every great cozy mystery down to two components: the community and the actual mystery / puzzle / adventure. So let’s look at Last Word to the Wise from these two angles, starting with the community.

The Christie Bookshop series centers on three communities, nested together: the Christie family, the Book Chalet, and the broader town of Last Word. As the circles get wider, they tend to get more – challenging. But there’s also a sense of familiarity within each, which Claire orchestrates by making sure enough characters return across all three circles.

At its heart, Last Word to the Wise is a family story, and we spend an appropriately large amount of time with Ellie, Meg, Meg’s daughter Rosie, and their Gram. These interactions are almost always sweet and supportive – if there’s tension, it’s because someone cares too much to listen. The Christies, in other words, are the close-knit family that you wish you had. But because “happy families are all alike”, we need some tension, brought here in the form of a go-getting cousin, Lorna. Between the disastrous dates and the ensuing death, it’s clear that Lorna takes work to love. Yet the Christies work to include and support her, even when she proposes patently disastrous or invasive ideas. It’s a great way to add tension and conflict without actually disturbing the core family dynamic.

While the Book Chalet makes its appearances as a setting, its customer largely take a back seat in this entry. And the same is true for Last Word, outside its police force – there’s a cute cop newly in the mix here. Ultimately, a large part of your enjoyment of this cozy community will depend on how the Christies strike you – whether that’s escapist family fantasy (me) or a little sweet for your tastes.

A solvable puzzle

What, then, of the mystery? Last Word to the Wise offers an actually solvable puzzle, with minimal action shenanigans. Claire actually drops real hints and clues to the solution well in advance; they’re just buried in what feels like social fluff. In a way, it’s quite similar to At Bertram’s Hotel, with the personal getting entangled in the puzzling – and creating quite a few red herrings along the way. It’s all in there, if you can spot it.

This feels like a revelation, like what cozy mysteries can be when written as actual puzzles. After reading so many stories where the solution felt like an afterthought – just pick the least logical person and have them trap the protagonist and burn down the building – it’s great to see a puzzle built in to the story. What’s old is new again!

As for the solution itself – no spoilers, but I do wish the motivation were a tad stronger. It’s the funniest kind of mystery to evaluate – technically clued up, but pragmatically a little tricky to justify. Given how far most cozy mysteries deviate from the actual form of a mystery, I’m inclined to give it a pass – it’s similar to other cozies, but at least includes actual clues. Might it have been better if the Christies seemed to pick up on them? Perhaps, but at least you get a reasonably interesting mystery that can actually be solved.

Reader’s notes & rating (⭐⭐⭐✨)

This is a delightful little cozy mystery, clearly written by someone who loves her mysteries and particularly her Christie. A great read for any cozy Christie addict, especially if you’re excited about an actually solvable mystery. And a perfect one for a chilly evening, curled up with a mug of cocoa. Three and a half stars.

Last Word to the Wise will be published on October 3, 2023.