Review: The Dead Come to Stay by Brandy Schillace

The Dead Come to Stay (Ardemore House #2)
by Brandy Schillace

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f

Blurb:
A delightful new cozy crime novel from the award-winning author of the “twisty, engaging, and thoroughly unexpected” (Deanna Raybourne) The Framed Women of Ardemore House

An amateur autistic sleuth. A wry English detective. A murder case that thrusts them both into the wealthy world of the rare artifacts trade…

Jo Jones can’t seem to catch a break. She’d hoped that trading in her city life for the cozy, peaceful hills of North Yorkshire to take over her family estate would finally be her chance for a “fresh start.” Instead, she’s been thrust further into the past than she thought possible. The estate property is littered with traces of ancestors that Jo never knew existed, including a mysterious woman depicted in a half-destroyed painting inside the estate – and also including Jo’s late uncle, who may hold the key to her cryptic family history. Add to all this the gossipy town politics that Jo’s forced to navigate as a neurodivergent transplanted American. And that’s not even getting to the murder yet.

When the prickly town detective James MacAdams discovers a body in the woods with coincidental ties to Jo Jones, they’re forced to team up on the case. The clues will lead them into the wealthiest locales of Yorkshire, from sparkling glass hotels to luxury property sites to elite country clubs. But below the glittering surfaces, Jo and MacAdams discover darker schemes brewing. Local teens, many of them international refugees, are disappearing left and right, and each case is somehow linked to a shady architectural firm – which also happened to employ the dead man from the woods.

What began as an unusual murder case plunges Jo and MacAdams into the underground world of rare artifacts and antique trading… and the murderer may not be finished yet…

My Review

I received a free copy from the publisher through Edelweiss and voluntarily reviewed it.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series and was excited to hear there would be a sequel. I buddy read with one with Sophia Rose. I read this one during a stressful time in my life and that did made it hard at times to fully enjoy the story, but despite that I still had a great time reading it.

The Dead Come to Stay has another mystery and Jo continues her search for answers about Ardemore House and her family. When a man gets murdered after staying in Jo’s AirBnB room, MacAdams is on the case. The book is written from dual point of views again with chapters from Jo and MacAdams. I thought this worked well as Jo is the amateur sleuth perspective and then she also has her own quest for answers. While MacAdams is a detective and investigates the mystery that way.

The mystery was a twisty one with a lot of it not falling on it’s place until late in the book when a vital clue changes everything, but despite that the mystery still has a sense of progression with new clues coming to light throughout the book. I had to smile at the coincidence of the other cozy mystery I was reading having a similar-ish type twist. I liked following along the mystery and seeing new clues come to light and then at the end have it all get resolved. It was a satisfying mystery. While Jo’s storyline about answers could be quite sad at times, it was also illuminating as she finds some of the answers she was looking for.

I did at times struggle with the dual point of view as it could be hard to keep up with both plot lines and the switches could be on these type of cliffhanger moments and then when we got back to that point of view I needed a moment to reorient myself. Then again I probably would’ve had an easier time with that if I hadn’t read it during such a stressful time. I also would’ve liked to see Jo have a bigger role in the mystery and more interactions with MacAdams, their plot lines are pretty separate for the most part and then intersect at certain points. It worked well, but I just wanted a bit more overlap.

I really like Jo as a main character I could relatable to her thought her being autistic was well written. I am autistic myself and I enjoyed reading about Jo. MacAdams is an interesting character as well and I liked seeing him slowly becoming a bit more open and closer to Jo. It’s subtle, but I liked those few pivotal scenes were he was there for Jo. I hope there will be more books in this series as I want to read more about these characters and see their romance develop.

To summarize: This was a great sequel. It has a new mystery as well as Jo’s search for answers continues. The mystery kept me guessing and had some nice twists while Jo’s search for answers could be at times sad, but also brings her some of the answers she needs. I liked both Jo and MacAdams their points of view and both are likable main characters. At times I did wish their storylines would intermingle a bit more and I struggled sometimes with the point of view switches and having to reorient myself, but part of that is due to reading this during a stressful time. All in all this was a great read and I hope there will be more books in the series.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.