The Kensington Kidnap, A Cozy Mystery

The Kensington Kidnap
Katie Gayle
Bookouture
December 2, 2020
Cozy Mystery

I have been a big fan of Kate Carlisle's Fixer-Upper series and so I thought I would give this Cozy Mystery a whirl. I loved the premise of The Kensington Kidnap: A catastrophically affected young woman, Ephinany Bloom, or "Pip" who lands into a mistaken identity to solve the disappearance of a famous teenage boy who was involved with a "save the environment" group: The Green Youth For Truth. 

The main character Pip is not your typical run-of-the-mill super-sleuth who knows how to solve mysteries or a capably-talented woman who is fantastic at solving lost items at a construction site or an Agatha Christie's type of mystery sleuth.  She is a bumbling, irresponsible woman who happens to land into a job that isn't really for her. Does she know how to do this job? No. Will she confess to her mistaken identity? Probably not. Pip is selfish, low on funds, and very behind on her rent, I didn't necessarily like Pip for half of the book, I did like some of the other characters in this story, Her Sister Felicity for one. They are better fleshed out, have nuances that you can understand, and relationships that are realistic. Pip on the other hand was extremely flat for the first few chapters. Her antics are more entertaining the further you get into the book and her relationships are what make this story.

*Katie Gayle does a decent job of writing this cozy mystery except for her main character. I feel that Pip is an unreliable narrator of her own life and I don't feel as if the character and the authors had much of a relationship with each other as the authors had with the story idea itself and the supporting cast. 

I was fascinated by was little back comments made in passing with people Pip met of adventures that she had all over the world. Those are stories I would really like to hear.

The mystery itself, one of kidnapping, murder, and intigue was a good plotline, it has a triangle of potential romance and I really liked the story, I just didn't love Pip. She was likable, I just didn't love her. 

I hate to do this even though I did like the premise of the mystery, I think it had wonderful potential. It just took too long to connect with Pip, (even with her adorable quirks especially of stealing a three-legged cat from the vet before it was put to sleep,) and because of that this Cozy Mysteries just wasn't my cup of tea. I have to give this book a 3-star rating. 

Fun fact: 

'Katie Gayle is the writing partnership of best-selling South African writers, Kate Sidley and Gail Schimmel. Kate and Gail have, between them, written over ten books of various genres, but with Katie Gayle, they both make their debut in the cozy mystery genre. Both Gail and Kate live in Johannesburg, with husbands, children, dogs and cats." Bookouture

Thank you, NetGalley, Bookouture (I have loved all your other books approved to me), and Katie Gayle for the opportunity to read The Kensington Kidnap in lieu of my honest review.