The Tale of Hill Top Farm by Susan Wittig Albert, 0425201015, Lowest Book Price Finder

Customer Reviews:

Cute but Slow

Beatrix Potter, successful author, has bought a farm in the Lake District of England. She loves the area and is hoping to use it to set up an independent life from her parents.

She expects peace and quite in the village of Near Sawrey. But on her first visit, she realizes that's not to be.

Miss Tolliver passed away rather unexpectedly on her birthday. Her death was a shock to all, and the village is buzzing. Additionally, things seem to be disappearing around the village, and Miss Potter gets caught up in the middle.

All this is on top of the personal problems Miss Potter faces. She's still reeling from the death of her fiance just a few months before. And, while she may own Hill Top Farm, she must figure out a way to live there while keeping the current farmers there to run it for her.

I went back and forth on whether I enjoyed the book or not. The pacing is slow, and at times I was ready for things to speed up. Yet at other times I got caught up in events and couldn't put the book down.

The characters were interesting. I especially like the portrayal of Beatrix. I completely believed her temperament from the little I know about this period of her life.

Since the book is about Beatrix Potter, there are lots of animals in the story. While they can't communicate with humans, they can talk to each other and actually play an important part in the story. It's handled in a believable way but might bother those who don't like that kind of thing.

There were parts that were enjoyable, but on the whole it was an average read.

Beatrix Potter vs. the Crabbe Woman

I have read the entire series of "Victorian Mysteries" written by Mrs. Albert and her husband under the name of Robin Paige and have found most of the books in that series to be quite good. I was particularly impressed with the entry in that series that featured Beatrix Potter and so I was sure that I would really like this new series that would revolve entirely around the famous author of children's books.

This series is based on Potter's real life purchase of Hill Top Farm in England's Lake District and features not only a captivating set of villagers but also an eclectic group of mystery solving animals. Both the people and the animals of the village are a gossipy bunch and both tend to make mountains out of molehills and spread inaccurate speculation. In the case of this book however these things may be a virtue for although there are several little mysteries running along as secondary plot lines all of the mysteries are quite shallow and could use any weight that the village grapevine might add to them.

It seems to be the style of this author to use the first book in a series as an introductory volume that introduces her readers to both the characters and setting of the series. That is certainly what she has done here for if the depth of the mystery content of this book were a creek one could wade across it without getting the top of ones feet wet. One of the main mysteries in this book for example is that an entire two pounds has gone missing and its disappearance has the ever-domineering Miss Myrtle Crabbe on the warpath. I'm sorry but this is just not the kind of despicable crime that would get the attention of Sherlock Holmes, or even Agatha Raisin for that matter. Now that the setting and characters have been introduced I have high hopes for the next entry and am expecting to find a little bit more meat in that book's mystery stew.

As usual however, Mrs. Albert has a delightful writing style and her ability to create characters that are fanciful but still realistic never ceases to amaze. Her animal characterizations are so good that they rival those of Beatrix Potter herself and include an owl with a recipe book for cooking rat and a cat that is afraid of heights. Add to that a couple of art thieves, a missing Parish register and a mouse that drinks champagne and what you get is a delightfully fun warm fuzzy mystery of the cozy variety. With just a spoonful or two more of actual mystery I think that this author will again have found the recipe for success.

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