Murder at the Heritage Festival
A Poppy James Cozy Mystery #4
by Gemma Harper
Published: December 23, 2025
Genre: Cozy Mystery, Cozy Animal Mystery, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense
Blurb:
When a stormy Heritage Festival ends in murder at a restored train depot, café owner Poppy James must untangle art, ego, and a very deadly history along the Whistlestop Line.
Poppy comes to Easton Springs to pour coffee, cheer on the grand reopening of the old rail station, and maybe enjoy a quiet weekend with historian boyfriend Theo, bestie Nadine, and her trouble-sniffing beagle, Midsip.
Instead, a locked parlor, a dead councilman, and a missing masterpiece turn the Heritage Festival into a crime scene. With the town’s future riding on the unveiling of the moody painting Station at Dusk, everyone has something to hide.
The fussy registrar “tidies” the guest book until the timeline blurs. The security chief insists no one could have slipped past his patrols, and the elegant art restorer treats suspicious scraps of history like trash.
As storm-flooded roads trap the guests inside, Poppy’s cozy instincts collide with a dangerous pattern of forged art, buried doctrine, and carefully edited truth.
If Poppy can’t unmask a killer before the festival ends, a murderer will walk free—and the Whistlestop Line’s true story will vanish behind a very permanent curtain.
My Review:
Poppy travels to Easton Springs for the grand reopening of the historic railway station, hoping to enjoy a peaceful weekend with her historian boyfriend Theo, her best friend Nadine, and her trouble-sensing beagle, Midsip. However, they soon find themselves stranded at the station due to storm-flooded roads alongside other guests.
A deceased councilman is discovered in a room that was locked from the inside. A valuable painting goes missing as well. A meticulous registrar “organizes” the guest book, causing the timeline to become muddled. With numerous suspects, Poppy, aided by her best friend Nadine, boyfriend Theo, and her beagle Midsip, sets out to interrogate each one of them.
The numerous twists and turns kept me guessing about who committed the crime. Someone is definitely concealing something, but what could it be? I was captivated by the story, unable to tear my eyes away from the pages, with each chapter leaving me with more questions that I wanted answered immediately.
Every page presented a mystery that heightened my excitement, building more and more as I raced towards the conclusion, eager to uncover all the secrets held by the guests.
I can’t wait to find out what Poppy and Midsip will encounter in the next installment of the Poppy James Cozy Mystery Series.
I wholeheartedly recommend Murder at the Heritage Festival to all fans of mystery! Make sure to grab a copy of Murder at the Heritage Festival today!
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