Finally at the end of the first chapter we get to the key details that define this work as a mystery series, i. e. Savannah Reid Mysteries). We, the readers, get to hear about a honeymoon visit to a lighthouse. That's usually a place of ill-omen in many a thriller and mystery novel. The lady who lets them in with a skeleton key tells them about a long-ago shipwreck during the Gold Rush. That is the first signal of trouble. Before that readers get lots of description about why Savannah loves her new husband sleeping in the bed beside her. Only by the title can they tell that there is a mystery ahead.
A mystery or thriller is supposed to be a suspense novel from the first line. The heroine should notice something strange or different about her new husband. Even if it's not romantic suspense, maybe he could have found an article in the paper or whatever about the lighthouse. He's been keeping it from her because . . . You name it! The possibilities are endless.
This is the second cozy that I've read that started out slowly with lots of description. But the other one, Death is in the Air: A Manor House Mystery by Kate Kingsby, at least had foreshadowing conflicts between main characters in the first few pages.[[ASIN:0425180948 Death is in the Air: A Manor House Mystery]] At first I was confused and thought Killer Honeymoon was a romance novel with a bad title.
Still the writing from paragraph to paragraph flows well. It promises better things in the future.