A Deadly Endowment (A Lady and Lady’s Maid Mystery)
Lady Phoebe Renshaw’s grandparents are landed gentry in the English Cotswolds, and lovely people, but the terrible British economy at the end of the Great War has stripped the family of its measure of comfort. Phoebe, with support from her younger sister, tackles the first ever visitors’ day, a sort of family historical open house, in their lovely home.
It should have been simple. One historical society and one village school as guests on the first effort. But instead, there’s murder in the library, and while the schoolchildren are in the clear, odds are that one of the historical society members has strangled Mrs. Arvina Bell. Even her own son will have to defend an alibi. As for Phoebe and her family, this effort is clearly putting everyone in jeopardy—even risking the modest fees for the visits.
Between the scandal, the blot on the house’s reputation, more criminal events, and the upsetting experience for her grandparents, Phoebe has abundant reason to investigate the crime. When her older sister takes off without warning, there isn’t even time to truly check that out, because Phoebe and her lady’s maid Eva Huntford are chasing clues that the police fail to pursue.
Alyssa Maxwell’s Gilded Newport mysteries established her as well-grounded in the class and social frictions of 20th-century America. The Lady and Lady’s Maid mystery series transports her storytelling from the New England coast to the English countryside. This author brings the same lively plotting, deft character portraits, and clever twists to this seventh in the English series. Fans of British fiction may note a few slips in the language transition, but the story is lively enough to leave them behind as Phoebe and Eva team up once again.
