Flora Flowerdew & the Mystery of the Duke’s Diamonds
Flora Flowerdew is a semi-legitimate spiritual medium making a living conducting séances in London in 1888. She is good at reading people, and her dog seems to be a little clairvoyant. But the séance held for the Duke of Everton and the Petrie family goes dramatically wrong. An apparently genuine spirit, angry and accusatory, takes over the séance designed to promote the marriage of young Maud Petrie to the Duke of Everton. The spirit demands that the Everton family jewels be found before the marriage can take place.
Flora and the duke (who happens to be young and handsome) decide to work together to discover whether the angry spirit and the jewels are real or an elaborate fake. Their hunt takes them to the South of France and to Cornwall. Along the way, Flora falls in love with the duke.
The title and the cover art tell you all you need to know about this novel. It is a quick holiday read, somewhat weak in characterization and plot development. But if you like charming, stylish people in equally charming, stylish locations, you might enjoy this novel.
