Two Truths and a Murder (A Phyllida Bright Mystery)
In this fifth installment of the series, inspired by Agatha Christie’s Hallowe’en Party, Phyllida Bright has returned from London to Listleigh Village to resume her duties as Agatha’s housekeeper. While her employer struggles to finish writing a new mystery set on the Orient Express, Phyllida is hired by Vera Rollingbroke, a member of the local gentry, to establish if her husband is romantically involved with Genevra Blastwick.
To aid the investigation, Vera hosts a dinner party where Phyllida observes Genevra and Sir Rolly and decides there’s no affair. But then attention-seeking Genevra coaxes the guests into an after-dinner game of “Two Truths and a Lie.” One of her statements, that she’s witnessed a murder, startles everyone, especially her sister Ethel. On the way home, Ethel is killed in a brutal hit-and-run by a partygoer who mistakes her for Genevra—which means there are now two murders. With help from Bradford the chauffeur and Agatha herself, Phyllida sets out to solve the connected crimes and determine which of the party guests is a coldblooded killer.
As with all the Phyllida novels, Two Truths and a Murder is fast-paced, well-researched, atmospheric, and loads of fun. Readers new to Phyllida’s adventures will figure out the characters and relationships quickly, and maps of Listleigh and Mallowan Hall aid with setting. Those already familiar with the series will relish the unfolding of Phyllida’s sizzling romance with Bradford and the reappearance of secondary characters from previous installments. Two chapters that stray from Phyllida’s third-person point of view seem gratuitous, but they are minor flaws in an overall delightful mystery.
