The 20th instalment (how is it 20 already!) sees Verity Bright send Lady Eleanor Swift up to Yorkshire for a Christmas shooting party at a country mansion, hosted by the reclusive Duke of Auldwyke.
20 minutes after arriving (well, 18 minutes by the reliable butler Clifford’s exact timing), the Duke’s secretary is found dead, and Ellie has agreed to ask her Scotland Yard Detective Chief Inspector fiancé Hugh to head the investigation, putting paid to her plans for a romantic Christmas getaway. Faced with being trapped in a rural mansion, cut off by snow, with limited resources, Ellie and Hugh must get to the bottom of the murder. Their fellow house guests are all strangers, behaving suitably suspiciously; the Duke himself remains hidden away in his third floor suite, and there is only one local police officer on hand.
I love the warmth of this series, even in the very cold setting. Eleanor Swift is an unconventional “Lady”, with a familial closeness to her staff of housekeeper, cook and maids, all of whom have joined her on her trip up to Yorkshire. Her butler/confidante Clifford’s attempts to modify her behaviours to that expected of the aristocracy are a regular source of amusement.
A Midwinter Murder is a perfect book for cosy reading on cold winter days, the audio edition is once again perfectly read by Karen Cass, with a warmth that perfectly matches the material she’s reading.
Thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for an advance copy of the novel, out on December 5th
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