The French for Murder (A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery Murder Book No. 10) by Verity Bright

This is pure vintage mystery detective work. A real Lady along with her butler whom she inherited from her late uncle, a bull dog Gladstone who is definitely part of the proceedings and her domestic staff, all loyal servants, proceed to France on a holiday. She wants quiet, and peace and a chance for her staff to have a good time. She did not envisage her butler Clifford finding a dead body in the cellar when he went rooting for wine! The discovery of the body ends with Clifford being taken into custody because the Mayor wants under any circumstance possible to keep the murder under wraps. He is looking at a long term political future and wants to be the person who brings prosperity to the village, by attracting many film directors to film in this area so that prospects for the locals will be enhanced. The story is convoluted, the suspects are many, the background histories are complicated and Lady Eleanor is in the midst of it all, charming the local Constabulary and Mayor on the one side purely with the hope of getting Clifford released. The story is very descriptive of the region, the hijinks which are involved when you've got famous Hollywood stars in the vicinity and the gossip is rife The language is fluent, the characters are just so and the story evolves. Sent by Bookouture for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley. PS In case I havent said it I am in chilly Melbourne. After the heat and humidity of Sri Lanka, this is welcome though the freeze can be a bit too freezy! I've been to the local library twice now, delighting in the finds.