Death on a Winter's Day Verity Knight (A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery No. 8)

Though part of a series, this does well as a stand alone though the major characters of Lady Eleanor the inimitable butler, the kitchen staff and the mutt all star in all the books. Lady Eleanor has decided to spent Christmas in Scotland. In a remote castle. Her friends the beleagured Baron and Baroness Ashley are left without any domestic help as the Presbytarian Church has apparently cancelled Christmas. The staff are angry and annoyed and obstructive when Lady Eleanor descends on them with Clifford in charge of the domestic arrangements to take over and present a pleasing Christmas for all. When one of their number is found murdered, and only Clifford keeping the peace and protective of Lady Eleanor because so many hidden currents of animosity exist between the guests that it is decided that an investigation privately has to be undertaken because the Baron is taken into custody as a prime suspect in the murder. When victim Number Two falls from a balcony or was she pushed, the search is a bit more frantic and Lady Eleanor herself is in danger from a most cunning murderer. Very enjoyable writing, in the spirit of Christmas despite the murders, Lady Eleanor and her cast keep the reader very amused and moving along very well. A lovely start for December. Thank you to Bookouture who sent this book out for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

The Three Widows of Wylder by Julie Howard

Three woman each totally different, sharing only one thing in common. They were on the run from the law for different reasons. Clara the eldest at 36 running away to her brother's farm after the killing of her husband, then there was Mary Rose whom you wanted to shake till her teeth rattled - vacuous and empty headed but sharp when it came to her own survival again after the death of her third husband and still very young, and finally Emma the brave, different but also running away. The setting of the rugged terrain of the Wild West was very relevant to the story. The hardships endured in reaching Clara's brother's house which would afford them protection they thought was the key. Each woman sought a life after reaching their safe place, two of them in marriage and one in a secure future. That it all worked out in different ways and they all found redemption to live their lives is this story. Nicely told, descriptive and rather a different setting. Sent by The Wild Rose Press Inc for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

A Brush With Murder by Bailee Abbott

Chloe is returning home after what she thinks is a failed attempt at a career. Her partner and she have parted ways and coming back home to a quiet small town was her way of recouping her losses and trying to decide what she wants to do next. Izzie her sister is just opening a Paint shop and is excited that Chloe is here to help with what she wants as a grand debut with event after event lined up to kick start the show, especially since it is tourist season. What they did not take into account was the murder of one of the ladies in the backyard of Izzie's shop. Since the victim was someone who had taken a dig, blackmailed and slandered practically all the shop owners in the town, there was no shortage of suspects including Izzie and Chloe and Detective Hunter has his hands full trying to eliminate one by one from his list. A more tame version of a mystery murder. Not vintage and not very modern this was a slow story but pleasant reading. Sent by Crooked Lane Books for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

An Expert in Murder (Josephine Tey No. 1)

March 1934 seems very Victorian in some aspects in this story. Josephine Tey the celebrated author is travelling from Scotland to London for the final week of her best selling theatre production Richard of Bordeaux. She is in a mixed state of mind - on the one hand the success of the play and on the other the conflicts its success has brought to her personal life - almost ending with an attempt on her life and a very twisted law suit which she won. On her train trip to London she encounters a fan - Elspeth theatre struck and delighted to meet the author and Elspeth and Josephine hit it off and the journey is completed happily with plans to meet at the theatre later on. It was a tragic end for Elspeth who was found murdered in her compartment just an hour after Josephine departed for her hotel and then the detective work starts. Going back decades, a very twisted story of revenge, bitterness and a psychopathic father who passed on his leanings to his son the story throws up a number of suspects and then ends in a second murder. Detectives know that the two are connected but how and why are only brought about by very slow unravelling of clues one at a time. The story was a mesmerizing one set in the backdrop of the bright lights of the theatre and drama world and the contrast between that and the dark side of anger and murder are very marked. I enjoyed the read - a slightly slower pace of detection than what is presented today and the characters themselves were all varied. It added a great deal of interest and variety to the story. This was a purchase from Amazon who by the way still does not permit me to post reviews there!

A Body at the Altar by Dee MacDonald (Kate Palmer Book No. 4)

I like that the detectives in the story are not so young and not so dynamic as the detectives one generally finds in books. Kate is in her sixties and her retired partner Detective Inspector is older. Kate has a propensity to be drawn to danger, mystery and murders! In this story we start with a bridegroom who keels over at the altar - dead by poisoning. Investigating further Kate discovers that four other weddings have been cancelled just before the date, for no proper reason. Knowing that this is too much of a coincidence to be true, she finds out that each of the bridegrooms not got a letter outlining some unsavoury part of their fiancee's past to make it too hard to continue with the marriage. All of them are very bitter over it, but all have moved on. Finding out who could be the murderer was difficult to pin point, especially when Kate's own suspect was found murdered by electrocution. Now Kate and Woody had to set aside their earlier assumptions and work with the new Detective Inspector - the very pretty Charlotte whom Woody liked and Kate did not, to find out who the murderer was. Settinngn of an English village was very nice reading (especially for someone who is not English and does not live in England). Nice detection work. Though part of a series, fine as a standalone. Sent by Bookouture for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

The Secrets of Elloughton Park by Stephen Taylor

This was a fascinating read. Set over two timelines a present day historian who gets more and more enchanted by a woman of two centuries ago and is enthralled by her. James Postlethwaite is fascinated by social history and is very excited to come across the journals of Lord and Lady Carlisle of the 18th century. What was hidden amongst the papers was the quite very well known writings of a cinder maid Ginny Farmer whose account of her life of so very humble beginnings abandoned in a foundlings hospital, then her appointment as a maid in the kitchen and her rise to the ranks of a lady's maid. This position sadly brought her to the attention of the drunken master of the house, she was raped and then fell pregnant and was kicked out. This was the norm. Ginny's meteroric rise from being penniless and destitute to become a prostitute was not a surprise. For a young woman, with no references, no training and no family or money there was no other choice but here too she landed on her feet and slowly developed an aura of being someone who came from a very good family but had fallen on hard times (or been kicked out by her family) and had to make her way in the world. Becoming the sole mistress of one Lord was something Virginia as she was now known, was not something she favoured but she took the step until that too was terminated by her protector. Going solo again Lady Virginia was befriended by unusual men - men who did not look on her just as a prostitue but as a friend and someone whom they mentored, and encouraged to learn more and more. This was what the journals depicted and this was what was so unusual. James relationship with his student protegee and his feelings towards her and his inability to express them was just a secondary story. The real story was Ginny alias Lady Virginia and what a fascinating story. Lots of history, and a lot of details of society and how it evolved at the time - very descriptive. Very detailed of Georgian times. Sent by Sapere Books for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.

Next in Line by Marion Todd (Detective Claire Mackay No. 5)

Though this was a No 5 in the series, it does well as a stand alone. A murder takes place in an exclusive boutique hotel, in isolated gardens in Scotland. The victim and his family are well known and reporters are all over the place. The family had faced tragedy before when they lost another sibling in the tsunami in Thailand and this murder is resurrecting a lot of old memories. Celebrating his 40th birthday Russel did not expect to be murdered on his birthday. The marksman who shot him was an expert shot and Detective Claire has to whittle down her suspects - the immediate ones are cagey, careful and extremely smart. Further widening her net, Claire discovers many extraneous strands to the initial story and now she is looking at people far beyond her initial line up. Family complications galore in the victims family, treachery amongst friends of decades and keen and slow methodical detection makes this a best seller read. The setting too added a lot of atmosphere to the story. Sent by Canelo for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.