A LADY’S GUIDE TO GOSSIP AND MURDER

A Victorian lady’s pleasant life is disrupted by the murder of an acquaintance.

Frances Wynn, Countess of Harleigh, lost her husband—and almost her money and her life—in a well-hidden scandal (A Lady’s Guide To Etiquette and Murder, 2018). She doesn’t miss her husband, who died in another woman’s bed; her money has been restored; and she now lives happily in London with her clever Aunt Hetty, her daughter, Rose, her sister, Lily, and Lily’s visiting friend, Lottie. Frances has recently introduced her husband’s cousin Charles Evingdon, one of his few relatives she likes, to widowed Mary Archer. Soon after he announces that they don’t suit each other, Mary is found murdered. Inspector Delaney, questioning Frances about the friendship, shows her a note with information about her battle with her brother-in-law over money, something only a few close friends know about. Once Frances mentions Evingdon’s connection with Mary, he immediately becomes a suspect, especially since he drove past her house on the night of the murder. Frances enjoys a mutual affection with George Hazelton, who helped her escape with her reputation intact when her husband died. Because George has connections in high places, he’s been given files hidden at Mary’s home that show she’d been collecting information ranging from harmless gossip to more dangerous secrets. The possibility that Mary was a blackmailer reveals ranks upon ranks of suspects. So George enlists Frances to go through the shorthand files. Since Hetty is busy with financial matters and Lily on plans for an engagement party, Frances asks Lottie for help. She finds her remarkably proficient in digging up information in search of alibis for people Mary had investigated. The gossip columns written by a Miss Information that Lottie’s saved seem based on Mary’s less scandalous files. Which of her more sensitive secrets fomented murder?

A charming period mystery with enough sexual tension and credible suspects to keep the reader guessing.