THE MITFORD SCANDAL

Louisa Cannon, still in the orbit of the inimitable Mitford sisters in 1928 London, finds herself caught in their mysteries for the third time—and longing to be reunited with her partner in sleuthing, Guy Sullivan of the CID.

Since leaving her job as a servant with the Mitford family (Bright Young Dead, 2018), Louisa’s been scraping by. One odd job finds her serving at a grand party in the London Season, where wealthy, debonair Bryan Guinness is wooing Diana Mitford when, suddenly and horribly, a maid peering at the glamorous scene falls through a skylight to her death. It seems a tragic accident, but Louisa had noticed Rose Morgan, another maid, accepting a mysterious packet from a rough-mannered stranger at the back door. When Rose disappears after the party, newly promoted Guy Sullivan refuses to let the matter drop. In a stroke of good fortune, Diana offers Louisa a position as her lady’s maid, and they set off together on Diana and Bryan’s honeymoon in Paris. Guy, acting on a tip about Rose, follows a hunch and his heart to find Louisa in Paris despite his own engagement to another woman. His presence is both a relief and a complication for Louisa, for he appears the morning after the sudden death of Shaun Mulloney, one of the Bright Young Things who attend Bryan and Diana. Was his death merely an allergic reaction mixed with excessive drink, or was it something more sinister, perhaps arranged by his jealous wife? The gendarmes think it’s a case of allergic reaction; Guy and Louisa find only traces of Rose; and Diana, Bryan, and their friends, accompanied by Louisa, embark on a trip to Venice. But this adventure is marred by tragedy as well, as yet another Bright Young Thing dies of opium overdose. And this time, Nancy Mitford is placed under arrest.

A richly detailed period piece whose implausible solution is outweighed by its deft weaving of historical fact and imagined intrigue.