THE MITFORD VANISHING

A fifth dose of murder involving the Mitford family carries a maid-turned-detective from London to the Continent in the middle of the Spanish Civil War.

It's 1937. Having proven her worth in solving a number of mysteries, Louisa Cannon, who once worked as a maid for the notorious Mitford family, is married to a former police detective with whom she’s partnered in a detective agency. In that capacity, she receives a note from Nancy Mitford begging for help in finding her sister Jessica, aka Decca. The political leanings of the family range from fascists and Nazis to Decca, who claims to be a communist. She’s supposed to be vacationing in France, but none of her friends and relatives know where she is. In addition, Louisa takes on the case of Petunia Attwood, a missing woman who was involved in a dispute at work. The police have no interest in looking for an adult woman, but Louisa fears she may be in trouble. The man Petunia crossed swords with at work is also missing, and his downtrodden wife seems glad he’s gone. At length Louisa discovers that Decca has run off with her communist cousin Esmond Romilly, who’s been in Spain and plans to return there. The detecting duo travel back and forth as go-betweens for the family while Louisa becomes more deeply involved in a possible murder closer to home and several missing persons whose fates also involve the war in Spain.

A fascinating story based on real people and places.