💙 Lady Emily Hardcastle and her maid Florence Armstrong have moved from the hustle bustle of London to the rural countryside of Gloucestershire, to seek for a quieter life. However, just a few days after their arrival, they found a body hanged from a tree on their morning stroll. It appears like a suicide, but Lady Hardcastle's watchful eyes soon found evidences that it was a foul play.
💙 The police seem to take the wrong way, though, that our unconventional amateur sleuth pair decided to investigate by themselves. During this time, Lady Hardcastle received an invitation for a house party at the Granger, while Flo (Florence) was asked to help with the service.
💙 That night one of the band members was murdered, and the hostess' emerald was stolen. Lady Hardcastle and Flo were joining the police inspector in investigating the murder, but the stolen emerald was secretly handled by Lady Hardcastle due to its family secret.
💙 I loved everything about this book! First off all, the mystery was well thought of. The clue were scattered proportionately along the investigation, that the story is never dull. The interviews conducted by the inspector -and attended by our sleuths - unfolded slowly secrets and undoings of people involved.
💙 My favorite part is the dynamic duo of the lady and the maid. Their relationship is not like what a lady and her ladies maid had had in 1908. Lady Hardcastle and Flo seem more like a friend despite of class difference. I love their silly banters and teasing, and these are often the funniest part of the book, just like this one:
Flo: ...A maid with bad knees called Edna.
Lady H: She has knees called Edna?
🤣
💙 The unique personalities and mysterious past of Lady Hardcastle and Flo, added certain charm to the already delightful cozy mystery. We get glimpses of their past dangerous adventures abroad, which might have honed their detecting prowess, and gave them an ultimate weapon - hidden strength and confidence beneath their polite feminine manners.
💙 Needless to say, this will become one of favorite cozy mysteries this year, and a series I'm excited to read on - or listen on, I should've said, as I enjoyed the audiobook, nicely narrated by Elizabeth Knowelden.
Rating: 4,5 / 5
So happy to see the 4.5 star rating. I have this one waiting on my Kindle and now am looking forward to reading it even more.
ReplyDeleteHopefully you'll love it as much as I did, Mallika!
DeleteI love this series to bits! I've read seven now and enjoyed every one.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear that you love every single one of them, Cath! Now I can't wait to read #2.. and maybe more.. ;)
DeleteThis series sounds like a good one...I've had the first two books in it on my TBR list for years. I really need to try and read both of them soon. :D
ReplyDeleteIt's a good feeling when you started a series, and had been hooked from the first by the first book. Especially when the series has been going on more than 5 books! (^_^)
DeleteThis was such a fun read! It's been a couple of years now and I still haven't read the next book. I'm terrible with series!
ReplyDeleteHaha.. I'm terrible with series too, JoAnn. The problem is, there're always many other books you also want to read. But I think I will read the next book early next year, I just can't wait any longer! :P
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