Murder at Archly Manor by Sara RosettMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Three and a half stars.
Olive Belgrave has been ousted by her stepmother and is desperately looking for gainful employment. But an attractive young woman of gentle birth and no skills is not in great demand. Then her aunt engages her to look into her cousin Violet's new fiance Alfred. Alfred Eton has made some minor social gaffes, perhaps because he was born and brought up in India until his parents' deaths, but Olive's aunt and cousin Gwen think he is hiding something more and they want to uncover the truth before Violet makes any further commitments.
Olive, Gwen and Violet are invited to Alfred's godfather Sebastian's country house for a weekend party. Sebastian is an artist and his parties are notorious for excess and indulgence. The house guests include Sebastian's sister Thea, her two children and their governess Muriel who is rumoured to be engaged to Hugh Digby-Stratham (another guest), Lady Pamela, Sebastian's secretary James and two young men called Tug and Monty. Then at the height of the entertainment, as the evening fireworks commenced, Alfred is seen struggling with a woman on the balcony then falls to his death.
When the local police superintendent suspects Violet of murdering Alfred, Olive is determined to prove her cousin's innocence - and a detective career is born.
This was a kindle-freebie and it was pleasant enough with interesting characters, the plot was a little simplistic but I would definitely read another in this series to see how it develops.
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