In this 23rd book in the 'Lucy Stone' series, the amateur sleuth looks into deaths in an English manor. The book works fine as a standalone.
*****
Lucy Stone, who lives in Tinker's Cove, Maine, is a wife, mother, reporter, and amateur sleuth.
As the story opens, Lucy is downcast because her five-year-old grandson Patrick has moved to Alaska with his parents, and Lucy misses him terribly.
To cheer Lucy up, her best friend Sue Finch invites Lucy to come along to the 'Heads Up' hat show in Britain. The Earl of Wickham is mounting an exhibition of headgear - including the hat Camilla Parker Bowles wore to William and Kate's wedding....
......and Sue Finch is loaning the Earl pieces from her personal collection.
Lucy agrees to go to Britain and she and Sue set off for the Earl's estate, called Moreton Manor, where they'll stay for a couple of weeks.
Lucy and Sue learn that English aristocracy has come WAY down since the days of Downton Abby. Moreton Manor is now a tourist attraction (£10 per ticket)......
.....and the Earl of Wickham and his family reside in the renovated servants' wing. The bluebloods on the estate are the Earl (Perry), his sister (Poppy) and her husband (Gerald), and their staff includes a historian and an archivist, whose job is to document and preserve the manor.
Moreton Manor's residents are soon joined by hoity-toity Aunt Millicent and her lady's maid Harrison, who plan to stay at the estate while Millicent's home is being repaired.
Aunt Millicent is very protective of her status - and knowing Americans are clueless about the peerage - she informs Lucy and Sue they must call her Lady Millicent or Your Ladyship. Before long Lady Millicent complains about a stench in her room, which Lucy attributes to a dead mouse in the wall.
Sue and Lucy soon become aware of trouble in the manse. The portrait of a general has fallen, which (supposedly) augments bad luck; part of the house is infected with wood rot, which will be very expensive to repair; valuable porcelains and antiques are missing or have been replaced by fakes; a dead drug addict is found in the estate's maze (a tourist attraction); and the corpse of a murdered man turns up in a hidden room near Lady Millicent's quarters.
Lucy thinks the murderer must be an insider at Moreton Manor, and commences her own investigation, which parallels the official inquiries.
As all this happening, Lucy and Sue do some sightseeing in England;
eat tasty Mulligatawny Soup prepared by the Earl;
become friendly with the local vicar and his wife; take walks in the Moreton Manor gardens..... and admire a handsome gardener 🙂;
learn that Prince William and Princess Kate will attend the hat show; and more.
Lucy puts together clues that reveal the culprit, and - after the Heads Up! exhibit - Lucy returns home to a nice surprise.
The mystery element of the story takes a backseat to Lucy and Sue having an interesting vacation, but it's fun to catch up with the recurring characters.
I'd recommend the book to readers who like cozy mysteries, especially Leslie Meier fans.
Rating: 3 stars
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