Murder in an English Glade
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- 13,99 €
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- 13,99 €
Publisher Description
American adventuress Beryl Helliwell and reserved Brit Edwina Davenport may seem an unlikely pair, but they have reinvented themselves in the lean years following World War I as private enquiry agents. Now they’ve been engaged to stage a faux investigation—until murder makes it all too real . . .
When a member of the Walmsley Parva upper crust, Constance Maitland, seeks to hire Beryl and Edwina for a sham investigation into an alleged dalliance by her sister-in-law Ursula to quell potentially scandalous accusations by an unstable cousin, it is with mixed feelings that they agree to pose as guests at her home, Maitland Park. Edwina is uncomfortable with the ruse, but Beryl is eager to escape tension with their feisty housekeeper and hobnob with bohemians as the Maitland family hosts an artists colony.
But when the painter suspected of having an affair with Ursula is found strangled beside his easel in a glade, the pretense turns into a genuine murder enquiry. With Maitland Park overrun by artists, every guest—not to mention family member—is now a suspect.
Beryl and Edwina must determine if they are dealing with a crime of passion or if there are more complex motives in play, which may include the family cigarette business, cutthroat artistic competition, or secrets from the war years. In any case, the intrepid sleuths will not leave until they have smoked out the real killer. . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Early in Ellicott's delightful fourth 1920s mystery featuring American Beryl Helliwell and her English friend, Edwina Davenport (after 2020's Murder Comes to Call), the two proprietors of the Davenport and Helliwell Private Enquiry Agency are approached by Constance Maitland, of "an old, highly respected family" in Walmsley Parva, England. Mrs. Maitland says she suspects her sister-in-law is having an affair with a guest at an artists' colony she's hosting at her estate, Maitland Park. Beryl and Edwina agree to pose as guests, even though it soon becomes clear that their client wants them to conduct a sham investigation for her own nefarious purposes. When one of the guests at Maitland Park is strangled, the duo are in place to gain the confidences of household members in an effort to identify the killer. Shifting viewpoints move the plot briskly along right up to the surprising conclusion. Along the way, Ellicott does a good job conveying the fluidity of the British social order after WWI and how the paucity of men opened many opportunities for women. Downton Abbey lovers should be pleased.