The Mitford Murders
Nancy Mitford and the murder of Florence Nightingale Shore
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4.3 • 16 Ratings
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
'A lively, well-written, entertaining whodunit' THE TIMES
Lose yourself in the sumptuous first novel in a new series of Golden Age mysteries set amid the lives of the glamorous Mitford sisters.
It's 1919, and Louisa Cannon dreams of escaping her life of poverty in London, and most of all her oppressive and dangerous uncle.
Louisa's salvation is a position within the Mitford household at Asthall Manor, in the Oxfordshire countryside. There she will become nurserymaid, chaperone and confidante to the Mitford sisters, especially sixteen-year-old Nancy - an acerbic, bright young woman in love with stories.
But when a nurse - Florence Nightingale Shore, goddaughter of her famous namesake - is killed on a train in broad daylight, Nancy and amateur sleuth Louisa find that in postwar England, everyone has something to hide . . .
Written by Jessica Fellowes, author of the number one-bestselling Downton Abbey books, The Mitford Murders is the perfect new obsession for fans of Daisy Goodwin, Anthony Horowitz and Agatha Christie - and is based on a real unsolved crime.
'An extraordinary meld of fact and fiction' GRAHAM NORTON
'True and glorious indulgence. A dazzling example of a Golden Age mystery'
DAISY GOODWIN
'Exactly the sort of book you might enjoy with the fire blazing, the snow falling. The solution is neat and the writing always enjoyable'
ANTHONY HOROWITZ
'Oh how delicious! This terrific start to what promises to be a must-read series is exactly what we all need in these gloomy times. Inventive, glittering, clever, ingenious. I devoured The Mitford Murders... so will you. Give it to absolutely everyone for Christmas, then pre-order the next one'
SUSAN HILL
'All the blissful escapism of a Sunday-night period drama in a book'
THE POOL
'Keeps the reader guessing to the very end. An accomplished crime debut and huge fun to read'
EVENING STANDARD
'This story is drenched in detail and feels both authentic and fun. Curl up in your favourite reading spot and enjoy'
HEAT
'The plan is that each book will focus on a different Mitford sister. On the strength of this initial entry, success is assured'
FINANCIAL TIMES
'Elegant, whipsmart and brilliantly twisty-turny, this Downton-style mystery had me hooked from the first page'
VIV GROSKOP
'Full of period pleasure'
WOMAN & HOME
'An audacious and glorious foray into the Golden Age of mystery fiction. Breathtaking'
ALEX GRAY
'A real murder, a real family and a brand new crime fiction heroine are woven together to make a fascinating, and highly enjoyable, read. I loved it'
JULIAN FELLOWES
'Jessica Fellowes' deliciously immersive, effortlessly easy novel has a strong feel for period and a rollicking plot'
METRO
'What a captivating crime novel and heroine Jessica has created in The Mitford Murders. The instant reassurance of being in the hands of a true storyteller with a feel for period detail makes this a real treat'
AMANDA CRAIG
'This is a chocolate soufflé of a novel: as the enthralling mystery heats up, so the addictive deliciousness of the story rises. The sort of book you never want to end'
JULIET NICOLSON
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The members of the real-life Mitford family figure prominently in British author Fellowes's appealing fiction debut (after The World of Downton Abbey, about the hit TV show created by her uncle, Julian Fellowes), which explores the tensions between upstairs and downstairs in an upper-class household. On Christmas Eve, 1919, impoverished Louisa Cannon, who has just come close to picking a man's pocket on a London street, runs into a friend she hasn't seen in years, who's accompanied by the eldest of the six Mitford sisters, Nancy. This chance encounter leads Louisa to a position as a nursemaid at Asthall Manor, the Mitfords' estate in Oxfordshire. Meanwhile, real-life Florence Nightingale Shore (Florence Nightingale's god-daughter), who served as a nurse during WWI, is fatally bludgeoned on a train between London and Brighton. Guy Sullivan, a railway policeman eager to earn his family's respect in spite of the humble nature of his duties, gets involved in the search for Florence's killer, as does Louisa after she learns that the dead woman had a connection to her new employers. The fairly clued solution makes for a satisfying ending.
