A Death by Any Other Name
A Mystery
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
A Death by Any Other Name is a delightful Edwardian mystery set in the English countryside. Building on the success of her last two mysteries in the same series, Tessa Arlen returns us to the same universe full of secrets, intrigue, and, this time, roses.
The elegant Lady Montfort and her redoubtable housekeeper Mrs. Jackson's services are called upon after a cook is framed and dismissed for poisoning a guest of the Hyde Rose Society. Promising to help her regain her job and her dignity, the pair trek out to the countryside to investigate a murder of concealed passions and secret desires. There, they are to discover a villain of audacious cunning among a group of mild-mannered, amateur rose-breeders. While they investigate, the rumor mill fills with talk about a conflict over in Prussia where someone quite important was shot. There is talk of war and they must race the clock to solve the mystery as the idyllic English summer days count down to the start of WWI.
Brimming with intrigue, Tessa Arlen's latest does not disappoint.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Arlen recreates a richly detailed pre-WWI England, seamlessly weaving historical events and people into her well-written third Lady Montfort mystery (after 2016's Death Sits Down to Dinner). Beryl Armitage, a cook who was dismissed for accidentally fatally poisoning one of her employer's guests at Hyde Castle, begs Clementine Talbot, Countess of Montfort, to help clear her name. The countess and her redoubtable housekeeper, Edith Jackson, visit the scene of the crime, where they meet the members of the Hyde Rose Society, including Maud Haldane, the browbeaten wife of the master of Hyde Castle; the poisoning victim's bereft widow; and a fussy Scotsman with a sixth sense. Mrs. Jackson, a talented but reluctant investigator, is uncomfortable crossing the strict class barriers of the day. But she's fiercely loyal to Lady Montfort and enjoys sleuthing more than she will admit. Lovers of traditional English country house mysteries will enjoy this story very much. A previous version of this review misspelled the name of the character Montfort.
