Are you ready for autumn? I am! After the heatwave I’m definitely looking forward to cold, crisp mornings, and snuggling down with a good book.
So, as the weather changes and the rain starts beating against the windows once more, here are my top picks for some autumnal reading (hot chocolate optional!).
A Witness to Murder (A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery Book 3) by Verity Bright
Publication Day: 14 September 2020
A medieval house, a dead body and some rather suspicious chocolate fudge? Call for Lady Swift!
Autumn, 1920. Lady Eleanor Swift, accidental amateur detective and retired explorer, is determined to take a break from investigating murders. So when a local politician dies suddenly at an elegant dinner party at Farrington Manor, she tries her hardest not to listen to the raft of rumours around the village that he might have been poisoned by the fudge. It’s the anniversary of the disappearance of her beloved parents and she’s promised herself not to get mixed up with any more mysteries. She isn’t sure they’d have approved.
But when she arrives home to discover that Mrs Pitkin, the kindly cook from Farrington Manor, has been dismissed without wage or reference because the police consider her a suspect, Eleanor knows she needs to act. If there was a murder, then she needs to track down the culprit and clear Mrs Pitkin’s name.
Accompanied by her faithful partner in crime, Gladstone the bulldog, who has the best nose for sniffing out bones in the country, Eleanor sets out to find the killer. And when another body turns up and she finds poisoned fudge in the victim’s house, Eleanor knows she’s on the right track. But can she sort the truth from the lies before she becomes a witness to another murder – this time rather closer to home?
Grab your copy here: https://amzn.to/2ChTRfV
Murder at the Village Fete (A Tommy & Evelyn Christie Mystery Book 2) by Catherine Coles
Publication Day: 23 October 2020
Downton Abbey crossed with Murder, She Wrote…set in a Yorkshire village!
Evelyn Christie, the new Lady Northmoor, is looking forward to hosting the local village fete in the grounds of Hessleham Hall.
However, the last thing she expects to see on the morning of the fete is the local Member of Parliament face down in the stream at the edge of the lawn! Evelyn and her husband, Tommy, are again called into action to find the dastardly murderer before he strikes again!
If you enjoy the glamour of bygone eras like 1920s Downton Abbey and gently, cozy mysteries set in the English countryside then you will love this new series.
Grab your copy here: https://amzn.to/3ksnIDD
Murder on the Dance Floor (A Miss Underhay Mystery) by Helena Dixon
Publication Day: 28 October 2020
Kitty Underhay’s dance card is full… of death.
November 1933. Amateur sleuth-cum-dutiful granddaughter Kitty Underhay stifles a sigh of boredom as she attends the annual Hoteliers’ Association Dinner and Dance on behalf of her grandmother, the proprietress of the Dolphin Hotel. She hopes the company of ex-army captain Matthew Bryant will enliven the otherwise dull evening. That is, until bullish and overbearing local councillor Harold Everton drops dead into his bowl of consommé.
While the local police are still scrambling for their whistles, Kitty and Matt waste no time leaping into action. Soon they find themselves caught up a dangerous search to uncover who amongst the distinguished guests used cyanide for seasoning?
When their digging throws light on a corruption scandal brewing in the local council involving Everton’s assistant Thomas King, they are sure they’ve cracked the case. But before he can be questioned further, King’s body is found in a smouldering car wreck. Meanwhile, the murderer has made a sinister plan to avoid detection or punishment, and it will lead Kitty and Matt into a dangerous dance with death…
A fast, fun and utterly unputdownable Golden Age cozy murder mystery, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, T E Kinsey and Lee Strauss.
Grab your copy here: https://amzn.to/2DG652y
The Fatal Flying Affair (A Lady Hardcastle Mystery Book 7) by T E Kinsey
Publication Day: 3 December 2020
August 1911. Emily Hardcastle and her inimitable lady’s maid Florence Armstrong are enjoying a fine summer until Harry, Lady H’s brother, turns up out of the blue with a mystery for them to solve.
A routine parachute test at a local aeroplane factory has gone horribly wrong—with pilot Dickie Dupree plummeting to his death. Harry is certain there is more to this ‘tragic accident’ than meets the eye, having discovered that someone at the airfield is leaking top secret intelligence to foreign rivals.
In between strolls to the Dog & Duck and planning for the annual village show, the daring duo dust off the Crime Board and go undercover at Bristol Aviation. With international powers investing heavily in aeronautics, the stakes are high—sky high—and the suspects soon mount up.
Can Lady Hardcastle find the culprit before someone else falls down dead?
Grab your copy here: https://amzn.to/3kBA7oD