A Midwinter Murder by Verity Bright Narrator: Karen Cass
Series: Lady Eleanor Swift #20
Published by Bookouture on December 4, 2024
Source: NetGalley
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Length: 10 hrs 9 mins
Pages: 352
Format: Audiobook
Purchase at Bookshop.org or Audible
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Homemade baubles, reindeer-shaped cookies and snowy walks across the rolling moors… but Lady Swift’s festive plans are ruined when a body turns up!
Winter 1924. When Lady Eleanor Swift unexpectedly finds herself a guest of the reclusive Duke of Auldwyke, she’s determined to enjoy Christmas with all the trimmings at his sprawling manor house. And that includes kisses under the mistletoe and cozying up by the fire with her fiancé, dashing detective Hugh Seldon.
Instead, the season of goodwill turns frosty as she finds the Duke’s studious secretary, Mr Porritt, dead in the storeroom. Clasped in his chilly hand is a golden pendant in the shape of a rose. The Duke denies ever having seen the necklace before. But Eleanor can see the lies in his eyes… Did it belong to his mysteriously absent wife?
Hugh and Eleanor must ditch relaxing with hot cocoa in favour of interviewing the Duke’s holiday guests. Every suspect has a secret they’d kill to the socialite with the false name, the Sir with a questionable inheritance and the husband hiding a crack in his marriage.
As the blizzard outside rages, Auldwyke Hall becomes cut off. Trapped by the snow, Eleanor and Hugh must skate around the increasingly secretive Duke to unwrap the identity of the killer. But does the answer to the secretary’s murder lie with a ghost of Christmas past? And when an attempt is made on the Duke’s life too, they realise the killer is closer than they think…
The Lady Eleanor Swift books always catch my eye, but this is the first I’ve actually picked up. It worked fine as a stand alone for me. All of the characters were introduced well and I had a good understanding of the relationships. The mystery itself was self-contained with no threads lingering from previous books.
Lady Eleanor has to give up her plans for a holiday at home and has to attend the Duke of Auldwyke’s shooting party instead. At least everyone is invited, including her fiancé/detective chief inspector, Hugh, and her staff has use of a cottage on the estate. Of course, a body is found not long after Lady Eleanor arrives – the duke’s secretary, clearly murdered. A local policeman and Hugh end up investigating, but the duke, and the guests for that matter, are less than helpful.
I do love a good Christmas manor house party murder. Here we’ve all the decorations and food and sledding I could ask for. We’ve also got plenty of secrets, motives, suspects. The mystery itself was put together well. The plot moved along at a good pace and kept me guessing.
The narrator is easy to listen to and captures the tone of the book well. She gives each of the character’s their own voice and personality.
Overall, I enjoyed this one. It was a good December read.
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