Amory Ames'
wandering husband, Milo, returns unexpectedly from Monte Carlo. At
the same time Gill Trent, her ex-fiancé,
arrives to ask a favor. Gil wants Amory to accompany him to the
Brightwell Hotel where his sister Emmeline and her fiancé
Rupert are on holiday. He knows that Amory's marriage to Milo is less
than ideal and hopes that she will be able to convince Emmeline to
end the engagement. He also has feelings to Amory, but is too much of
a gentleman to act on them openly.
Amory realizes that
she's playing a game that could lead to a scandal by going off with
Gil, but she wants to help Emmeline, and she wants to think about her
disintegrating marriage. Milo, however, is not one to give up
gracefully and soon they are all ensconced at the Brightwell. The
holiday starts well enough, but when Rupert is murdered and Gil is
the main suspect, Amory feels she must do something to solve the
crime no matter who is guilty.
This is a delightful
mystery. It reminded me of Dorothy Sayers' Have His Carcase which
also takes place a a seaside hotel in the 1930s. The hotel, situated
on a cliff overlooking the ocean, is elegant without being
ostentatious. This was the era when wealthy holiday makers wore
evening dress to dinner and danced to the strains of a live orchestra
hired by the hotel for the season. I
would love to have visited the Brightwell. Until the murder, it
sounded quite the perfect place for a holiday.
The
book features a number of interesting characters from the elegant
playboy, Milo, to the very unhappy Hamiltons, and mismatched Rogers.
Amory is typical of the wealthy women of that era. Brought up in a
household where emotion was frowned upon, she has trouble recognizing
it in other people which leads to some amusing encounters,
particularly with Gil and Milo.
The
plot has several threads and ends with a twist that I didn't see
coming. I throughly enjoyed the book and highly recommend it if you
like mystery served with more than a dash of romance.
I
reviewed this book for the Amazon Vine Program.
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