Thursday, October 20, 2016

Life in the Country is Not as Quiet as Promised

When Lady Hardcastle and her maid, Flo Armstrong, take a house in the country, Lady Hardcastle tells Flo that the country is quiet. They will get a good rest after their adventures in the Orient. Flo is skeptical. When on their first morning, they take a walk and find a body hanging from a tree in the woods, Flo appears to be proved right.

The police believe the death is a suicide, but when Lady Hardcastle, shows them that the log from which the suicide supposedly jumped is several inches below his feet, they are forced to revise their opinion. That doesn’t mean they’re on the right track to find the killer, so Lady Hardcastle and Flo feel it’s their duty to help them out.

If you enjoy historical mysteries in an English country village, this is a good one. Fannie and Flo are eccentric characters and their dialog is amusing. I thought their exchanges were the best part of the book. In fact, all the characters are somewhat eccentric. Flo, as the narrator, gives us her view of them, and it is not always complementary.

The plot was a bit of a disappointment. The solution to the first murder is fairly obvious. However, the police do little to solve it, and Flo and Lady Hardcastle seem to happen on clues without doing a great deal of detecting. However, the setting was well done and the characters interesting, so I recommend it if you enjoy British mystery novels.


I received this book from Net Galley for this review.  

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