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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