Wartime secrets, smugglers’ caves, skeletal remains. And the holiday’s only just begun…
July 1923 – Iris Woodmore travels to Devon with her friends Percy Baverstock and Millicent Nightingale for her father’s wedding to Katherine Keats.
But when Millicent uncovers skeletal remains hidden on the private beach of Katherine’s former home, Iris begins to suspect her future stepmother is not what she seems.
The police reveal the dead man is a smuggler who went missing in 1918, and when a new murder occurs, they realise a killer is in their midst. The link between both murders is Katherine. Could Iris’s
own father be in danger?
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Michelle Salter writes historical cosy crime set in Hampshire, where she lives, and inspired by real-life events in 1920s Britain. The first book in her Iris Woodmore series, Death at Crookham Hall, draws on her interest in the aftermath of the Great War and the suffragette movement.
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My thoughts: I think Iris and I would be great friends but I’d be reluctant to go on holiday with her because of her habit of finding dead bodies! Like the author I have family connections to Devon and Cornwall and know a bit about the area – including the long history of smuggling and wrecking.
A body in a cave in a cove used by smugglers wouldn’t really be a surprise, but it hasn’t been used as such for a long time and the skeleton isn’t that old, at least the train ticket in its pocket suggests a much more recent demise. And despite what the local bobby thinks, Iris is pretty sure it’s not a local n’er-do-well but someone connected to the house above it on the cliff, where her father’s fiancée once lived.
While everyone keeps telling her that Katherine is actually lovely, and she certainly does seem to be, Iris wants more information. Did the dead man visit Katherine and her now deceased ex-husband? Is Katherine the killer, or is it someone else close to home?
I also spent a lot of time mentally telling Iris that Percy is madly in love with her and would she ever put him out of his misery and kiss him! The poor man is traumatised by his war memories and is too polite to just say it, but I do wish someone would. At the beach party in particular, even with the hunky Belgian chef flexing his muscles, there’s Percy friendzoned again. For someone with an eye for detection, Iris can’t seem to see what’s right in front of her face.
The case is a bit of tricky one, the sensibilities of Iris’ refugee friends and the terrible memories of the things they suffered mean it’s hard to ask too many questions, the discovery of the skeleton’s real identity completely changes the view and that’s before another body drops. It’s a bit of a sticky mess and Iris only has a few days before the wedding to sort it all out.
Tremendous fun as always, drawing on real history and adding in the joys of the roaring 20s, Percy’s landlady and her actor guests are especially entertaining, plus it ends with a wedding, like all the great stories.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 