Susan didn’t plan on being an amateur sleuth and, after two successful investigations, she’s looking forward to a quiet Christmas. So, when local businesswoman Meera is in desperate need of help, Susan agrees rather reluctantly.
The task should be easy enough. The infamous press mogul Duncan Fern is coming back to the Isle of Wight, the scene of his family’s childhood holidays, to celebrate Christmas with his grown-up
children and their partners, his new glamorous wife Kirsten who is forever dripping with diamonds, and the spikey editor of his paper the Morning Flame, Antoine. The newly-refurbished luxurious
Bishopstone Manor is the perfect setting for a festive break, and all Susan has to do is help Meera host.
But when a snowstorm descends over the island, and the following morning a body is found, Christmas at the Manor takes a darker turn. Can Susan get to the bottom of the mystery before the murderer strikes again…
Mary Grand writes gripping, page-turning suspense novels, with a dark and often murderous underside. She grew up in Wales, was for many years a teacher of deaf children and now lives on the Isle of Wight.
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My thoughts: Christmas is a murderous time of year, people get together with their families – the people they most love and hate at the same time and old resentments as well as new rows burst out.
Susan thinks helping Meera out at the Manor will be easy, but the family they’re hosting aren’t an easy group. Media mogul Duncan Fern, his second wife, his children and their partners, and one of his business partners as a last minute addition.
Fern used to bring his family to the island when his children were young and his first wife, their mother, was still alive. They’ve all got some memories, good and bad, of that time and daughter Hayley is struggling with that.
She used to spend time with Alice, Susan’s friend, and the shrewdest person around, who always solves all the mysteries and murders without ever needing to leave her retirement home. I love her.
After Duncan is found dead in his bed, from a heart attack, Susan thinks it’s not straightforward, there’s some things that don’t add up. So she starts digging, asking questions and clearly someone gets threatened as she’s pushed down the icy outside steps and almost drowned.
Susan has great instincts but she’s not good at taking basic safety precautions, she doesn’t really tell anyone what she’s doing or take her phone (or walkie talkie, there’s no signal at the Manor).
I really enjoyed this book, it’s a bit in the mould of the Golden Age country house murders but with a festive (and modern) twist. Everyone there has secrets, some of them more deadly than others.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 