Julia Bird is as keen as anyone in Berrywick to see inside the famous Greystone Manor. But when she does, the last thing she expects to find is a body!
When Julia Bird is asked to clear out the gatehouse at Greystone Manor after the sudden death of Colonel Loxton’s sister, she is intrigued to finally see inside the impressive house. But when she discovers the body of the Colonel, who greeted her only hours before, dead behind the sofa with a bruise on his forehead, Julia believes his death is no accident.
Once forensics confirm it was murder, Julia tries to piece together what happened. On the day the Colonel died, she saw an unknown man getting into a car outside the manor. The butler Garforth and the housekeeper Biddy claim there were no visitors that day, so who was this mysterious man? Or is someone in the Colonel’s family not telling the truth, with tensions running high over the inheritance?
Days later, Julia finds another body dead among the rhododendrons and knows the deaths must be connected. At the Colonel’s funeral she heard his friends talking about a long-buried secret. Had the second victim discovered it, and is it motive enough to kill? With time running out, can Julia solve the case before there’s another murder at the manor?
An addictive and totally charming cozy mystery set in the English countryside. Perfect for fans of M.C. Beaton, Faith Martin and J. R. Ellis.
Katie Gayle is the writing partnership of best-selling South African writers, Kate Sidley and Gail Schimmel. Kate and Gail have, between them, written over ten books of various genres, but with Katie Gayle, they both make their debut in the cozy mystery genre. Both Gail and Kate live in Johannesburg, with husbands, children, dogs and cats. Unlike their sleuth Epiphany Bloom, neither of them have ever stolen a cat from the vet.
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My thoughts: Julia is back and this time she’s having a nice, tomato heavy, summer, with daughter Jess in tow. She’s been asked to clear out someone’s home after they died, for the charity shop she volunteers in. Unfortunately while she’s there, the owner is murdered. Neither Bird saw or heard anything, but someone at the manor house must know.
As the police launch their investigation, the Colonel’s gardener is found with similar injuries, Julia as always, picks up some local gossip and some overheard things while popping into Greystone Manor to check on housekeeper Biddy.
All of this extra information helps Hayley and her team get to grips with the family relationships and start to figure out the important things – means, motive and opportunity.
As always there’s lots of food, dog walks, book club and other distractions but Julia can’t stop thinking about the case and Hayley needs some help this time, so it’s a good thing Julia has lots of ideas and a quick visit to a local solicitor changes everything.
I really like this series so I was delighted to read another book with the delightful Julia and her friends as she helps solve another case.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of the book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
