Jemima Flowerday combines her skills as a dressmaker and sleuth to solve crime in the crumbling stately homes of 1920s Britain.
December 1922, and society dressmaker Jemima Flowerday receives a letter from Lady Hamlash of Merry Beggars Hall, requesting three new gowns for the Christmas season. Lady Hamlash does not travel, so Jemima will need to visit the Hall in deepest Suffolk to work in situ.
The commission appeals to Jemima for more than one reason. It will bring her some much-needed income. More interestingly, the remote manor house was the scene of a grisly murder earlier that year, when Lady Hamlash, inspecting her plants in the walled garden, found a man’s severed head beneath a terracotta asparagus cloche. The murder was never solved.
Jemima, addicted to mystery novels and with a proud history of solving crimes in her own world, is sure she can crack the case. That ambition becomes a little more complicated when, within hours of her arrival at Merry Beggars Hall, the household cook dies in front of her…
Kay Blythe, who also writes as Natalie Meg Evans, is an award-winning historical author on both sides of the Atlantic, having reached the New York Times top 100 list with her debut novel, The Dress Thief. Writing crime as Kay Blythe fulfils a long-held ambition.
My thoughts: Jemima has a sharp mind and is keen to dig into the strange discovery of the butler’s brother’s head under the asparagus cloche. For starters, where’s the rest of him and how did his head come to be in Suffolk when he lived and worked in London?
There’s definitely something a bit strange going on at Lady Hamlash’s house, and even more so when the temperamental French chef drops dead in front of Jemima. Was she murdered or is there more to it than just someone hating the woman? And who could hate her enough to kill?
Digging into the events, and utilising her ability to move between the classes as a guest but also a dressmaker, someone who isn’t entirely a servant but also due to her connections (her in-laws are titled) welcome among the family, she is perfectly situated to ask questions and look into things.
She is however at risk herself after drawing the attention of the killer, but working in tandem with the police, who she hands the evidence she’s found over to, and another interested party, can Jemima solve the case and stay one step ahead of a desperate murderer and solve both the body-less head and the chef’s death?
Clever, enjoyable, and with a fiendish explanation to the events that’s far more complex than it might first seem, this is a cracking piece of historical crime fiction.
*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 