When the family gardener is murdered near a site of legendary buried treasure, dog-lover and mystery-solver Cressida Fawcett is on the case!
1926, Sussex. The Honourable Cressida Fawcett is delighted to return to her parents’ rambling mansion to introduce them to her pug Ruby’s puppies. But when the pups go running off with Cressida in hot pursuit, they lead her to a bubbling stream – Hell’s Ditch. And the body of Bob the gardener is floating there, his outstretched hand clutching a soggy cheese and pickle sandwich.
Everyone assumes Bob died of natural causes. But when Cressida finds a glittering gold coin grasped in his other fist, she realises this is part of the long-hidden Saxon hoard. Was Bob struck down by the gold’s ancient curse? As Cressida interviews the colourful members of the local historical society, she learns that Bob had been boasting of new-found wealth, much to the annoyance of his wife, and perhaps deadly jealousy of the other members…
Luckily for Cressida, eminent historian Sir James Colston, friend of the family, arrives at the mansion with tantalising information on the whereabouts of the rest of the Saxon gold. He promises to tell all, but the very next day he collapses into his morning porridge…
To Cressida’s horror, Marian – Bob’s widow and her parents’ cook – is accused of poisoning both the porridge and Bob’s sandwich and is carted off to jail. But Cressida is sure the answers are buried in the past. Just how far would a history boffin or a hard-up local go for an ancient pot of gold? And can Cressida dig up the truth before poison worms its way into her family’s kitchen again?
An absolutely addictive, warm and witty whodunnit that will keep you reading late into the night, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Verity Bright.
Fliss Chester lives in Surrey with her husband and writes historical cozy crime. When she is not killing people off in her 1940s whodunnits, she helps her husband, who is a wine merchant, run their business. Never far from a decent glass of something, Fliss also loves cooking (and writing up her favourite recipes on her blog), enjoying the beautiful Surrey and West Sussex countryside and having a good natter.
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My thoughts: Cressida is back, and my favourite detective pug, Ruby, has had six adorable puppies (chugs? Porgies?) who are causing havoc at Cressida’s parents’ country residence. They keep escaping and running wild, and then rounding them up, Cressida and her mother find the gardener, Bob, floating in the stream running through the estate. Sadly, he’s dead, and it’s not natural causes.
Cressida is on the case, and with Dotty and Alfred down for a visit, and keen to help out, she’s soon looking into Bob’s life, and his claims to have come into a tidy sum. His wife, Marian, the cook, doesn’t know anything about this. And then a house guest keels over at breakfast.
There’s a poisoner on the loose, and poor Marian is the chief suspect! But why would she kill her husband and her employer’s guest, historian Sir James? It doesn’t make any sense.
As Cressida and co investigate further, they find the motive might go a long way back to two pairs of lovebirds decades ago and a killer who hasn’t given up on true love.
Another clever whodunnit, with the delightful Cressida, Dotty and Alfred getting to grips with the case, and trying to wrangle some very wriggly puppies at the same time! Delightful.
*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 