MURDER AT THE FAIR

SYNOPSIS

Summer, 1921. Lady Eleanor Swift, the best amateur sleuth in the country, is delighted to be in charge of the prize-giving at her village summer fair. But the traditional homemade raft race takes a tragic turn when the local undertaker, Solemn Jon, turns up dead amongst the ducks. Jon was the life of any party and loved by the entire village. Surely this was simply an awful accident?

But when a spiteful obituary is printed in the local paper, Eleanor realises there may be more to Jon’s death than first thought. Despite handsome Detective Seldon giving her strict instructions not to interfere, Eleanor owes it to Jon’s good name to root out the truth. So with her partner in crime, Gladstone the bulldog, Eleanor starts digging for clues…

When another local dies in a riding accident, the police refuse to believe he was murdered. But a second vindictive death notice convinces Eleanor of foul play. Solemn Jon’s assistant, a bullish banker and a majestic marquess make her suspect list, but it isn’t until she finds a dusty old photograph that she knows the true culprit behind both crimes. Then another obituary appears – her own! Can Eleanor nail the killer before she too turns up dead among the ducks?

Title: Murder at the fair

Author: Verity Bright

Series: Lady Eleanor Swift Mysteries #6

Publisher: Bookouture

Publication date: June 15, 2021

REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐💫

Lady Eleanor Swift is back and, as per usual, her butler Clifford and Master Gladstone, her bulldog, accompany her while she tries to solve the death of Solemn Jon, the village undertaker. Although ruled an accidental death, Ellie is convinced something smells fishy (pun intended) and sets to prove them all wrong.

I just love Ellie and Clifford so much! They make such a great couple of detectives and after six books in the series their dynamics are such a pleasure to read. In fact, every regular character in the series is a delight. The women in Ellie’s household, the Langhams, DI Seldon… I can’t wait to see where their budding romance takes them.

This time the murder investigation took a while to take off and didn’t manage to grab me as much as some of the other books. I started to enjoy the mystery more in the last quarter when some of the pieces started falling into place. It was a bit difficult this time for us readers to play detective along Ellie and Clifford cause the resolution came a little bit out of the blue. Also, some of the side plots were closed a bit too quickly.

However, it’s always a joy coming back to these characters so I’m anxiously waiting Ellie’s next adventure.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.