A Picture of Murder
Ratings5
Average rating4.2
15
Ratings5
Average rating4.2
Late October 1909, and the season of ghouls and things that go bump in the night has descended on the village of Littleton Cotterell. Lady Hardcastle and her trusted lady's maid, Florence, find themselves hosting a colourful cast of actors whose spooky moving picture, The Witch's Downfall, is being shown to mark Halloween. But things take a macabre turn when the first night's screening ends with a mysterious murder, and the second night with another...One by one the actors turn up dead in ways that eerily echo their film. With the police left scratching their heads, Lady Hardcastle calls upon her amateur sleuthing skills to launch an investigation, with Flo's able assistance. Surrounded by suspects both human and supernatural, Lady Hardcastle must use a little trickery of her own to unmask the murderer.
Reviews with the most likes.
I always include major spoilers (hidden), to help with my memory issues. Read them at your peril!
Much like the others in the series: fun mystery, set in pre WW1 England. Lively widow, Lady Hardcastle, and her maid Florence Armstrong solve another mystery for the police, who are all either bumbling or conveniently unavailable . Plenty of repeat characters, light hearted, good mystery - I guessed part of what was going on, but not all of it.
A group of film actors are unexpectedly staying with Lady Hardcastle. They have a new film to show and narrate, but several parties are not happy about the plan. Bodies start turning up, and are whisked away by the mortuary van before either the police or Lady Hardcastle have a chance to examine them. Then the mortuary is burnt down.
I feel very well fed with this entry in the series. We get some important back story for the main protagonists, touch base with characters introduced earlier that are hinted to have a more significant role in future books, and set up several avenues for next adventures and possibly a villain to last more than one book? 🤨 And of course, banter and hijinks continue. ☺️ This one is particularly cozy in its denouement.🤫
Featured Series
11 primary books12 released booksLady Hardcastle Mysteries is a 12-book series with 11 primary works first released in 2015 with contributions by T.E. Kinsey.
