I loved Catherine Lloyd’s previous cozy historical mysteries (Kurland St. Mary Mysteries – beginning with Death Comes to the Village), so I was delighted to see she has a new series (Miss Morton Mysteries).
The first novel, introducing Mis Caroline Morton, is Miss Morton and the English House Party Murder.
After the death and disgrace of her father, the Earl of Morton, Caroline and her younger sister were taken in by her Aunt Eleanor, a woman known for her charitable taking in of orphans and training them for housework. Knowing she will always be a poor relation and treated as a drudge, Caroline takes matters into her own hands. She leaves her aunt’s household for a paid position as a lady’s companion to the wealthy Mrs. Frogerton. Mrs. Frogerton is a plain, outspoken woman who has always known her own mind and treats Caroline well.
Caroline is invited to a house party at her aunt’s house being held to celebrate her young cousin’s birthday. Her cousin Mabel is a sweet-natured girl who always befriended the downtrodden orphans in her mother’s care. For her birthday, she insists on inviting many of her old friends. Caroline is not eager to return to the house, but when her aunt also invites Mrs. Frogerton and her daughter Dorothy Frogerton, Caroline resigns herself to attending.
The party is worse than she feared. Not only does a terrible rainstorm trap the mismatched guests at the house, but the butler disappears the day everyone arrives. He reappears rattled, injured, and very close-mouthed about what happened. And then the murders start.
To Caroline’s fury, her aunt and uncle refuse to admit there is anything wrong in the house. They insist the deaths were natural. Caroline’s only ally is her feisty employer and the young doctor who’d been called to the house to see to the butler. He is repeatedly rude to Caroline, but at least he, too, knows that the deaths were murders. She wants to trust him. But he is one of the chief suspects.
The mystery grows deeper and deeper as Caroline learns that things were never what they appeared in the house. With her own position precarious, she has to decide whether to keep investigating or to turn a blind eye and let things take their course
This is an intriguing start to this new series. I’m eager to see what Caroline and Mrs. Frogerton get up to next!
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