Murder at Blackburn Hall

July 8, 2019
Rosett’s lively sequel to Murder at Archly Manor continues the adventures of plucky Olive Belgrave, a young gentlewoman who has fallen on hard times in post-WWI England, but who has a talent for solving mysteries. Olive’s new client, London publisher Vernon Hightower, asks her to find missing author R.W. May, whose mystery novels are the financial mainstay of Hightower Books. Olive sets off for the village of Hadsworth in Kent, where the writer is believed to reside. To keep her inquiries discreet, Olive poses as the publisher’s assistant and stays with Lady Holt of Blackburn Hall, who believes that Olive is there to assess her book on etiquette. When a rainstorm unearths a body, the police consider the death to be an accident; Olive disagrees. A second death quickly follows. Olive’s dashing friend Jasper Rimington arrives and offers to be her Watson, saying, “I’d prefer Sherlock, of course, but that role seems to be taken.” Olive’s charming narrative voice effortlessly pulls the reader into a world full of surprising and fascinating period details. Fans of light historicals will be satisfied.