Murder in Mayfair by Verity Bright: Books on Tour

 So sorry to be a day late with my post for this book tour - I misread the schedule below when it was tiy on my phone screen, and was horrified when I pasted it in here in a larger format.

Book description:-

Tea and cake at The Ritz, a stolen pearl necklace and a missing dead body… Lady Swift is back on the case!

Lady Eleanor Swift has been eagerly awaiting her trip in a hot air balloon to take in London’s amazing sights. But what she witnesses instead is a murder! From way up high she sees a man in a dark coat shoot another man dead, but by the time she arrives back on the ground, Eleanor can find no trace of the body. Just the broken piece of a pearl necklace clasp, trodden into the dirt.

Back at The Ritz hotel, over afternoon tea, Eleanor’s old friend Lady Philomena Chadwick confides in her about a scandalous theft. Lady Chadwick is certain someone on her staff has stolen her priceless pink pearl necklace. Eleanor is immediately suspicious when the description matches the jewellery she spotted at the crime scene.

Much to her butler Clifford’s amusement, Eleanor goes undercover as a governess in the Chadwick’s sparkling Mayfair mansion. As she sets about questioning the disgruntled staff, she uncovers a treasure trove of gossip. But how do a secret love affair, a flirty footman with a fondness for spying, and a housemaid hiding a nightly visitor connect to the murder?

And when Eleanor’s beau, Detective Hugh Seldon, is brought in to investigate a string of further robberies in Park Lane, Eleanor is certain that Chadwick House is hiding the unlikeliest gang of jewel thieves below

 stairs…

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but will this necklace get Eleanor killed before she uncovers the hidden gem she needs to crack the case?

Murder in Mayfair is a totally gripping and twisty Golden Age whodunnit set in London, perfect for fans of T.E. Kinsey, Agatha Christie and Catherine Coles.

My thoughts:-

A wonderfully breezy read, great fun and with interesting characters.  It was also informative as I'd not previously heard of the British Empire Exhibition, which took place in 1924 in Wembley and bequeathed us Wembley Stadium.  It is at the exhibition that the story opens, a great extravaganza  celebrating the diversity of countries within the Empire.  Lady Eleanor Swyft, a thoroughly modern aristocrat, observes an apparent murder from the vantage point of a hot air balloon, and resolves to discover what happened.  It helps that her young man, DCI Seldon, is assigned to security at the exhibition, and also that her trusty valet is discreetly available to assist as necessary.  There are twists, misdirection and much subterfuge before truth and justice triumph, following a path that is very entertaining to follow.  A hundred years ago, women's position in the world was very different to today, but change was afoot and Lady Eleanor is certainly at its forefront.  an absolute, stylised, pleasure.

The author:

Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humour, before embarking on their first historical mystery. They are the authors of the fabulous Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series, set in the 1920s.

https://twitter.com/BrightVerity

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Buy Link:

Amazon: https://geni.us/B0CYHGFFYVsocial