I did it. I did it right this time. I started a series at the beginning.
If you read my last review, you may recall that I made a bargain purchase of what I thought was just another murder mystery novel to satisfy a craving for a "beach book". I soon realized that I was reading the third book in a longer series by English author Catherine Lloyd, but it was of little consequence; this was the sort of series where you really could begin with book three and not be at a disadvantage. In fact, I rather enjoyed the book so much that, when I happened upon another Regency mystery novel by the same author, I snagged it from my local library.
Miss Morton and the English House Party Murder is the first in a new series (see it right there on the cover?) by Catherine Lloyd. Much like her Kurland St. Mary series from whence came Death Comes to Kurland Hall in my previous post, this novel features a strong female lead who, despite the societal norms of Regency Era England, speaks her mind and earns her way. It's a premise that we have never seen before (*snort*). With the help of an elderly (read: aged 37) employer, her employer's debutante daughter, and a handsome -albeit surly- country doctor, Caroline Morton -a woman scandalously teetering on the edge of spinsterhood in her mid-twenties- solves a series of insidious murders happening within her social circle. Murder, tea, rain, hounds, propriety, sherry, large estates, hints of a stiff English romance, entitled rich people, talks of class, ladies' maids with no identity beyond styling the protagonist's hair. Everything that I said in my last review applies to this novel by the same author.
Indeed, this is the stuff of "beach books" and was precisely what I needed to pack in my suitcase for my family's vacation last week. Now, however, I need to shift my focus to other genres before I get wholly sucked into the affected universe of the (former Lady) Caroline Morton and her nouveau riche employer, Mrs. Frogerton. I'll be back though. Guys, it isn't Shakespeare, but it's hella fun.
