This mystery channels the Golden Age of British mystery and combines reality and fiction with the true, unsolved murder of Florence Nightingale’s goddaughter and the famous Mitford sisters and weaves these historical figures with fictional characters in a twisty plot set in post WWI sooty, dangerous London and a safe, serene English manor house. Trains are another nostalgic touch and transport the reader back to another time, the scared, determined Louisa who escapes from a train, Harry the railway policeman investigating the murder, Nancy Mitford who travels between the family estate to London by train it ends up linking these three together – so different and so important to each other’s growth, they form the core of the story.
This was the 1st in a new series for Barbara Ross and as much as I enjoyed the Maine Clambake Mystery series this one might be even better, possibly because I relate to the age and sensibility of Jane Darrowfield. As a retiree with extra time Jane gets involved in helping her friends and relatives out of some delicately tricky situations and gains a reputation that brings a paying opportunity to her door. The assignment is to infiltrate a closed community, a senior assisted and independent living community to provide insights and advice to the facility’s manager who is struggling to resolve some troubling dynamics in the community.