Murder most malicious / Alyssa Maxwell.

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  • Additional Information
    • Publication Information:
      First Kensington hardcover edition.
    • Abstract:
      Summary: "In post-World War I England, Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her lady's maid, Eva Huntford, step outside of their social roles and put their lives at risk to apprehend a vicious killer. December 1918: As a difficult year draws to a close, there is much to celebrate for nineteen-year-old Phoebe Renshaw and her three siblings at their beloved family estate of Foxwood Hall. The dreadful war is finally over; eldest daughter Julia's engagement to their houseguest, the Marquis of Allerton, appears imminent; and all have gathered to enjoy peace on earth, good will toward men. But the peace of Foxwood Hall is shattered on the morning of Boxing Day, when the Marquis goes missing. Not entirely missing, however, as macabre evidence of foul play turns up in gift boxes given to lady's maid Eva Huntford and a handful of others. Having overheard her sister and the Marquis in a heated exchange the night before, Lady Phoebe takes a personal interest in solving the mystery. As the local constable suspects a footman at Foxwood Hall, Phoebe and Eva follow the clues to a different conclusion. But both young women will need to think outside the box to wrap up this case--before a cornered killer lashes out with ill will toward them."--Provided by publisher.
    • ISBN:
      9781617738302
      1617738301
    • Accession Number:
      ocn906878604
      906878604
    • Accession Number:
      fay.472422

Reviews

Booklist Reviews 2015 December #1

The residents of Foxwood Hall and their guests are celebrating their first peacetime Christmas after WWI when one of the guests, Henry Leighton, Marquis of Allerton, disappears. Then bits of him turn up in some of the Christmas boxes given to staff and local villagers. When one of Foxwood Hall's footmen is accused of the murder, 19-year-old Lady Phoebe Renshaw, believing in the footman's innocence, investigates, with the reluctant aid of her lady's maid, Eva Huntford. Lady Phoebe is also interested in finding the murderer because her sister argued with Henry the night before his disappearance, and Julia has a secret that Henry threatened to expose. Told from both Phoebe's and Eva's points of view, one investigating above stairs, the other below, the two gather evidence and share information, solving the murder while almost losing their lives in the process. Details of the lives of the nobility and their servants, and the aftermath of the war, are woven throughout the story, and the forward-thinking Phoebe is a charming main character. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

LJ Reviews 2016 January #1

The Great War is over, and those who remain at Foxwood Hall have survived the influenza epidemic of 1918. At Christmastide, Lady Julia Renshawe Wroxly is expected to announce her engagement to the Marquis of Allerton. But the festivities on Boxing Day (when the servants are handed their gifts from the Wroxly family) reach a sober conclusion after the presents are unwrapped. It becomes apparent something horrible has happened to Lord Allerton, who has not been seen in two days. Lady Phoebe and her maid Eva Huntford decide to investigate. VERDICT The author of the "Gilded Newport" mysteries (Murder at the Breakers) switches locations and historical periods for her new series debut. Downton Abbey fans will enjoy Maxwell's evocative descriptions of a particular society as it transitions from the Edwardian Age to modern times. Lady Phoebe is torn between her life before the war and her desire to become a modern woman.

[Page 72]. (c) Copyright 2016 Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

PW Reviews 2015 November #1

Set in England, Maxwell's entertaining first in her Lady and Lady's Maid series opens with an argument between Lady Phoebe Renshaw and Henry Leighton, Marquess of Allerton, on Dec. 25, 1918, at Foxwood Hall. The next day, Leighton goes missing, and evidence of his demise turns up in several Christmas packages the Renshaw ladies prepared as gifts for their servants. Lady Julia, Phoebe's sister, along with Julia's personal maid, Eva Huntford, become an unlikely but clever pair of sleuths, eliminating the houseful of guests as suspects and locating Leighton's body. Ignoring Constable Miles Brannock's warnings to leave the detecting to him and his fellow officers, Julia realizes that even Phoebe isn't above suspicion. Both ladies are attracted to certain men involved in the mystery, but identifying the killer takes precedence over any romantic notions. Some of the characters and scenes are highly reminiscent of TV's Downton Abbey, but Maxwell (Murder at Beechwood) makes Phoebe and Eva distinctive personalities in their own right. Agent: Evan Marshall, Evan Marshall Agency. (Jan.)

[Page ]. Copyright 2015 PWxyz LLC