"Christmas at the Pennyfoot"
Reviewed by Ellen Hogan
Posted January 2, 2013
Holiday | Mystery Cozy
Christmas has come to the Pennyfoot Country Club. The
housekeeper Mrs. Chubbs has gone to visit her daughter and
Mrs. Tucker has come to take her place. None of the staff
like Mrs. Tucker at all. A famous actor has also come to
stay by the name of Archibald Armitage. While some are
thrilled to have the actor in residence, others are not
happy. One day Armitage is found dead in his room and the
cause was poisoning. Cecily Sinclair Baxter the manager of
the Club takes it upon herself once again to find the person
responsible and bring him or her to justice. During her
investigation she finds that multiple people have a motive
to see Mr. Armitage dead. At first she thinks THE CLUE IS IN
THE PUDDING when she learns that he is given the first
slice, but that turns out not to be the case. The killer
could have been the man that lost all his money because of
Armitage, or the young woman who was compromised, then it
could have been the father whose daughter committed suicide
because of him. Then again it could have been someone else.
This cozy mystery was a delight to read. It is the 20th book
in the Pennyfoot Hotel series, but can easily stand on
it's own. Having not read any of the other books I had no
problem being engrossed by this one. There is quite an
entertaining group of characters from Gertie the head
housemaid, to Madeline Prestwick the doctor's wife and self
proclaimed witch. Cecily's innate curiosity gets both her
and Samuel the stable manager in trouble again, while her
husband wrings his hands and threatens to move them away
from Pennyfoot if his wife can't leave the detective work to
those trained to do it. The mystery Ms. Kingsbury weaves
around this quaint hotel and it's staff and guests is a
wonderful holiday read. A great way to spend an afternoon
curled up with a cut of tea.
SUMMARY
The kitchen staff of the Pennyfoot Hotel is toiling away to
prepare the finest meal for the guests on Christmas. And the
plum pudding may very well be to die for… Cecily Sinclair Baxter could use a Christmas miracle. Mrs.
Chubb, the Pennyfoot’s housekeeper, must travel up north for
a family emergency, and Cecily needs a temporary
replacement. The agency doesn’t have much to offer on short
notice during this busy time of year. But they have
someone—Beatrice Tucker—who turns out to be more of a curse.
She fights with just about everyone, including Archibald
Armitage. Star of the London stage, Armitage is staying at the
Pennyfoot this holiday season. His presence turns out to be
a blessing after he rescues the stable manager’s dog from
drowning in the icy duck pond. But not everyone in Badgers
End is a fan of the actor… When Armitage drops dead after Beatrice serves him some plum
pudding, everyone assumes the huffy housekeeper is the
culprit. But as Cecily begins to investigate, the list of
suspects grows, and solving this case may not be as easy as
pie…or pudding.
ExcerptChapter 1
Pansy Potter lifted her long skirts as she crossed the
courtyard on her way to the stables. Although weak sunrays
peeked through the clouds, a sharp frost overnight had left
patches of ice on the ground and the housemaid deplored the
feel of chilly, wet wool flapping around her ankles.
She'd been looking forward to this moment all morning.
Samuel would be waiting for her, leaning against one of the
stalls that housed the horses, a big grin on his face as he
watched her walk toward him. She could just see him in her
mind's eye, and the anticipation of their meeting quickened
her step.
This was her favorite time of the year. This was when
the Pennyfoot Country Club looked its best, with the
glowing Christmas trees in the lobby and the library,
bright garlands of red and green ribbons adorning the
stairs and enormous wreaths of holly and mistletoe clinging
to the walls.
From the boudoirs on the top floor to the narrow
hallways below stairs, the fragrance of sweet spices from
the kitchen and fresh pine from the woods filled the air.
The smell of Christmas. It was everywhere, and how she
loved it.
When the 20th century had begun just a few years ago,
she'd worried that all the drastic changes everyone was
talking about would mean Christmas as she'd known it would
never be the same. She'd worried for nothing. Christmas
at the Pennyfoot was still as warm and exciting as it had
ever been.
Bathed in contentment and an underlying excitement, she
skipped across the hard ground. This could be the year
that Samuel finally asked her to marry him. She had waited
so long. This had to be the year.
She was almost at the stables when she heard a shout
from across the lawns. Startled, she turned to face the
wiry man racing toward her. She could tell long before
Samuel reached her that something was wrong. For one
thing, he wasn't wearing his cap. Madam was very strict on
that.
Samuel was not only the stable manager, he was Madam's
personal carriage driver and now that the guests sometimes
brought a motor car with them, Samuel was responsible for
taking care of them, too. Madam expected him to wear his
uniform at all times while he was on duty, and that
included his cap.
Not only that, Samuel never ran anywhere unless it was
an emergency. She didn't even know he could run that
fast. Heart pumping, she waited for him to reach her.
When he did, he was panting so hard he could hardly get
words out of his mouth. "Tess," he said, between huge
gasps. "She's gone."
Pansy stared at him, the full horror of what he was
saying penetrating down to her bones. Tess was Samuel's
dog, rescued as a stray and the love of his life.
Sometimes Pansy felt that Samuel loved that dog far more
than he loved her. "Whatcha mean she's gone?"
Samuel shook his head, as if he couldn't believe the
words coming out of his mouth. "I took h–her for a
walk...this morning...and sh–she chased off...after a
squirrel." He paused and held his hand over his chest,
which heaved so much his fingers rose and fell with
alarming speed.
Pansy struggled to make sense of his distress. "She'll
come back. You know she always does."
"Yeah. She comes back for her breakfast. I always save
her a sausage or bacon. I've done that ever since I found
her. She always comes back for that. She's never
missed." He turned his head, staring wildly in every
direction across the lawns. "Something's happened to her.
I know it."
Worried again now, Pansy grasped his arm. "I'll help
you look for her. She can't have gone far."
Samuel shook his head. "I've looked everywhere. I
can't take any more time right now. I haven't fed the
horses or groomed them yet. They'll be asking for
carriages soon and I don't have any ready."
Pansy hesitated. She was giving up her midday break to
see Samuel. She had maybe ten minutes left before she had
to be back in the kitchen. She so wanted to spend those
precious minutes with the man she loved with all her
heart. Looking into his eyes, though, she could see the
pain and fear in them.
Gulping back her disappointment, she said firmly, "I'll
go and look for her. I'll get Gertie to help me if I can't
find her. Mrs. Tucker will just have to understand." She
tried not to envision the snippety housekeeper, arms folded
across her flat chest, her strident voice demanding to know
why in blazes two of the housemaids had decided to take
valuable time off to look for a dog.
Mrs. Tucker could be quite scary when her temper was
aroused. Even Gertie had a healthy respect for the
housekeeper, and Gertie was taller and a lot bulkier than
Mrs. Tucker. Gertie got away with a lot of things, but in
the busy Christmas season, taking extra time off wouldn't
be one of them. Even Mrs. Chubb, the permanent
housekeeper, wouldn't be happy about that, though she'd be
a lot nicer about saying so.
But Mrs. Chubb was away at her daughter's house, and now
everyone had to put up with grumpy old Tucker the Terrible,
as Gertie called her.
"Bless you, luv." Samuel threw his arms around Pansy's
slight body and gave her a hug. "You know how much that
means to me."
All thoughts of an outraged Mrs. Tucker flew out of
Pansy's mind. Samuel was holding her in his arms, and that
was all that mattered. He gave her a quick kiss on the
mouth and let her go. "I have to run. Just keep calling
Tess's name. If she hears you, she'll bark." With a quick
wave, he disappeared into the stables.
Frowning, Pansy picked up her skirts again. If she had
to cross the lawns, the hem of her skirt and petticoat
would be soaked. She decided instead to go through the
rose garden, where a paved path would take her to the other
side of the lawns and closer to the woods. Maybe she'd run
into Clive Russell, the caretaker. He could help her
search for Tess.
Remembering Samuel's instructions, she started calling
out the dog's name as she trotted down the path. The
bushes in the rose garden were nothing but sticks, and the
white trellis was completely bare of the white roses that
climbed it in the summer. No place for a dog to hide
there.
Working her way around the front of the country club,
she heard a faint barking in the distance. Relief and
excitement quickened her pace and she was running as she
reached the end of the pathway.
Just a few yards away she saw a gentleman hurrying in
the direction of the duck pond. Surprised, she chased
after him. He had to be one of the guests, though why he
was racing around the grounds in the cold she couldn't
imagine.
The man disappeared behind the shrubbery, and then she
heard the barking again. Louder this time. She also
heard a shout, and her anxiety intensified as she sped
toward the duck pond. She reached it just in time to see
the gentleman wading out of the pond carrying a very wet
and bedraggled dog in his arms.
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