Murder in Mayfair by Verity Bright Excerpt
‘We have to land!’ Eleanor cried, pointing over the basket’s side to emphasize the urgency. The pilot wrenched his attention away from the other passengers who were still shouting stridently. ‘Listen, lady. Don’t you go hysterical on me too!’ ‘But you don’t understand,’ she cried more forcefully, spinning back around to track the movements of the gunman. ‘Oh, no! We’ve drifted too far already!’ She hauled the thick drag rope aside to scour the ground below better. ‘You must land. Now!’ The pilot shook his head. ‘No can do. There’s a problem with the burner, so just calm down!’ ‘Calm down?’ she said through gritted teeth. ‘A man has just been shot! He must need urgent medical attention.’ Assuming he’s still alive, Ellie. Or the gunman doesn’t finish him off. The pilot wasn’t listening, as the other passengers had crowded around him again, the men shouting about the burner, the woman shrieking. Her brow knitted. None of them had reacted when the man fell, so they couldn’t have seen what she had. And the noise of the gun firing must have been masked by the sound of the burners for those in the balloon, and by the elephants for those on the ground. She opened her mouth to shout again, but quickly closed it. The pilot obviously couldn’t land and the passengers were panicked enough as it was. She stared over the side, struggling to keep her bearings on the fatal walled enclosure as the balloon drifted ever further away. Seeing everyone spread out around the basket again at the pilot’s urging, she stepped forward and tapped him on the arm. ‘How long will it take to fix the burner?’ He shrugged. ‘Can’t say. One of the valves is stuck open, so it’s filling the balloon’s canopy with hot air faster than I can let it out through the vent.’ ‘Then estimate how long!’ ‘Twenty minutes,’ he said grudgingly. ‘Maybe more. And plenty longer if you don’t back o# and let me work on it!’ That’s too long, Ellie. Her gaze fell on the trailing end of the drag rope following in the balloon’s wake. She watched it slinking up and over the domed tops of the display buildings and myriad kiosks as the balloon continued to rise and dip erratically. That’s it, Ellie! It’s the only chance of helping the shot man.
Copyright © 2024 Verity Bright
A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery #18
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 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 jewelry 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!
Mystery Amateur Sleuth | Mystery Woman Sleuth | Mystery Historical [Bookouture, On Sale: June 27, 2024, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781835255698 / ]
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.
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