Cecily and her husband Baxter run the Pennyfoot Hotel in
Badgers End, not so far from London. While cutting fresh
holly for the Christmas decor in the hotel's ballroom,
Baxter and the head groomsman Samuel disappear. Even more
alarming is the dead body that comes back on the horse
drawn trap; the trap that should have been full of freshly
cut holly branches. Hours later Samuel appears dazed,
bruised, and with no memory of what happened. Cecily has
experience solving crimes that give Police Constable
Northcutt trouble and it seems that she's about to acquire
even more. Cecily is determined to find her missing husband
and she strongly believes that finding Baxter will also
find the murderer. As the body is identified as Gavin
Hargrove, who inherited his father's extremely generous
fortune within the last few months, the most obvious place
to begin inquiries is Whitfield Manor as it was Hargove's
home. Gavin's cousin, Randall Thorpe, and his fiancee Naomi
Kendall are in residence and both have their own motive for
murder. A gambling syndicate, a roving band of Romany, and
Samuel's slowly returning memory further distort the story
of who killed Gavin and what happened to Baxter. Will
Cecily's skills developed from past cases help her discover
the truth now?
The story is set in the early twentieth century and seems
historically accurate when it comes to occupations and
social customs. There are a few oddball characters that
defy definition, living outside social norms and doing it
with enough gusto to help everyone behave less stiffly as
well. The secondary storylines are just as engaging as the
main story. Waiting to find out if Gertie the maid and Dan
the butcher's assistant might go out on a date was almost
as hard as waiting to find out what happened to Baxter. As
the book draws to a close, the next book is being set-up
with a peek at who might be the next two characters to pair
off into a happy couple. That is if Cecily gets her way.
Again!
While decorating the Pennyfoot's ballroom for a Christmas
reception, Cecily sends her husband Baxter and stable
manager Samuel into the woods to cut some fresh boughs of
holly for the ballroom. An hour later their one-horse open
carriage returns with the horse, the holly...and the
unwelcome gift of a dead body. Baxter and Samuel are nowhere
to be found. In what should be a season of celebration with
friends and family, Cecily means to reunite hers and solve
the mystery-even if a killer leads her in a merry measure.
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