AN OLD MONEY MURDER IN MAYFAIR is the fifth book in Sara Rosett’s “High Society Lady Detective” series. In this installment, intrepid amateur sleuth Olive Belgrave is looking for a new place to live and helping her old friend Lady Gigi Alton. Gigi thinks that somebody has it out for her grandmother – the intimidating Dowager Duchess of Alton. Olive becomes a houseguest and is soon investigating a suspicious death.

The dowager remains something of an enigma for me in this story. Initially, it’s not clear whether she believes the things Gigi sees as threats are real. Later, it’s not totally clear what the relationship between Gigi and her grandmother is. On one hand, she seems to disapprove of Gigi, and at other times it seems as if she’s deliberately trying to provoke some reaction from her. As the story progresses, Sara Rosett builds up an impressive stable of characters who have gripes against the dowager. Like some of my favorite Golden Age detective stories by Dorothy Sayers, a will seems to be the motivation for murder. When investigating this murder, Olive’s edge is that she is staying where the murder happened, and she has a family member as an ally. Olive also gets help from friends like the always charming Jasper Rimington. For me, the focus in AN OLD MONEY MURDER IN MAYFAIR is more on sifting through motives and alibis rather than navigating elements of danger. Suspects include the dowager’s mousy companion, Gigi, Gigi’s bookish cousin Felix, and several others who are in need of a healthy injection of cash or motivated by revenge. Inspector Thorn is not receptive to Olive or her theories, so she must circumvent him in order to do her own investigating.

AN OLD MONEY MURDER IN MAYFAIR is a charming drawing room murder mystery with suspects around every corner and motives galore. I’m not a fan of birds as pets for a sleuth, but African gray parrot Mr. Quigley is not too obnoxious. I look forward to the next “High Society Lady Detective” by Sara Rosett.