The elaborate party at the Guinness’ mansion in Grosvenor Place is in full swing when suddenly a young maid falls to her death. It seems an accident, but is it? The next day, Guy Sullivan and his boss, Detective Inspector Stiles, at the Knightsbridge police station, are called in to investigate.
While there, Guy looks over the guest list and realizes that both Hons. Nancy and Diana Mitford had been at the party. He knew them both as he had become close friends with Louisa Cannon who had been their nursery maid for a number of years. He had been a bit sweet on her but has not seen or heard from her in the past two years. Maybe, she would be open to helping him with his investigations?
For her part, Louisa is a bit depressed. She has been working as part-time staff serving at parties, but that was hardly enough to live on. She had hoped to get a job as a policewoman when she left working for the Mitford girls’ parents, Lord and Lady Redesdale, but that had not happened. It is now 1928 and while much has changed in standards and morals since the end of WWI, Louisa knows her job options are still very limited.
Facing a bleak future and not interested in marriage, a ray of light appears in the form of a note from Diana asking her to visit her. Would Louisa be so kind as to be her lady’s maid while she prepares for her wedding to Bryan Guinness in 1929?
With her interesting background as a researcher and writer for a number of companion books for Downton Abbety, New York Times bestselling author Jessica Fellowes is an expert at the many nuances, changing norms, and details of the post-WWI to 1930s time period which is key to THE MITFORD SCANDAL, the third book in her highly captivating Mitford Mystery series, featuring the very practical and clear-thinking Louisa Cannon. Right the get-go, readers are instantly pulled into Louisa’s life in England in the fall of 1928 and one can’t help but like her spunk and keen intuition, despite her dismal circumstances.
One of Fellowes’ gifts as a writer is her ability to perfectly capture the language, nuances, attitudes, and mannerisms of the rich and high society of the late 1920s to that of the early 1930s with their changing morals, but sharp awareness of class. The details in THE MITFORD SCANDAL are so authentic, one can hardly believe it is fiction. I particularly enjoyed the weaving in of real people and events into the story, such as the Mitford family, Winston Churchill, Evelyn Waugh, and Oswald Mosley. I particularly relished the viewpoint from Louisa as a maid to all this wealth and glamour.
As THE MITFORD SCANDAL was the first mystery I read in the series, I can easily attest that it works well as a stand-alone novel; however, after reading the earlier books later, I became more aware of the full richness of the characters, their strength, and weaknesses, thus making them so much more complex and interesting. It really highlighted why Louisa give Guy such a frosty welcome before she yields to their mutual enjoyment of doing detective work.
Given that, Fellowes’ many fans are sure to count on her for another romantic intrigue, with lots of action and suspense, and so will appreciate this scandalous addition to the series while readers starting with THE MITFORD SCANDAL can access the earlier books if they wish!
So, if you have never read any of Fellowes’ books before or are an ardent fan, you will enjoy these romantic adventures and exciting action in Europe for both Louisa and Diana! So, find out all the circumstances and clues behind THE MITFORD SCANDAL! Get your copy today!
The year is 1928, and after the death of a maid at a glamorous society party, fortune heir Bryan Guinness seizes life and proposes to eighteen-year-old Diana, most beautiful of the six Mitford sisters. The maid's death is ruled an accident, and the newlyweds put it behind them to begin a whirlwind life zipping between London's Mayfair, chic Paris and hedonistic Berlin. Accompanying Diana as her lady's maid is Louisa Cannon, as well as a coterie of friends, family and hangers on, from Nancy Mitford to Evelyn Waugh.
When a second victim is found in Paris in 1931, Louisa begins to see links with the death of the maid two years previously. Now she must convince the Mitford sisters that a murderer could be within their midst . . . all while shadows darken across Europe, and within the heart of Diana Mitford herself.
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