Several melodramatic deaths with no apparent connection are investigated by Lady's maid Louisa Cannon. She has been a nanny to six girls and a boy, and now accepts a job boost in the same household, the Mitfords, as maid to Diana Mitford who is engaged to marry. THE MITFORD SCANDAL is an apt name, for this family became embroiled in high society, politics and sinister movements.

When Louisa accompanies Diana after her 1928 marriage to Bryan Guinness, the least dramatic of their famous set are Evelyn Waugh and John Betjeman. The tale opens with a ball at which two young maids decide to watch through a roof skylight, only to fall through the glass, one of them being killed. The police investigate, but it seems to be an accident. Next, in Paris in 1931, another death occurs, and then in Venice, goodness me, yet another person dies, a young woman, misguided and under the influence of addictive substances. Each time Louisa tells the police about everything she has noticed. But families are embarrassed and don’t want the full picture revealed. Societal condemnation was two-faced and undeniable. This also applies to a young social diarist, Luke Meyer, a man who can’t be openly gay and isn’t rich enough to be vaguely called ‘eccentric’.

The Mitford Murders series blends real people, context and fictionalised events. I did feel this one extended too far, with the rise of fascism in Europe, and introducing Oswald Mosley, a fascist, who eventually ended up marrying Diana after their marriages ended. Any individual death would have done for me, as far as a story went. We meet DS Guy Sullivan, who as well as keeping track of all the not-quite suspicious deaths, is looking for a missing woman from London, Rose Morgan. She was last seen in Paris. Yes, I ran out of patience every time yet another year brought yet another death and we still hadn’t resolved the first one.

The selfish and gaiety-obsessed society circles were particularly hard to identify with, so the device of the lady’s maid is a good one. This was a prime position, and this maid could eat in her room if she chose, not in the kitchen. She got choice discarded dresses, decent pay and travel. Solving murders might seem a small price to pay for Louisa, given that her mother toiled as a washerwoman. Crime also brings her in contact with DS Guy Sullivan, who seems to like and respect her. Jessica Fellowes, a journalist, perhaps packed too much into THE MITFORD SCANDAL but there’s plenty for those who like a lot of history in their historical crime fiction.