THE PENFORD MANOR MURDERS (Miss Clara Vale Mysteries #4) by Fiona Veitch Smith will be published on April 15, 2025, by Embla Books.
Despite trying to avoid house parties hosted by England’s titled elite, Clara Vale and her assistant, Bella Cuddy, go undercover at Penford Manor during the opening of grouse season to hunt for the person blackmailing Lady Penford and prevent the woman’s secrets from being revealed. While Clara investigates upstairs among the family and guests, Bella works behind the scenes alongside the servants. The discovery of the body of a local trade unionist on the manor grounds gives Clara and Bella another mystery to investigate—one that appears to be connected to the blackmail. Clara and Bella team up with the local detective to investigate both crimes before time runs out and Lady Penford is forced to pay her blackmailer.
I’m a big fan of Clara and Bella. They’re modern women working as private detectives in the early 1930s England. They’re learning as they go. And, while not everyone takes them seriously, they always get the job done. There were plenty of suspects with varying motives for wanting the labor unionist dead and to ruin Lady Penford’s reputation. Throw in a mentally unstable son, spinster women desperate to marry, and a group of men circumventing the law, THE PENFORD MANOR MURDERS makes for a compelling read.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.