Melody doesn't want her small town to change. That's why she's so so against Griffin coming to town. He's a developer who wants to help the town grow and he's surprised that some people might be opposed to that process. However, Griffin is determined to win the cupcake baker over.
James Warrenton is one of those unpleasant old patriarchs who so often get murdered in books from the Golden Age of detective fiction. He's old, wealthy, a little deaf, and enjoys toying with those in his purview. They include his niece (and housekeeper), his four nephews, his sister, his servants, and the local priest. The happenings in this book are spurred by an article in The New Light, a smallish newspaper, about Mr. Warrenton buying a house that is supposed to be haunted. As Warrenton himself is interested in spiritualism, this might not seem like such an odd thing. But it does bring to town the only relative who has never asked for money, Gregory Spring-Benson, one of the nephews. Gregory is finding himself behind on his bills and would like to get a job as a newspaperman. Perhaps finding out the rest of the story behind his uncle's estate will at least get him some freelance money.
Phoebe goes to drama camp while Marigold visits her sister. The two don't really get to spend a lot of time together because Marigold is so busy trying to repair the relationship with her sister.
I've been really into celebrity biographies lately and Busy Philipps seems like a pretty awesome person in general so I requested this book from NetGalley and did not regret it. Yes, there are some writing quirks that took me out of reading occasionally and I didn't love everything about Ms. Philipps but it is an honest look at her life detailing even the parts where she herself was not the greatest person and times when she thought she could have stepped up but didn't but also times when she did step up and it helped. Readings stories like this make you really realize exactly how human actors are (well, most of them) with their own foibles and good points.
Dr. Katheryn Shaw is one of the most well-known surgeons on Earth. Her skill is virtually unmatched. But there are other surgeons so she's confused as to why the warriors of Lyonesse are so insistent that she has to be the one to save their lord, Oberon. He had been poisoned 15 years ago (in Lyonesse time, it was two hundred years ago on Earth because of the time slippage) by a needle that is slowly, magically working it's way toward Oberon's heart. And even though he's physically alive, the magic in the needle has killed all of his emotions. Even though he sleeps, his power rages around his countryside making it impossible for anyone to live there because it is so cold.
Olive's new stepmother has pushed her rather forcibly out of her father's house. Unfortunately, Olive has no skills. Her father spent her college money on some scheme. And, unfortunately, his schemes never come out. She's rather desperate when her cousin asks her for help. It seems her other cousin, Violet, is engaged to a man who is wholly ineligible. Or at least he seems so at first glance. Olive agrees to look into the man's past for a slight fee.
If you like the 1920's historicals that are popping up, you'll like this one from a slightly earlier period. Lady Dunbridge is only 26 but she's already a dowager. When her father gives her two untenable options, she decides to make her own, third option and heads across the Atlantic to stay with her friend Bev. Too bad Bev's husband is murdered at the pickup and die in the lap of his mistress. What the heck is going on? It seems that the man had a lot of shady dealings so there are a lot of people who become suspects.