When she first came to England, Evie became known as "That Evangeline Parker." An American heiress, she caught the eye of several men but fell in love at mutual first sight with the Earl of Woodbridge. She had a few wonderful years with him before he died. During her grieving, she went back to America. But two years have passed and she has decided to return to England bringing along a Duesenberg and a chauffeur, Tom Winchester, hired by her grandmother.
One of her first stops is at a house party with her late husband's good friend, the Duke of Hetherington, familiarly known as Bicky. There is an odd incidence as she goes from the village to the ducal manor. Someone takes a shot at her car. When Tom reacts quickly, Evie begins to wonder about him. When someone later takes a potshot at the duke while Evie is standing near him, she learns that Tom has actually been hired as a bodyguard. He ends up posing as an old friend of Evie's and joins the house party.
The mystery isn't particularly exciting and the end is a bit deflated. Discerning timing in the audiobook can be hard; I suspect there are paragraphs that we don't experience which break up some of the story. The charm of the story comes in the character building. Both Evie and Tom are delightful characters and I look forward to reading more of their books.
Three and a half stars
Followed by
Murder at the Tea Party
This book came out December 28th, 2018
Borrowed as audiobook from the library
Opinions are my own
We all have them. That one person from our past that we can't stand but they somehow want to glom on to you. For Evie Parker, whose life has been pretty darn good lately, it's Isabel Fitzpatrick. They were school girls together and Isabel spent most of the time putting down everyone around her with insults disguised as compliments. And now she's back along with her racecar driver husband. She's invited herself to Evie's house. In defense, Evie decides to join a car rally which her young friend Phillipa is participating in. But, on the road with a flat tire, Evie and her chauffer/body guard/sweetheart (?) look up to see Isabel and her husband hurtling down the road with a car that's apparently out of control. But was Isabel's husband dead before the crash? And what does it have to do with the rash of drugs in the area?
Evie Parker has returned to the estate of her husband's family. Both her mother-in-law and her grandmother-in-law are still living but have inexplicably moved to the dower house. Evie thinks that Sarah and Henrietta may be sending her a message. She's not quite figured out what it is but they are distracted by the fact that a band of local ladies seem determined to wrest the Hunt Ball from the Woodbridges who have always hosted it. During the war, Woodbridge Hall was turned into a convalescent home and the dowager countesses were busy helping so the location moved. Now, the ladies want to take it back over but a newly relocated matron has decided that the local villagers should stay in charge. Unfortunately, this is the same matron who falls dead after visiting Evie for tea.