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
