Death at the Dance by Verity Bright

Lord Lance stands accused of murder! Lady Eleanor attends a masquerade at his parents house and one of the guests ends up dead. The man had been a hero in some war but was considered by many of the younger set as something of a bore. But why was he killed?

We get to see more of Lancelot's life and the friends he hangs out with. He really doesn't seem to have a redeeming quality in this book so I'm hopeful he either grows as a person or gets dropped by Lady Eleanor in subsequent books. 

Why is Lance arrested? Well, he's found standing over the body holding the murder weapon. So... he seems to be the obvious choice. Eleanor is determined to clear his name, even when she is specifically warned off by the detective inspector. 

An interesting follow up to the first in this series but am interested to see how the characters grow.

Three stars

This book came out July 8, 2020

Follows A Very English Murder

Followed by A Witness to Murder

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own

Death Down the Aisle by Verity Bright

Lady Eleanor Swift has really gotten herself into it this time. Her good friend Constance is getting married on Saturday but Ellie has just promised to help organize and lead a suffragette march to the police station with a petition to let women onto the force on the same day. And she has to go to the wedding. Poor Constance is already withering under her soon-to-be-mother-in-law's constant disapproval. But Eleanor can't let down the ladies of the village either. It's especially complicated that the wedding might not go off since the groom-to-be, Lord Peregrine Davencourt, was just discovered over the body of his dead former fiancee. Or maybe not so former after all. 

On a timeline, Eleanor has to figure out how to juggle the march, preparing to be in the wedding, solving a murder and doing it all without un-endearing herself to her beau, Chief Inspector Hugh Seldon. 

Not a lot of character development in this one but Hugh and Eleanor's relations does progress a bit. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out August 31, 2022

Follows The French for Murder

Followed by Murder in an Irish Castle

ARC kindly provided by Bookouture and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

A Very English Murder by Verity Bright

Lady Eleanor Swift has spent most of her adult life traveling the world. She has been to any number of unsafe places and has made it out alive. However, she has now returned to her home country of England and it seems like her life may still be in danger. 

Eleanor has inherited a manor from her uncle. She spent some time there as a child but it never really felt like a true home. But she's back now, at least for a while. Except that she spends her first night wandering the estate and happens to see a man get killed. It's lightning out and she's emotional... no one really believes her. The man then turns up dead... but in his own home and apparently by his own hand. 

In trying to find out what actually happened, Eleanor gets to know her town, the townspeople, and even more about the people working in her manor and what her uncle was like before he passed away.

As a first book in a series, this was a nice one. We get to know the characters, we get to like the characters, and we get a nice mystery that is wrapped up at the end.

Four stars

This book came out April 7, 2020

Followed by Death at the Dance

Borrowed as ebook from Kindle Unlimited

Opinions are my own