A Quiet Life in the Country

The Ama­zon write­up starts: Lady Emi­ly Hard­cas­tle is an eccen­tric wid­ow with a secret past. Flo­rence Arm­strong, her maid and con­fi­dante, is an expert in mar­tial arts. The year is 1908 and they’ve just moved from Lon­don to the coun­try, hop­ing for a qui­et life.

Now, that para­graph sparked my inter­est  and I cer­tain­ly did enjoy the mys­tery. I espe­cial­ly liked the main char­ac­ters, two ladies, one the lady, and the oth­er her maid/servant/friend. While polite­ly, or sass­i­ly (is that a word?) charg­ing through the book, they man­age to move into a new home, meet the locals, and, par­ty, and quite inci­den­tal­ly, ah, but that would be telling it out of order.

First they was the body in the woods. Dead, of course. Then the police were com­plete­ly off track. What were Lady Hard­cas­tle and Flo to do?

As they inves­ti­gate fur­ther, into rur­al rival­ries and resent­ment, they dis­cov­er secrets and intrigue. Sus­pects abound. Before the caper is all over, the lady and Flo dis­cov­er one thing for sure. There is no such thing as a qui­et life in the coun­try.

I gave this five stars.