A Midwinter Murder

Lady Eleanor Swift #20

Verity Bright

Genre: historical cosy mystery

Publisher: Bookouture

Release Date: November 29, 2024

Format: Paperback

Pages: 352

(Goodreads description)

Homemade baubles, reindeer-shaped cookies and snowy walks across the rolling moors… but Lady Swift’s festive plans are ruined when a body turns up!

Winter 1924. When Lady Eleanor Swift unexpectedly finds herself a guest of the reclusive Duke of Auldwyke, she’s determined to enjoy Christmas with all the trimmings at his sprawling manor house. And that includes kisses under the mistletoe and cozying up by the fire with her fiancé, dashing detective Hugh Seldon.

Instead, the season of goodwill turns frosty as she finds the Duke’s studious secretary, Mr Porritt, dead in the storeroom. Clasped in his chilly hand is a golden pendant in the shape of a rose. The Duke denies ever having seen the necklace before. But Eleanor can see the lies in his eyes… Did it belong to his mysteriously absent wife?

Hugh and Eleanor must ditch relaxing with hot cocoa in favour of interviewing the Duke’s holiday guests. Every suspect has a secret they’d kill to the socialite with the false name, the Sir with a questionable inheritance and the husband hiding a crack in his marriage.

As the blizzard outside rages, Auldwyke Hall becomes cut off. Trapped by the snow, Eleanor and Hugh must skate around the increasingly secretive Duke to unwrap the identity of the killer. But does the answer to the secretary’s murder lie with a ghost of Christmas past? And when an attempt is made on the Duke’s life too, they realise the killer is closer than they think…

This is the 20th book in the Lady Eleanor Swift Cosy Mystery series, and I have to admit it’s not seamlessly that you come into a series so late. Not because it’s difficult in itself – Verity Bright is very clever in welcoming new readers even so late in the series, you never feel you are in the wrong place. But there is so much that is established, and this is easy to perceive.

For example, it’s obvious that all the main cast characters have a backstory. They all receive a lot of screen time and have a clear, unique voice. I liked how feeling the bond between these people was so easy. Even as a newcomer, you feel they deeply care for each other.

Likewise, I feel a lot is afoot in their life, and I have been dropped in the middle of things. This made it harder for me to connect—not because the situation was unclear (it was always easy to follow), but because I felt like I’d missed the journey. As a result, I could only partly relate to the characters’ fears and doubts.

The story focused quite a bit on Eleanor and Inspector Seldon’s romance, which distracted me from the mystery, but that’s probably my problem rather than the story. If I’d started the series from the beginning, I’m sure I’d be fully invested in these moments.

Yes, you can read each book on its own— as I did with this one—but reading them chronologically will enhance the experience.

I liked the setting very much, but then, I love this kind of secluded embience, especially for mystery. In this case, it’s a faraway manor house isolated by a snowstorm.

Adding to this, the lord of the house has been a secluded man for years, to the point that very few people have seen him lately, and he interacts with the world mostly through his trusted secretary.

You know, at a certain point, I started suspecting the man wasn’t real – but I’m not telling whether this is true!

I also enjoyed the way past and present intertwine in the story. What happened in the past bears down on the present in so many different ways and ultimately unavoidably.

The entire cast of characters has something to hide. And you know? I ended up caring deeply for Porrit, the victim, especially when his backstory emerged.

The writing style is very smooth and easy to read. Humour hides between the lines.

It’s a very nice, relaxing read perfect for loves of Agatha Christies‘s mysteries.

Hi, I’m Sarah. I write historical fantasy set in the 1920s, and I read a lot, a lot of books set in the same era. On this blog, I regularly share book reviews of novels set in the 1920s (and sometimes 1910s and 1930s). If you love this kind of setting too ➡️ Subscribe to my newsletter

A Midwinter Murder
An excerpt

She carried on brooding over the matter until the awkward silence in the car brought her back to the present.

Chin up, Ellie! Nothing is going to lessen the magic of this Christmas.

‘Watch out, Mr Porritt,’ she said with a bright laugh. ‘With all this passing Yorkshire landscape so festively dressed in pristine snow, I’m moved to break into a rousing carol. And Gladstone here in my lap will likely join in, if less musically.’ She restrained her bulldog’s enthusiastic tongue from flailing any closer to Porritt’s face.

The earnest young man shook his head. ‘No, really, I must apologise again for–‘

‘Nonsense!’ she said firmly. ‘Besides, we’re all here now. After you finally secured permission from his grace for the ladies of my stuff to stay in one of the estate cotteges.’

She turned and waved out the rear window at the rather less grand carr following them.

Porritt’s brow wrinkled as he tugged on his jacket cuffs. ‘yes, yes. All of you are now here. Except your fiancé, Detective Chief Inspector Seldon, that is?’

She had found that part of the invitation reassuring at least. A titled lady and a mere policeman being engaged was far from the done thing in high society. Yet, it seemed the Duke of Auldwyke did not share the common view among the aristocracy that only marriage between two parties of equal social status was acceptable.

‘Oh, I thought I’d explained about Hugh the last time we spoke on the telephone?’ She heard her butler’s quiet admonishing cough from the front seat. ‘I mean about Mr Seldon, my fieancé. Poor chap is still manacled to his office desk, I shouldn’t wonder. Which is usually buried under his burgeoning case file.’

‘Terrible,’ Porritt muttered.

‘Yes, but he’s used to it after his many years on the police force. I’m not sure he even registers he hasn’t slept for nights at a time anymore. But he will be here first thing in the morning.’

‘He will?’ Porritt seemed placated as he sat back in his seat. ‘That’s excellent news. I mean, his grace, and myself, of course, are very grateful you will both be in attendance for the main three days from the twenty-third to the twenty-fifth.’

‘Wouldn’t do to have uneven numbers at the shoot or dinner, I suppose,’ she said airily.

The Thursday Quotables  was originally a weekly post created by Lisa Wolf for her book blog Bookshelf Fantasy . It isn’t a weekly post anymore, not even for Lisa, but just like her, I still love to share my favourite reads on Thursdays and I still use the original template which included an excerpt.

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