Death at Dovecote Hatch

May 18, 2015
Set in 1932, Cannell’s enjoyable second Florence Norris mystery (after 2014’s Murder at Mullings) finds the intuitive housekeeper of Mullings, the Stodmarsh family home in the village of Dovecote Hatch, looking into another suspicious death. When genteel bachelor Kenneth Tenneson takes a fatal fall down the stairs at Bogmire, his sizable, “grim-looking” Victorian house, the coroner rules his death an accident. Tenneson’s miserly elder sisters and his sweet young ward stand to inherit his estate, but a secret second will reveals the existence of another potential heir. Florence, who suspects someone pushed Tenneson down the stairs, joins forces with Inspector LeCrane, who played a lead investigative role in Murder at Mullings, to sift through the clues and determine who has the most to lose by the second will’s revelations. A strong cast of village characters and an intricate plot will keep cozy fans turning the pages. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency.

May 15, 2015
A quiet British village hardly seems the place for a murder, much less two. Now that Florence Norris, the housekeeper at Mullings, has quietly helped the police solve a murder at the home of the young Lord Stodmarsh (Murder at Mullings, 2014, etc.), she's waiting to marry publican George Bird until she feels she can leave Mullings in good hands. The recent death of their neighbor Kenneth Tenneson has been ruled an accident, leaving his two nasty sisters and a beautiful ward in residence at his exceedingly ugly Victorian mansion, Bogmire. Although Florence has her suspicions, she says nothing until Inspector LeCrane, recalling her keen observation skills from the earlier case, asks for her help. She's suddenly deeply involved when her closest friends, Doris and Alf Thatcher, are called to a law office and told that Doris, who was switched at birth with Kenneth Tenneson, is the heir to the Tenneson house and fortune according to Kenneth's new will. Shocked by this discovery, Doris wants nothing to do with it, but Kenneth's death puts her life in danger. In the meantime, young Lord Stodmarsh has taken an interest in Mercy Tenneson, whose own inheritance is not part of the estate. Mercy senses that she's being followed, and her identity is shrouded in mystery. Could she be the killer or the next victim? Florence needs all her local knowledge and sleuthing skills to help solve the convoluted case. Agatha Christie meets Downton Abbey in Florence's second case, a charming reminder of all the country house murders of Britain's golden age.

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May 1, 2015
In this British blend of traditional cozy and historical mystery, Florence Norris, head housekeeper at the Mullings estate, returns as a gifted amateur sleuth, aided by her fiance, George Bird. After solving a traumatic murder some months earlier, Florence hopes life in Dovecote Hatch will settle down, but when Kenneth Tenneson, a member of the local gentry, is found dead after a fall down the stairs of his home, Florence senses something is amisseven though the coroner rules Tenneson's death nonsuspicious. Then Doris Thatcher, wife of the local postman, learns that she and Tenneson were swapped at birth, and while he should have been brought up in modest circumstances, Doris should be the one living in Bogmire, the Tenneson manor house. As if this wasn't enough upheaval for Dovecote Hatch, Tenneson's ward, Mercy, believes she is being stalked. Solid writing, vivid characters, an intricate plot, and an authentic-seeming glimpse of the lives and customs of 1930s Britain make this an attractive and entertaining read for Anglophiles, whether they are drawn to the history or the comfy manor house.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)